From the Community Garden to the Food Bank: helping families stay healthy
By David F. Rooney The new garden beds growing by the Visual Arts Centre are more than just a thing of beauty they are a tangible sign that community health and welfare matter in Revelstoke. The raised beds are the second Community Garden established in town (the first is by the United Church) and the Local Food Initiative is donating a significant portion of its weekly produce harvest to the Community Connections Food Bank. “I am very grateful for what we get,” says the Food Bank’s Patti Larson. That’s no surprise. Fresh produce is eagerly sought after by Food Bank clients. The agency gets some from Cooper’s and then there are the supplies of fruit gathered up by the Gleaning Project conducted in conjunction with Revelstoke Bear Aware, but the Local Food Initiative’s offerings are starting to add real variety. The amounts are still relatively small but the Community Garden beds are still new and are just now beginning to yield appreciable amounts of produce. Over the last eight weeks, the amount picked every Thursday evening for distribution at the Food Bank has grown from just a few grams to 11 kilograms and more will be plucked from the garden beds in the weeks ahead. This is a marvellous example of what can be achieved by people with imagination and generous spirits. Here are some photos of a few of the volunteers at work this past Thursday, August 20: The Local Food Initiative is having a tangible impact on our community — not just because it built a new community garden by the Visual Arts Centre but though its distribution through the Community Connections Food Bank of a significant portion of its weekly harvest of fresh lettuce, beans and other vegetables. Here, Melissa Hemphill and Ken Talbot collect mature wax beans on Thursday evening. David F. Rooney photo
Fresh produce is highly valued at the Food Bank. Most of the foods distributed there are canned or otherwise processed and preserved so fresh vegetables are deeply appreciated. David F. Rooney photo
Professional gardener Nadia Luckau gathers young beets at the garden. The Community Garden has different varieties of beans, lettuce, beets, tomatoes, carrots and buckwheat growing in its beds. Nadia sells her fresh produce in the Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings. David F. Rooney photo
Wash these off and they’ll liven up your meal! David F. Rooney photo
Scarlet runners produce large quantities of beans and they’re pretty, too! David F. Rooney photo
These tomatoes are still green but a little more warm, sunny weather and they’ll be a nice ripe shade of red. David F. Rooney photo
This lacy, green foliage means one thing: healthy carrots. David F. Rooney photo
Melissa weighs the fruits of this past Thursday’s harvest. Ripe vegetables are harvested every Thursday evening for distribution the next day at the Food Bank. While the Community Garden beds at the United Church have been a round for a few years, these ones at the Visual Arts Centre are brand new. Vegetables have been harvested in increasingly large amounts for eight weeks. The first intake was just a few grams and while you’d think that’s almost not worth mentioning it presaged harvests to come. So far 29.5 kilograms of produce have been gathered at the gardens, 11 kilos of which have gone to the Food Bank. David F. Rooney photo
These are some of the herbs and produce gathered on Thursday evening and put out for selection by Food Bank clients on Friday morning. The Food Bank opened its doors at 8:30 am and by 9 am all of the Local Food Initiative vegetables were snapped up. David F. Rooney photo
If you’re a mom or dad with children you’re certainly going to appreciate an opportunity to offer your brood the fresh, tasty vegetables they need to stay healthy. These particular carrots are from Cooper’s but the Local Food Initiative’s carrots should soon be ready for harvest. David F. Rooney photo
