Transforming an underutilized space into a productive urban garden, the rooftop of AMA South Edmonton yielded 225 pounds of fresh vegetables from its first harvest in the fall of 2024. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF AMA
COMMUNITY
A Growing Concern
Creative initiatives in Alberta are addressing food insecurity by growing fresh produce in urban spaces.
By Lisa van de Geyn
ATOP AMA EDMONTON SOUTH, you might be surprised to discover a sunny urban garden. Five storeys up on this lofty commercial rooftop, you’ll find bees buzzing around pollinator-friendly wildflowers growing amid bountiful tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, carrots and arugula.
This rooftop vegetable farm, designed to provide fresh produce to Albertans in need, couldn’t have been conceived at a better time. A record number of people in the province currently rely on food banks, and AMA’s roof garden’s first harvest this past fall — a whopping 225 pounds of vegetables — was donated to Edmonton’s Food Bank, which has been on the front lines helping families put food on the table. With food insecurity rampant across the country, AMA had the opportunity to contribute to the solution through a collaboration with MicroHabitat, a Montreal-based group focused on transforming urban spaces into productive small-scale vegetable farms. Backyards, patios, rooftops and community gardens are utilized to grow fresh produce for locals who need help in ensuring that their families get enough nutritious food. “A historic number of Albertans are relying on food banks just to get by, and more than a third of them are children,” notes Robyn Couture, manager of community programs and events at AMA. “Our [rooftop] garden yielded fresh vegetables for the Edmonton Food Bank [and helped] provide 60 meals for the Breakfast Club of Canada. Our flowering plants were a perfect fit [with] our support of the AMA Pollinator Program.”
“A historic number of Albertans are relying on food banks just to get by, and more than a third of them are children.”
Tamisan Bencz-Knight has seen first-hand how the need for food has increased over the years, and how growing your own food and sharing it with others makes a huge impact. “The act of growing and sharing a harvest extends beyond providing sustenance. It weaves a tapestry of kindness and compassion throughout our community,” says Bencz-Knight, who is the manager of strategic relationships and partnerships at Edmonton's Food Bank. “Food insecurity is a symptom of poverty, and the cost of food — and the cost of living — is astronomically high in Alberta right now. We’re currently serving more than 40,000 people a month through our hamper programs.” Bencz-Knight and her colleagues are also urging residents to grow their own food and share it with others in need. “Active participation is part of this. People aren’t just getting some free food from a food bank. They’re participating in collective kitchens and gardens and helping themselves and others become more food-secure,” she says. “Growing tomatoes on your balcony, for example, shows that people [can help] themselves. They might still need help from the food bank, but they’re giving back.”
While non-perishable, packaged and canned goods are typically associated with food banks, fresh food is vital to staying healthy. “Our family is used to eating fresh, not packaged, items,” says a new Canadian who uses Edmonton's Food Bank. “We like fresh and we can [also] get that at the food bank.”
Another AMA-driven initiative that addresses food insecurity is Harvesting Hope, which launched last year through the AMA Community Foundation. Urging Albertans to find space in their gardens to grow fresh produce with a long shelf life — think beets, carrots, potatoes and onions — the program even provides free burlap sacks. “Harvest the vegetables, [but] don’t wash them. Just brush them off [and] they’ll last longer,” says Couture. “Put them in your burlap bag and bring it to any AMA Centre. We’ll make sure it gets to a local food bank.”
AMA's Fill Our Fleet Campaign made an incredible impact in support of Edmonton's Food Bank, thanks to more than a million members, staff and fellow Albertans, showing when we work together we can make a difference. | VIDEO: COURTESY OF AMA | View transcript
Meanwhile, at the AMA School Garden Studio, the focus is on food literacy geared to future generations. Aimed at junior high school teachers, this free online service provides the tools, resources and community connections that teachers need to maintain school gardens, plus food-literacy lesson plans. “This teaches the next generation where their food comes from, how to cultivate it within their local communities and how to recognize which [foods] provide the most nutritional value,” Couture notes. The program can be a boon for people living in “food desert” communities, which have limited access to affordable nutritious food.
“While donations to food banks help those in immediate need, the root causes of food insecurity are where we can make a lasting difference from the ground up,” Couture says of the initiatives that AMA invests in.
“While donations to food banks can help those in immediate need, the root causes of food insecurity are where we can make a lasting difference from the ground up.”
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Volunteers organize donations, including both non-perishables and fresh produce, at Edmonton's Food Bank to help with food security for more than 40,000 people a month. | PHOTOS: COURTESY OF AMA
Bencz-Knight agrees. The amount of food donated is crucial to the work of Edmonton's Food Bank, she says, but education initiatives are just as important. “It’s about more than the weight of the food donated. It’s about the talking points and the rippling effect when groups like AMA and MicroHabitat come together.”
People don’t need to have green thumbs, Bencz-Knight is quick to point out. “I don’t have a green thumb, but I grab a couple of potatoes that are going to seed on my counter, shove them in the ground, water them and see what crop comes up. It’s that easy.”
For Bencz-Knight, addressing food insecurity effectively is about the pooled collectives of people growing their own food and having conversations. “Just grab a pot, plant a potato in it and see what happens.” AMA
The AMA School Garden Studio provides support for teachers and students to utilize school grounds for gardens, teaching students how to grow food and producing much needed fresh fruits and vegetables. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF AMA