Achi news desk-
Science students at the University of Calgary use their rooftop greenhouse to host all kinds of projects and had a little extra space that wasn’t being used. so some of them thought of the idea of ​​growing food for the campus food bank.
“It was kind of a collaboration between a few people,” said Allison Guthrie, a grad student. “But I was very much involved in starting it, the Dean was definitely very supportive from the start, encouraged me and pointed out ways we could do that.”
Kristin Baetz, dean of science, says when students have initiatives it has a big impact in the community.
“We are a research-intensive organization,” he said. “We’re doing incredible, game-changing research in this greenhouse, especially on crops and how we make them water-resistant, pest-resistant for Alberta.”
Baetz says the Science Community Garden is a big commitment for the students to make in addition to their studies.
“It shows how talented our students are, how motivated our students are and how creative it is,” he said. “It’s student-led, it’s student-developed, and the faculty is there helping along the way.”
Guthrie hears students talking in the halls about how challenging it is for them to make ends meet and they are forced to make difficult decisions between rent, tuition and food.
“I do my own grocery shopping, I’ve seen the price of bell peppers at $5 a pound right now,” he said. “That is not sustainable for students at all and I see how that affects their health and even the mental health of students around me.”
There are a variety of vegetables grown in the greenhouse which a core group of four students manage every day.
“The plants grow themselves but I would say just the watering and the harvesting takes a bit of time,” said Guthrie. “The tomatoes are getting big, we have to pollinate them by hand because they are in a greenhouse, they don’t have bees to do that pollinating for us.”
Michelle Forgeron, manager of technical support services in the science faculty, supports the students with what they need for the project.
“Everything is a little different in terms of when things will be ready to harvest,” he said. “Then we gather a group of volunteers to set up a little assembly line and then we harvest and package very efficiently and then we ship food over to the food bank, which is right on campus. “
Forgeron also ensures that the food grown in the greenhouse is as safe as it can be for the people who eat it.
“I have consulted with Alberta Health Services, particularly their food safety team,” he said. “Just to make sure we do things right and safely.”
The students harvested their first crop of lettuce on April 12.
“We had three different types of lettuce,” he said. “Each bag contains two or three heads of lettuce so in total, over 60 heads of lettuce were donated to the Campus Food Bank.”
Renata Santander, the Campus Food Bank’s education and engagement coordinator, says so far this school year it has provided baskets for 980 people.
“We have seen a lot of progress and also in terms of our expenses compared to last year have increased by almost 86 per cent,” he said. “The need as well as food prices are going way up so definitely programs like this help a lot because most of our perishables we buy ourselves, we but accepts gifts that are not perishable.”
Santander says more students are food insecure due to inflation.
“We see a lot of international and graduate students coming for our services,” he said. “A lot of our clients are returning clients, they’re not new, they’re people who don’t find other solutions for their situation so they have to keep coming back for our services.”
The Campus Food Bank saves valuable money that it can put towards other food items, thanks to the Science Community Garden.
“This is grown by students, for students,” Santander said. “For people in our community, it’s organic and it’s run here on campus, (it’s) a really great initiative and something that clients have been really interested in and something that’s been really helpful them and we are very excited about this partnership. “
Find out more about how to support the project here.
