Green grants: Winnipeg offers funds for community garden projects

Groups with green thumbs will soon get to grab onto some garden grants.

The City of Winnipeg is offering a total of $7,000 in grants for new community garden or urban agriculture projects. 

The city's food council heard on Tuesday that these grants were planned as part of the city's decision to declare 2022 the "Year of the Garden."

The grants of up to $2,000 are available to all community groups, but groups led by people of colour are encouraged to apply, according to a draft application.

"We know that Black, Indigenous and people of colour — and other equity-seeking groups — are overrepresented in food deserts and are more likely to experience food insecurity," food council co-ordinator Jeanette Sivilay said in an interview.

"We've also seen lots of requests among newcomer and refugee communities for space and funds to grow food in Winnipeg."

The grants are also a step toward making community gardening more accessible, according to two first-year law students at the University of Manitoba.

"It's a start," said student Lewis Lee in an interview. "It's better than having no grants at all, but it could still build up to something else that could be more sufficient or substantial."

At Tuesday's meeting, Lee and his classmate Jayden Wlasichuk presented research they did on how the city could improve its community garden policies and bylaws as part of their work with Pro Bono Students Canada, an organization that offers free legal support to people and communities facing barriers to justice.

Part of Lee's research focused on how well the city's policies met the needs of gardeners.

"There's a lot of low-income gardeners who have to bear the full cost of supplies, and the city isn't giving any sort of support," said Lee, adding that other cities have funding available to help with supplies.

"This could be a way to have more food security," said Lee. "Right now, groceries are really expensive, so maybe this could be a way to help them get food in a more accessible way."

The students also suggested city staff could improve access to community gardens by extending the one-year lease on individual plots.

"There's no concrete assurance that next year they'll have this space," said Wlasichuk. 

"So if they're taking the time to learn new practices or to improve on infrastructure that exists in garden, there's no real return on investment for someone — even if they are only growing the produce for themselves."

Accessible community gardens can be a way to address food insecurity and inflation costs, the students said, noting many Manitobans also eagerly took on hobby gardening during the pandemic.

There are eight community gardens from which Winnipeggers can rent their own plots, but the city's website states you can only sign up initially for one plot per year.

"It would be great to see more community garden spaces open up," said Wlasichuk, adding the city could look into offering garden spaces in parks or unused city land.

"That way, people aren't having to commute long distances, which, with the price of gas right now, would be really great."

Community groups hoping to access the city's new grants should keep an eye on the city's website. The application will go live starting March 21.