Manitoulin Child Poverty Task Force and Kids Can Grow join forces
MANITOULIN—Community members, parents, new and experienced gardeners, teachers and anyone interested in upporting children and families were invited to a screening of ‘And This is My Garden’ and information night recently.
Sponsored by the Manitoulin Child Poverty Task Force and Kids Can Grow, Linda Willson of Our Garden based in Ice Lake (Gordon Township) and Heather Thoma of Loon Song based just outside Little Current welcomed approximately 35 people to an evening to promote the sharing of ideas to promote healthy eating across Manitoulin.
Ms. Willson has been involved in the Kids Can Grow program in the local schools over the past seven years through her involvement with the farmers’ markets on the Island.
Ms. Thoma was part of a pilot project in Sudbury that worked with the local grocery stores and farmers to grow backyard gardens and participated in the Good Food Box program.
Prior to the film everyone was encouraged to introduce themselves and share their reason for attending. Many were educators or dieticians, some had done anti poverty work in urban centres such as New York and Toronto and others were avid gardeners eager to share ideas.
“All children deserve access to fresh nutritious vegetables,” noted Candice.
Emily, who has a big garden, said it was great to see so much interest among those in attendance.
Chuc Willson, co-owner of Our Garden, shared that it is “a dream to bring it (the Kids Can Grow program) together—from seed to table.” With the hard work and continued support of people like teacher Cory Davy, there is a garden at Central Manitoulin Public School.
Each year the students plant a garden in the spring and in the fall a feast is held as part of the annual Fall Fair, shared Ms. Davy. Last year two people tended the garden during the summer months. This year Ms. Davy hopes to have up to five adults volunteer their time along with her students and encourages secondary school kids to become involved for their ‘community hours.’
The film, a documentary of sorts, takes the viewer through the stages of planning and planting a garden right through to picking the produce and enjoying its bounty at a community gathering.
Children from the Mel Johnson School in Wabowden, Manitoba were given seed catalogues and began ‘The Veggie Adventure.’ Their teacher Elinore, who had grown up on a farm, certainly knew her way around a garden.
Her gentle manner while working with the children made their experience so much richer and their eager little faces shone with pride seeing their peas, pumpkins and carrots grow.
In the film each child would stand in front or beside their garden, state their named followed by the statement “and this is my garden.”
“The art of knowing how to grow food has been lost,” shared Elinore.
Her students learned that it was their responsibility to water, remove weeds and keep animals out of their raised bed gardens. It was a good way to get them outdoors and to give those who did not excel in sports something to build great character and do something important to give back to society.
Following the film and shared discussion of ideas, it was suggested that people from different communities on the Island come together in smaller groups to share ideas and discuss possibilities of starting a community garden or taking part in the Good Food Box program among others.
Those who are interested in taking their experiences through the viewing of the film to the next level were encouraged to attend the Community Food and Network meeting.
