The Synergy Foundation’s Food Eco District (FED) is continuing to make strides towards improving food security in the Greater Victoria Region. In support of this ambition, FED created the My FED Farm program in 2020 as a means of addressing the barriers to accessing healthy food that the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted. In its first year the My FED Farm program was able to supply over 500 homes with garden kits that contained planters, soil, plant starts, and informational content. This year, through the help of generous partners like West Coast Seeds, we have been able to continue to support those in our community most at risk of food insecurity.

Grow bags filled with soil and plants, person watering in the background.

Watering plants in grow bags at the My FED Farm

The My FED Farm program relies upon the generosity of our volunteer group, and the support of local partners like West Coast Seeds. As a result of their support this year, the program has been able to expand its scope as a means of reaching more individuals in our community. Most recently the Food Eco District was able to create a rooftop garden space at the Our Place Society in Victoria. The underutilized rooftop space, now turned food garden will support the over 1250 meals that the Our Place Society kitchen provides to the community every day.
 
Partnerships with community organizations, and the continuation of our work reaching individual homes would not be possible without the generous support we have received from organizations like West Coast Seeds. Moving forward we hope to expand and grow our program through the creation of the Food Eco District’s mobile greenhouse. This project will allow us to grow more of our own plant starts that we can then distribute to communities across Greater Victoria.

Grow bags with trowel, plant, and FED (Synergy Foundation’s Food Eco District (FED)) cards.

Visit the Food Eco District website to learn more.

These projects are motivated by our commitment to transforming how our society interacts with our food, particularly in urban environments. Food plays a powerful role in our lives, and has the ability to transform the way we see and interact with the world.  Many of our garden recipients have expressed how growing their own food has been a point of connection in the face of the isolation many of us have felt amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This benefit of connection and community building continues to drive our passion for promoting a future in which access to healthy, locally grown food is a right, not a privilege.

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