From lawn to lettuce garden Some homeowners growing food to cope with inflation

MEHARWAAN MANAK n increasing number of Canadians are turning to home gardening to offset the price of fresh produce in the face of spiraling inflation.

More than 5.8 million Canadian households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2021, according to the latest Household Food Insecurity in Canada report,

A Statistics Canada report, 2022, indicates Canadians feel they cannot keep up with the rising

B.C. Premier David Eby said earlier in March, 2023 the province is investing more than $200 million in

Theresa Couture, an urban gardener, started a home garden in 2020 during lockdown. Since then, she has expanded the proj ect in order to contribute produce

“As a child I grew up with … food insecurity as far as where our next meal was coming from,” she said. “I wanted to grow stuff and give it to people who couldn’t get fresh

According to Canada’s Food Price Report 2023, an average family of four will spend $16,288.41 on food this year — an increase of $1,065.60 over

“You can literally save hundreds,”

Couture said. “If you’re able to freeze and preserve (food), your savings continue over Couture even extended her garden to include the front yard “to maximize how much” she can give. She estimates she donates about three quar ters of her fresh grown produce to local food

Fresh produce donations to food banks are “very weather dependant,” according to Amanda Smith, coordinator of agriculture initiatives for the non-profit Langley Environmental

In 2020, LEPS established a student-run “Learning Farm” in collaboration with the Langley Sustainable Agriculture Foundation.

Although there was slow pollination caused by the prolonged rains last year, LEPS “donated a lot of vegetables” produced by the Learning Farm, said Smith.

Angela Ng, a Vancouver gardener, expanded her home garden during COVID-19 but continued as inflation climbed.

Initially she found gardening quite expensive but said “over time you start to learn the tricks of the trade and start saving money.”

“In the summertime when the food is abundant [from the garden], you save a lot more not running to the store to get vegetables and greens,” she said but added that food security is more than just feeding your family. “It’s helping your community as well.”

Melany Yeap, another experienced Vancouver