Media Release: City Councillors call for Victoria to Keep Growing

  • Print
Details
Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
Written by editor



City Councillors call for Victoria to Keep Growing


September 28, 2020

Victoria, BC, Lekwungen Territory—Building on the success of the innovative municipal program Get Growing, Victoria – which saw 81,000 vegetable starts grown in municipal greenhouses and distributed to residents since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic – Victoria City Councillors Ben Isitt and Jeremy Loveday are calling on the city to make the program permanent.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated gaps in our local food system and in our social and economic fabric,” says Isitt, who originally proposed the program with Loveday in a report to City Council weeks into the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. “Get Growing, Victoria has been a big success, supporting community members in building a more resilient local food system.”

Since City Council approved the proposal in March, City of Victoria staff worked with stakeholders in the Urban Food Table to identify species appropriate for planting, procured seed from local suppliers, grew 81,000 vegetable starts in municipal greenhouses at Beacon Hill Park, and distributed the plants to residents in partnership with 42 community organizations. The City also provided gardening materials like mulch to residents and helped develop educational resources on food gardening with community partners.

“Food security isn’t just an issue we should care about during a pandemic,” says Loveday, who with Isitt is proposing that the program be made permanent in a report being considered by City Council on October 1st. “Municipalities can play an important role in ensuring people have access to everything they need to begin to grow their own food.”

For more information on the Get Growing, Victoria program, visit: https://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/residents/parks/growing-in-the-city.html.