Canada: 1,000 people on wait lists for community gardening in Waterloo Region

Network chair focused on increasing opportunities for people to get involved

Waterloo Chronicle
May 1, 2023

Excerpt:

There are about 1,000 people currently waiting for garden space in urban areas across the region, according to the Waterloo Region Community Garden Network.

Doug Jones, chair, said co-ordinators hold the lists for the 98 gardens that comprise the network and that they operate independently and autonomously for the most part, with about 1,500 people.

“What we want to do is move the wait lists to the network website and then help people find ways they can achieve their own goals,” he said. “We’re rebooting the website and we have a volunteer page coming up.”

Jones said the regional garden network works with local municipalities and groups like KW Urban Harvester and Young City Growers to expand the number of community gardens and increase opportunities for people who want to grow food.

“In some areas, gentrification in the garden means you’re no longer seeing as many people who need to grow their own food; you’re seeing people who have enough money to have the pleasure of growing their own food,” he said.

People who aren’t earning enough money to feel secure about their food supply tend to work longer hours and usually don’t have a lot of spare time or access to a car, Jones noted.

“We’re really thinking about people who have language barriers, physical barriers and mental health barriers being able to access more garden space so they can do the things that fit in with their capacity.”

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