The Challenge

Many of us are at different stages of dealing with an incredibly difficult past couple of years, or are uncertain of what’s to come. According to the Canada Food Price report, food costs are expected to rise another 5-7% in 2023. These numbers don’t sound like much but the average Canadian feels the impact of these price increases as we spend more and go home with less. We as a community experience different degrees of separation from food and nourishment. Intersecting socioeconomic factors can make it especially difficult for some households to afford sufficient and good quality food.

Our food problem is a big one, too big to solve on one’s own. Relieving food insecurity is related to many policy changes that would improve household income first and foremost. We want to start small by providing information and resources for people on how to grow food affordably. The reality is, gardening won’t solve our problems with rising food costs, and limited gardening space in the city or suburbs won’t give us the crop yields to be completely self sufficient. Despite this, we want to explore how we can garden smarter, foster connection, and highlight the growing young farmer movement in Ontario.