A gardening program meant to serve families experiencing food insecurity has been shut down.
Known as City Farms, about five acres of land at the Old Man Creek Nursery was used to grow fresh produce for donation to Edmonton’s Food Bank.
But the program has been discontinued as part of budget cuts by the City of Edmonton.
“We had shed some tears a little bit,” said Tamiscan-Bencz Knight, manager of strategic relationships & partnerships at Edmonton’s Food Bank.
“It was a tangible work environment. They were growing food. That was good in and of itself.”
The program started in 2020, with more than 200 volunteers getting their hands dirty by planting and growing a variety of fruits and vegetables.
According to the city, over the four years the program operated, more than 250,000 pounds of produce were harvested and donated to Edmonton’s Food Bank.
Aabout 40,000 people rely on the food bank’s hamper program each month and the loss of produce from City Farms means there will be less fresh food for low-income families.
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Bencz-Knight said the team is exploring options to keep a version of City Farms running.
“With certain funding losses, maybe if we supply all the seeds. We supply more volunteers to support it?” she suggested.
Pop-up community gardens have also taken a hit in Edmonton.
They started during the pandemic to address the need for more green space and tackle food insecurity.
Junetta Jamerson, community garden faciliator with Sustainable Food Edmonton, said funding was important to get start-ups on their feet.
“It helps garden get established, it helps them to increase productivity it helps to expand ability to grow. And it’s all gone,” Jamerson said.
“We’re at the point now, peak food insecurity, that these gardens have no support.”
In a statement, the city said council made the decision to cut funding in order to reduce a larger 2025 tax increase — cutting a want so the city could focus on maintaining needs.
“City council approved a number of budget adjustments in December 2024, including reductions to several Parks and Roads Services programs, such as the discontinuation of the City Farm,” the statement read.
“These reductions lead to an increased focus on what is considered core services — work that is essential to keep Edmonton’s open spaces and mobility network accessible and safe for Edmontonians.”
Funding that was dedicated to City Farms, will be re-directed to the city’s horticulture program.
“Existing horticulture staff were redeployed during the pandemic to focus on this work. By discontinuing the City Farms program, the budget has been redirected back into the horticulture budget to support core work in maintaining our growing city’s increasing horticulture inventory (e.g. shrub bed maintenance, including weed control),” the statement read.
The city added it has offered to help the Food Bank explore other solutions, and will continue to support the Food Bank in other ways, including its ‘Stuff-a-Bus’ program.
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