The L.E.A.F. Initiative is a Commonwell program to support capacity, resiliency and growth in the communities we call home.

Food Secure Collingwood

545 10th Line North as well as the locations of our 3 community gardens CollingwoodL9Y3Z5

What is this project about?

The Food Secure Collingwood Project is intended to help vulnerable people of our community ease their worry on food security for themselves and or family. Over the last three years the EN along side the Town of Collingwood has expanded their community garden program from 12 beds to over 30 beds in three locations. This expansion has led to the harvesting of over 4000 servings of food, 700+ adult visits and 150+ child visits. For this program to be successful the EN recruited a few volunteers and a high school class to help plant, weed, harvest and water during the growing seasons. Unfortunately, the need for access to healthy, free food has increased since COVID19 with more families, seniors and individuals finding themselves struggling to purchase nutritious food. The three gardens could not provide enough food for the families in our community. With this increased need the EN received funding to purchase a commercial size 40 x 80-foot greenhouse, which will produce food year-round. The greenhouse will sit on the Town of Collingwood land, which the EN has a secured a 10-year lease for $0 per year. With the purchase of the greenhouse the EN needs to increase the staff capacity to help grow and manage our gardens.

The EN is in the process of surveying community members to find out how many people are struggling with food security. As well the EN is surveying organizations to see who is currently working with this population and what support they offer their clients. The data that is collected by the surveys will be used as a road map to better understand the needs in our community. With this data the EN will be better equipped to engage and work with our community and the community organizations to help meet the needs of food insecure people.

The person hired for Coordinator position will work in the greenhouse as well as the three community gardens. They will be responsible to plant, water, and weed all three locations. They will engage the community by recruiting volunteers to help throughout the year. They also will attend various community and county meetings to inform the various groups of this project. Each week the gardens and the greenhouse will be harvested, and a table will be set up in a central accessible space for all community members to visit and take-home fruits and vegetables at no cost. Some of the produce will also be set aside and brought to the Collingwood Youth Centre (CYC). The CYC offers culinary programs, including Kids Feeding Kids to all youth in the community. Food from the gardens will be used for this program. The CYC will expand this program to incorporate the importance of eating locally. Any excess food will be given to collaborating organizations serving our vulnerable population or it will be placed in the Community Fridge that is co-managed by the EN and the Collingwood Youth Centre.

Collingwood-Community-Garden-Infographic_V2.1.pdf

Why is this project important to the community?

"Household food insecurity is not having stable access to food due to lack of money. It can range from reducing the quality of foods eaten, to going several days without eating anything at all because of lack of money to buy food. It is a powerful predictor of adverse health outcomes such as chronic and infectious diseases, mental health conditions, social well-being as well as life expectancy. Children are at higher risk of food insecurity, creating the potential for health problems that last into adulthood. Household food insecurity is an urgent and worsening public health problem and an important issue for local, provincial, and federal decision-makers. Collingwood, Ontario is known for its beautiful landscape which includes access to Georgian Bay. Collingwood has become a 4-season resort town seeing an influx of over 100,000 tourists during the year making it a destination for people all over the globe. With this demand comes inflated costs for food, rent and clothing making it hard for our vulnerable population to survive. Individuals and families living on low incomes struggle the most to cover the cost of their basic needs - food, rent, and other necessities. The lower the household income, the more likely a household is to experience household food insecurity. Since healthcare costs for food insecure people are much higher than for food secure people, the impact of household insecurity affects the whole community and society at large. This adds pressure to our already over-burdened healthcare system". Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, 2023. 1 in 5 (21%) of households in our area experienced food insecurity in 2022. A one-person household surviving on Ontario works spends 161% of their income on healthy food and rent combined and a family of four on Ontario Works spends 95% of their income on healthy food and rent combined. Likewise, a family of 4 working full time earning minimum wage will spend 66% of their income on healthy food and rent combined. Having the Greenhouse to produce food year long as well as the two community gardens to produce food all summer long will give Collingwood's vulnerable population a way to ease some of their financial strain, allowing them to use this money for their other necessitates. Over the last three years of our community garden program, we have received some very powerful testimonies from individuals and families. These testimonies speak to the importance of this program in our community. “The price of fresh vegetables at the grocery store is so expensive. This is great to have fresh produce right here”. – local resident “We went home last week and used everything we got to make a soup. We plan on freezing some for the winter”. – local resident “Wow! Something positive is happening here and it’s so great to see”. – OPP officer at Simcoe County Housing “Thank you for all that you do. We absolutely love it when you come over here. It is nice to feel like a community and talk with one another as well as get fresh produce”. – local resident