"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
The Capital of Food Security
In researching for the second Evoke mission I have discovered something wonderful. Ottawa, where I live is the capital of food security. A bold claim I know, but I think its true. So here's my evidence. This city is the only capital (Ottawa is Canada's capital in case you didn't know) to have a farm right in the middle of the city. And its not some pretend farm to show kids how it all works. Established in 1886, The Central Experimental Farm is 400 hectare working farm that serves as the central research facility of the Department of Agriculture. It is also the site of the Agriculture Museum and ornamental gardens open to the public as well being a historical site, and a absolutely gorgeous locale, perfect for a picnic.
I've known about the Experimental Farm since I first arrived in Ottawa 6 years ago. I attend Carleton University and the Farm is actually just across the Rideau Canal from our campus. A potent reminder can be smelled when the wind is blowing in the right direction as the scent of manure wafts over our University. Also, if attending class in Dunton Tower, the highest building on campus, a lok out the window in the right direction can make one feel as though you are in the heart of the countryside rather than the bustling capital city.
The Farm is for mostly for science, however. It doesn't currently do much in the way of feeding the city. Thankfully this initiative has been taken up by many other groups in Ottawa. I was able to discover more information about these groups at a film festival event I attended last night. The event included two short films, The Story of Food and Indigenous Plant Diva (check out my videos to watch both in their entirety) and the feature film Dirt: The Movie (the trailer is in my videos).
All of the movies were brilliant, and Dirt was particularly inspiring, and even had a few little segments with my hero Janine Benyus. It was a great way to learn about food security. What really inspired me however were the organizations supporting the event: USC Canada (who produced The Story of Food) a group dedicated to promoting healthy farming and ecosystems on a n international level, they were eloquently represented by Kate Green, the host of the evening. Also there were the Ottawa Good Food Box people, who provide affordable monthly boxes of fruits and vegetables, bought seasonally and locally.
Another group who was sponsoring the event, and from whom I learned about the little film festival, was Just Food. Their mission: To ensure that Ottawa is food secure. Talk about being conscious of food security. They have several projects, which I intend to get involved in, particularly their community gardens project, as I live in a neighbourhood that is still being built (I can hear the construction workers right now actually) and it is the perfect candidate to have a community garden built right in to it. Just Food is probably the most active group in my area and their projects are wide ranging and very helpful.
With a huge stack of information and pamphlets as well as some free chocolate provided by cocoa camino company I came home a very happy and enthused gardener. I am more determined than ever to start my own little garden in my backyard, and I have a couple ideas I plan on proposing to Just Food and seeing what they think (i'll propose them here in another blogpost to see what you guys think when I have them more fleshed out).
With all that I've discovered I have great confidence that Ottawa and hopefully with some of the ideas being put into action here, the rest of the world can be made food secure, especially with the help of Evoke.
Here are links to all the great organizations I've discovered over the last few days. I also posted some pictures that I took at the event.
http://usc-canada.org/
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