By: Daniel Salcedo Rubio, Features Editor
Walking around Metro Vancouver, it’s likely you’ve found community gardens full of vegetables and plants. These spaces aren’t just pretty; they are a great way for people to strengthen their relationship with the land they inhabit, build community, and eat local food — how much more local can it get than harvesting with your own hands?
Developing these plots of unused land into sources of locally produced food is one of Vancouver’s food security efforts. As part of the Vancouver Food Strategy and the Local Food Action Plan, the city harbors over 110 community gardens spread across parks and public spaces.
One of the biggest barriers to community gardens in Vancouver is the competition over available plots of land. In a city where every square foot is sought by developers to build high rises or is set apart for public infrastructure by the government, it’s likely community gardens aren’t very high on the priority list. Not only is developing new gardens an issue, but the process of being accepted into one can take a very long time as well. With limited spots available and long waitlists, many Vancouver residents are locked out of them. This is especially considering two-thirds of renters in Metro Vancouver live in apartments, most of which don’t have proper gardens for this activity. These factors make any community garden a highly coveted award.
“How much more local can it get than harvesting with your own hands?”
However, solutions are already being implemented. Basel, Switzerland, started a program in the ‘90s mandating green roofs on new and renovated buildings. Not only is the mandate in place, but the city has provided subsidies and insists on using native seeds for the gardens. In San Francisco, another example of green roofs, started requiring solar panels on rooftops for most new constructions, so buildings will either have green rooftops, solar panels, or a combination of both. Not far from us, Toronto became the first North American city to require new buildings to incorporate green gardens in 2009. Unfortunately, this isn’t the reality of Vancouver. In a survey conducted by Living Architecture Monitor, only 283 of 9,526 of the mapped buildings had gardens in them. While it’s great that some buildings have dedicated space for gardening, these initiatives should really be implemented by the government. This can look like incentivizing or outright requiring developers to dedicate spaces for a community garden, whether it be on the rooftop or a dedicated amenity inside the building.
Even if you are lucky enough to have a private garden or balcony you could use to start your own harvest, it can be quite overwhelming. It’s not only the startup costs of soil, seeds, containers, watering systems, and whatnot — it’s the knowledge investment many people dread. Taking care of plants isn’t instinctive; not everyone has developed the skillset or acquired the knowledge required to bring a barren plot of land into a bountiful garden. If the City of Vancouver is really looking to ensure food availability, safety, and quality, then it must support residents not only with space, but with guidance. One solution could be the creation of an independent body dedicated to urban gardening support — offering practical education, hands-on workshops, and advice to individuals and communities. This same organization could serve as an auditor to ensure developers are meeting the requirements (if the city sets them) for harvest-friendly spaces in new buildings, while also being a consultant for residents. This initiative should also be built in collaboration with Indigenous communities; incorporating ecological and sustainable harvesting knowledge. Bringing Indigenous voices and expertise to the forefront is not only an act of reconciliation, it’s a way to ensure our gardens are grounded in respect for the land and the interconnectedness of the ecosystem living within. This way, the gap between barren plots and bountiful gardens can be closed while maintaining sustainable practices and even incorporating Indigenous knowledge into them.
While this might sound idealistic, it’s important to remember that gardens are living, breathing ecosystems. They rely on the care and commitment of people and therefore fully rely on human responsibility. However, they don’t necessarily need to rely on manual labour; there are countless innovations already in use, from automated irrigation systems to vertical growing setups, and even the tried-and-tested scarecrow. With the right infrastructure, knowledge, and expertise growing food in the city can become less of a luxury and more of a shared, sustainable practice.
