MOOSOMIN — A successful grant application from the Moosomin Food Share will add to the local community garden this coming growing season. A federal grant worth nearly $30,000 will be dedicated to 10 pre-built garden beds complete with irrigation and fencing to keep hungry herbivores at bay.
“It fell under our jurisdiction of perishable foods, and growing food,” explained Moosomin Food Share Administrator and Manager, Samantha Campbell. “We don’t have the room here at our facility to put that kind of thing in, so we thought the community garden would be a wonderful addition.”
The Food Share experienced first-hand the damage that snacking animals can cause, hence the emphasis on having a fencing solution incorporated along with the raised beds.
“We used to rent a plot from them for the Food Share, but we found that we weren’t getting a good crop because the deer kept coming in and eating everything,” Campbell said. “So this way, with the raised garden beds with the little fence around it, hopefully, that will help deter them from coming in to eat them.”
Installation of the new raised beds is anticipated for this coming spring.
“We’re hoping that we can use them for food bank clients if they would like, and if not, then they are open to the community for whoever would like to use them,” Campbell said.
Funding for the $29,321 project was through the Local Food Infrastructure Fund - Small Scale Projects, which had an intake period last October that offered funding between $25,000 and $100,000. The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada program will have another intake this coming fall and is slated to distribute $23.5 million over three years until completion in March 2027. Goals of the LFIF are to support projects that strengthen community food security and increase both the availability of and accessibility of local, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food.
