Get Your Share of the Urban Bounty, from BC's Urban Farmers
GET YOUR SHARE OF THE URBAN BOUNTY
Urban farmers offer shares of the season's vegetable harvest
Vancouver, BC. Monday, January 26, 2009 - They're sprouting up all around us. There is probably one in your neighbourhood - maybe in your own backyard. Growing numbers of urban farmers are turning lawns into productive vegetable gardens in BC and around the world. And there is no better time to get to know your local urban farmer, as many are now offering shares of the coming season's vegetable harvest. It's a buy-now, eat-later plan, and the key is to act now. "By this time last year I was nearly sold out of my CSA shares. I'll probably be completely sold out by the end of February," according to Ward Teulon of City Farm Boy, who operates fourteen urban gardens in backyards around Vancouver's east side as well as a rooftop garden on a downtown condominium tower.
Buying a share of the harvest, otherwise known as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) means pay- ing up-front early in the year to partake in the harvest, usually from mid-May through late October. The consumer's commitment and early payment helps the farmer to purchase seeds, fertilizer and other inputs for the farm at a time when cash is tight. It also means less time spent marketing vegetables and more time spent nurturing them, like a farmer was meant to do.
"The best thing is that you'll be feasting on delicious, organically grown vegetables grown within 5 to ten kilometers of your dinner table," says Craig Heighway of Vancouver's Kitsilano Farms. "You will also meet the farmer who grew your food," mentions sibling Deb Heighway, who runs Donald Street Farms in Victoria. This is in great contrast to the usual supermarkets, importers of bland, mass-produced food to which we've become all too accustomed. Food that often travels thousands of kilometers to our plate. In straight comparison of price alone it may cost a little more to buy from the local urban farmer. But the flavour, quality and nutritional value easily makes up for the price difference. "We grow unique varieties of vegetables and harvest them only when they're at the peak of freshness and flavour," says Craig. "These veggies aren't cultivated for their optimum trucking characteristics."
BC's urban farmers grow and sell organically-grown vegetables for city dwellers. Currently, urban farmers can be found in backyards - and rooftops - throughout Vancouver, Victoria and on the Sunshine Coast. Visit www.urbanfarmer.ca for details and to find out about subscribing to a CSA harvest share.