Food security is one of the most significant, recurring themes in much of the Peak Oil literature today. Many of us living in the city are trying to find ways to expand or create gardens to feed ourselves, friends and families while creating more vibrant sustainable neighborhoods. This is manifesting in a few workable formats:
- Turn your lawn into a garden
- Garden in someone else’s yard
- Find some unused land and start a guerrilla garden
- Join an existing community garden
- Start a non-profit and approach the city to create a new community garden
1. Turn your lawn into a garden
A great do it yourself family project or enlist the help of a local pro: Ward Teulon of City Farm Boy.
2. Garden in someone else’s yard
The good folks at City Farmer have created Sharing Backyards in Greater Vancouver Google map to match those with yards and no personal interest in gardening with those without yards who want to garden.
3. Find some unused land and start a guerrilla garden
The Vancouver Guerrilla Garden Meetup Group can help you connect with other guerrillas in your area.
4. Join an existing community garden
City Farmer maintains a list of community gardens in Vancouver and Victoria
Also check out the Vancouver Community Agriculture Network.
5. Start a non-profit and approach the city to create a new community garden
The city of Vancouver has an initiative to create 2010 new urban plots by the 2010 Olympics. Devorah Khan works in the city’s social planning department and is the person to talk to if you don’t mind creating or joining a non-profit. The city will then issue a permit for a designated piece of city owned land. The plus with this approach is that the city will clear the land, hook up water and deliver soil. The same approach can be taken with the city’s Park Board.
Cuba
Cuba is often looked to as the nation has weathered peak oil before the rest of the world. Having had their petroleum supplies cut off following the fall of the Soviet Union the country was forced to transition to local, organic, low energy agriculture systems. The Power Of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil DVD tells their story.
