Digging into Urban Agriculture in Thunder Bay
Posted: March 3, 2015
Categories: GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Members
“Let’s face it, brownspace is boring, underused parks are sad. An urban agriculture intervention changes that!” This kind of change is just what the Thunder Bay and Area Food Strategy is hoping can be achieved by creating the opportunity for communities to share their urban agriculture ideas.
The Food Strategy, EarthCare Thunder Bay, and Roots to Harvest are working together to encourage new urban agriculture ideas to take root in the Thunder Bay area. Their new initiative encourages citizens and organizations to “Dig into Urban Agriculture” by submitting inspired ideas online or in person at EcoSuperior, and taking part in an Ideas to Action Cafe on April 22, 2015. This is a great chance for participants to connect with different groups in the city, learn about funding opportunities, and hear feedback from respected community leaders and city staff.
For citizens and groups in the Thunder Bay area who are interested in submitting an idea, the Food Strategy encourages thinking about what the community needs, and getting inspired by other urban agriculture interventions. Ideas to get people thinking include: rooftop or community gardens, converting traditional boulevards into edible landscaping, creating a community composting system, establishing pollinator corridors, or hosting a workshop or urban farmer fair.
It can be helpful to look to examples of urban agriculture interventions from around the world. Among the highlights of the Food Strategy’s Inspirational Ideas page are Toronto’s rooftop agriculture successes, as well as boulevard gardening in Victoria BC, edible landscaping in London, England, and pollinator pathways in Seattle.
In addition to projects from around the world, there are some great examples of initiatives happening in the Thunder Bay area. Thunder Bay already has over a dozen community gardens, and projects like the Court Street Edible Food Forest show the great results of a partnership between Roots to Harvest and the City.
For more details and guidelines, see the Food Strategy website. Be sure to submit your idea for digging into urban agriculture before April 1, 2015 to have your chance to participate in the Ideas to Action Cafe on April 22, 2015.