Record 405 community garden plots added last year in Vancouver
Vancouver added a record 405 new community garden plots in 2011, bringing the city’s total to 3,700 plots in 85 gardens. The city is committed to creating 5,000 community plots by 2020 as part of a strategy to become the world’s greenest city and began to encourage community gardens in the runup to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Almost 1,000 plots have been added over the past three years.
“We’re seeing enormous demand for garden plots across the city, with growing waitlists, increasing interest from community groups and neighbourhoods seeking out new opportunities for local food,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a statement.
Several hundred people are on waiting lists for plots in the city’s network of community gardens, including 36 people on the list to garden at city hall’s own community garden. The garden is co- managed by the city and Evergreen, a charitable organization dedicated to promoting green, livable cities.
Robertson said another 11 plots will be added to the 36 plots already under cultivation at city hall. The garden has wheelchair- accessible plots and hosts local schoolchildren throughout the year.
Evergreen is assisting the Latin American Healthy Eating Active Living program to expand the 56- plot La Cosecha community garden at Broadway and Clark and actively helps establish community gardens in Toronto.