THUNDER BAY – Ontario’s community gardens will be able to operate this summer, after the provincial government announced an adjustment to its COVID-19 emergency orders over the weekend. The change allows gardens to operate as essential services, provided they follow the advice of health officials on how to safely operate during the pandemic.
“These gardens are an essential source of fresh food for some individuals and families, including those who face food insecurity,” the government stated in a release.
Erin Beagle, executive director of Roots to Harvest, said the two community gardens the organization runs at their Volunteer Pool and Lillie Street sites are an important source of healthy food for hundreds of people. She’s pleased the government changed its mind after initially failing to designate the facilities as essential services.
“For many people, this is their access to fresh vegetables,” she said. “It does help reduce people’s overall grocery bills in the summer, and it reduces some of the need on the more conventional food supply. If we can reduce trips to the grocery store, that would be lovely.”
Beagle said Roots to Harvest and other local community garden organizers will work with public health officials to determine protocols to reduce COVID-19 risks. Those could include not sharing tools, hand-washing, sanitizing common items like watering cans, and limiting the number of gardeners allowed at one time, she expected.
“It’ll be a learning process, but I think for the most part community gardeners are pretty aware and want to respect the privilege of being able to continue doing this.”
In a time of global uncertainty, Beagle has seen more people looking to take more control over their food needs. Roots to Harvest has had more demand than ever for its seeds, which it sells through Superior Seed Producers.
They’ve also seen increased interest in their community garden plots, which are now largely booked.
Social distancing measures have limited the group’s usual education and outreach activities, including a difficult decision to cancel their youth employment program. Roots to Harvest staff will be doing their best to reach out to the community through other means, like an upcoming series of gardening webinars which will be available on their website.
“If there’s a barrier to people growing their own food, we’d like to know about it to see if we can be helpful,” Beagle said.
