The Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB) has embarked on a new, fresh project that provides supplemental greens to our Community Agency Partners (CAPs): we’ve started a community garden!
Tucked away in a parking lot in behind our Vancouver CAP Market, our garden creates the perfect environment to engage with our CAPs about food, recipes, and gardening. The GVFB currently has 118 CAPs across Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, and the North Shore. Our partnerships include housing agencies, neighbourhood houses, after school programs, universities, and many more. Depending on the size and capacity of each CAP, they receive food support on a weekly basis to go towards their meal, snack, or hamper programs.
With supply chain disruptions and rising food costs, our decision to grow our own organic and sustainable produce could not have come at a better time. At this stage, we’re wrapping up our summer harvest and preparing for our autumn bounty of potatoes, kale, lettuce sprouts, and more!
The spring and summer harvest was planted with seedlings courtesy of a local farm and a seed donation from West Coast Seeds. Thanks to their generosity, we were able to grow an abundance of delicious, local greens and herbs such as English Thyme, collard greens, and carrots.
Our greens are added as a supplementary addition to our CAPs' weekly food orders. To date, we’ve distributed over 400 lbs. of produce! Our CAPs are thrilled with the quality and have reported how our produce has been a great addition to their salads, soups, sandwiches, and other dishes.
Our garden has become a true community effort with local businesses, donors, staff, volunteers, and board members coming together to tend to this wonderful project. Looking ahead, we hope to inspire our CAPs to grow their own local produce, whether it be in their own parking lots or backyards! We hope you follow along on our gardening journey by following us on our social media!