“success stories: local agri -food activities in the northwest … · 2019. 5. 20. ·...

www.northern-roots.ca @NorthernRootsYK

The 8th Circumpolar Agricultural Conference & Arctic Inaugural Food Summit Girdwood, Alaska: September 29 to October 3, 2013

Lone Sorensen Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada

“Success Stories: local agri-food activities in the Northwest Territories, Canada, and

stimulating Yellowknife’s local food economy”


Presentation Overview • Three Introductions • NWT & Yellowknife statistics • The Yellowknife Commons Co-operative

Ltd & Farmers’ Market • Northern Farm Training Institute • Challenges & Hurdles • Northern Roots – programs and projects

Presenter

Presentation Notes

As this is the overview, it’s best to keep it as concise as possible. I took out the “Northern Roots” section and edited it.


Presenter

Presentation Notes

First of all let me point out………that if you point your finger as someone else you have three pointing back at yourself. But if you point your carrot at someone, perhaps they will want to take a bite and be changed forever by the sweet, fresh taste.….. We can grow incredible root vegetables in the Northwest Territories, and I really believe that it is the root vegetables that will put us on the good side of food security. More about carrots later.


Founder of Northern Roots: A local approach to food production and community building

• Reinventing local food

security • Local food skills education

programs • Networking and linking key

people • Living it and getting it done!

Meet Lone Sorensen


Founder of Yellowknife Commons Cooperative “Germinating a local food solution in Yellowknife” • Community based research in

2012, MA Interdisciplinary Studies

• Farmer focused co-op • Lead on Yellowknife Farmers’

Market • Wishing to continue applied

research – future Ph.D. candidate

• Expand local food solution in NWT

Meet Amy Lizotte


• Developed the first ever (as far as we know) NWT carrot seed, named River Root.

• Expert organic farmer and teacher. She was born and resides in Hay River.

Meet Jackie Milne President of the Territorial Farmers Association and founder of the Northern Farm Training Institute.


Northwest Territories, Canada

Acreage Under 10 acres 15 10 – 69 acres 11 70 – 129 acres 1 180 – 239 acres 1 240 – 399 acres 1

Average age of farm operators, 2011 NWT Canada of all farm operators 57.3 54 on farms with one operator 61.1 56 on farms with two or more operators 48 52.6

Farming statistics Population 43,349

Presenter

Presentation Notes

All on the same wave length haha


Farming Statistics

Beef cattle ranching 2Chicken egg production 1Apiculture 1Horse and other equine production 1Other animal production 3Potato Farming 1Mushroom production 1Food crops grown under cover 3Nursery and tree production 1Floriculture production 5Hay Farming 3Fruit and vegetable 2Misc crop farming 5TOTAL 29

Derived from Statistics Canada 2011 Census, Farm and farm operator data

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Current farming areas: Hay River Norman Wells Beaufort Delta/Inuvik Fort Simpson Yellowknife Fort Smith Fort Liard


Yellowknife

• Population: 19,752

• Capital of Northwest Territories, Canada

• Lattitude: 62°

• Mining heritage

• Days above 0 °C : 123

• Annual precipitation: less than 300 mm

• 231 Community gardeners


The Yellowknife Commons Co-operative Ltd.

Objectives • Increase access to

agricultural land in the Yellowknife region

• Revive Yellowknife Farmers’ Market

• Promote and educate on local food production

Presenter

Presentation Notes

We formed the Co-op to be the organizational body to advocate for farmer interests, and organize the farmers’ market We based ourselves on the Hay River Commons Co-operative which organizes the Hay River winter market


October 2012

November 2012

January 2013

May 2013

June 4, 2013

Sept 17, 2013

Yellowknife Farmers’ Market: New Beginnings

Yellowknife Urban Farming Vision Community based research (MA Interdisciplinary Studies)

Yellowknife Commons Co-op Ltd City of Yellowknife, Council Meeting (Urban Farming Development Meeting)

Yellowknife Farmers’ Market Opening Day! Closing Day

www.northern-roots.ca @NorthernRootsYK Rebecca Alty, City Councillor

Mayor Mark Heyck


Successes of the YK Farmers’ Market

• Total market vendor sales sum between roughly $10,000 – $13,000 per night • $140,000 - $182,000 total vendor sales over the summer • $504,000 – $655,200 total economic impact in Yellowknife • Well received by public, estimated average of customers 300 – 400 weekly


• Stricter guidelines surrounding locally made foods and products • Financial sustainability of the market • Need to hire a market coordinator • Capacity to coordinate year round (meet the demand) • Need to establish infrastructure • Is the Famers’ Market encouraging the growth of new farmers?

- Currently assessing this with food growers who participated in the market

Challenges of the YK Farmers’ Market

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Hugely popular market started this year. People of NWT are hungry for REAL food. Mayor and City of YK very supportive, working with us to find and establish land to grow more food for market.


Next Steps: Winter 2013/2014 • Hosting a Winter Market and AGM • Farmers’ Market Strategic Development Planning • Business Planning Farmer Co-op • Municipal and private partner cooperation to

break land • Building networks and partnerships


Testimonial from market

……thank you folks for the hard work that you've put into organizing and hosting the market. Your event has changed our downtown and our city. You've improved the quality of life of Yellowknifers and you've given entrepreneurs a great venue for testing out ideas. You've also created a tourist attraction that greatly enhances our visitors' summertime experience. Great job. Thank you.

Adrian Bell, City of Yellowknife Councillor


• Teaching how to grow and preserve local food, manage a business and be teachers in communities

• Workshops are designed around the growing season, with 28 students from 11 commuunities (2013)

• Students reported increased yield, new knowledge of local edibles, new greenhouses, and gardens built, workshops held and food preserved for winter

Northern Farm Training Institute


Growing Food in Yellowknife

Challenges • Lack of arable land in many areas • Lack of access to arable land • Soil fertility • Low precipitation • High costs

Presenter

Presentation Notes

In addition: general ignorance about growing skills, belief system is different. Funding cutoff on March 31, no continuety.


• Government budget year is out of tune with nature’s seasons • Lack of willingness to collaborate from some GNWT departments • Government staff and students without growing skills are teaching

and controlling Growing Forward funding • Local aboriginal governments have been denied bloc funding in

2013 • Lack of Government facilitation in the creation of a local food

security network • Roles in creating local food security are not yet defined • Burnout for key people on the ground doing the skilled work

Hurdles to Developing Local Food Security


“I teach people how to grow their own food”

Lone Sorensen

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Grew up in Denmark in agriculture, went to Organic Farming School. Immigrated to Canada 25 years ago. Grow my own food. Years of teaching public local food growing workshops lead to taking my passion to becoming my job.


Successful Projects • Community Gardening

Mentorship Programs in N’Dilo and Dettah

• Indoor School Gardening Programs –From seed to plate

• City of Yellowknife Organic Gardening Workshops

• Guided gardening tours

• Home garden consultations and support

• Young Offenders Food Skills Program

• Neighborhood Garden support

• Developing growing devices

• Sail boat gardening

• Growing food to feed my family


Organic Gardening Workshops

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Workshops February through October, through YK Garden Collective and through City of YK, incl. Edible Encounters, from planning to starting seedlings, to North of 60 gardening techniques, to soil fertility and preparation, garden maintenance, harvest, food storage and preservation.


Community Gardening Mentorship N’Dilo

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Trust is earned. Spirit Garden Teachings, mixing Dene Traditions and Rituals with practical food gardening skills. Knowledge sharing. Roy potato story. Fred, the hunter turned gardener – grow things for the caribou stew – macaroni tree haha. I learned to honour land from Dene (tobacco) Kids are knowledgable from learning inside the classroom. Kids, adults and elders grow together. Big big Chief Bill Erasmus very supportive, says this is antidote to pain from residential school.


School Gardening Programs

From January to April, 2013, 460 students and 44 teachers and education staff participated in two regions

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Starting seedlings, devouring sunflower shoots. These kids have an outdoor garden plot in the N’dilo community garden. Starting an Edible School Yard this fall, and continuing indoor school gardening program. Lunch program that we can produce food for.


School Gardening Programs

Inuvik


The Edible Wall Student Testimonial: “We had no idea what we could grow”

Presenter

Presentation Notes

The Mobile Edible Wall was a great teaching tool. Students were surprised to learn about all the ways they can grow and all the food they can grow. Lettuces, kale, dill, 3 types basil, swiss chard, green beans, tomatoes. Completed the pilot project in June and took Wall to Young Offenders to re-plant outside. Potatoes and broad beans.


Product Development Developing new growing devices for functionality, easy shipping, aesthetics and cost effectiveness. Collaborating with Sunvision Asia Limited, International specialists in product design, engineering and outsourced production in Asia, Agrotech A/S Denmark, recognized consultants and experts in agricultural research.


Young Offenders Program

• Edible education

• Full spectrum literacy

• Transferable, essential life skills

• Produced 178.554 Kg on 210 square feet

• Staff, teachers and young offenders learned

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Pilot program. Very well received. Learning slow food, patience, valuable skills YO can take back to their communities. Therapeutic, healing, back to the land. Sacred Hopi Tobacco planting for ceremony. Both YO and staff are learning. Continue program indoors in fall with Mobile Edible Wall. Expand program next year to become part of regular programming. Write into curriculum for YO school program. Next steps: tipi greenhouse, spirit garden (or medicine wheel garden), small farm animal husbandry (chickens, rabbits and I will put a lamb or two in my suitcase)


Young Offenders Food Skills Pilot Program 2013


Sailboat Gardening on Great Slave Lake (the lake as big as an ocean!)

Sailing for weeks without fresh food in past years.

2013 pilot on-board garden: Finding fresh food solution

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Workshops February through October, through YK Garden Collective and through City of YK, incl. Edible Encounters, from planning to starting seedlings, to North of 60 gardening techniques, to soil fertility and preparation, garden maintenance, harvest, food storage and preservation.


The Future of Agriculture in the NWT

• Agricultural education must become a priority in all governments and communities. We must ensure higher quality teaching!!

• Connecting with our roots – mixed heritage –learning from and with each other in collaboration to continue merge hunting, growing and harvesting

• Develop ‘North of 60’ food growing skills apprentice-ship program

Presenter

Presentation Notes

- 5 year plan: including funding Share knowledge: locally, territory wide and circumpolar wide Get govt. depts on board – especially ITI with Growing Forward II Agricultural Policy – no pesticides, no GMO’s, no GE Perhaps Agricultural Conference in Yellowknife in the future


The Future of Agriculture in the NWT

• Organic, restorative agricultural development guidelines, policies and legislation without pesticides and without GMOs

• Educate, teach and mentor local people – minimum 5 year plan

• Set up applied research projects that triples up as practicum for agri-students and for cooperative growing for market gardeners

• We are a blank slate! With support we can easily teach 4000 NWT people in the next 5 years

Presenter

Presentation Notes

- 5 year plan: including funding Share knowledge: locally, territory wide and circumpolar wide Get govt. depts on board – especially ITI with Growing Forward II Agricultural Policy – no pesticides, no GMO’s, no GE Perhaps Agricultural Conference in Yellowknife in the future


Local Food Security – Watch it Grow! Thank you to the people who supported me from the beginning and continue to do so

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Thank you for your attention. Do you have any questions? I must give a sincere thank you to Elsie De Roose, Territorial Nutritionist for the Government of the Northwest Territories. Without her commitment to her work as a health expert and without her taking very seriously the responsibility to spend government money in a manner that is cost effective, preventative and with the potential for an enormous positive impact on not only the local economies, but on people’s and communities’ health, several NWT wide food security initiatives would be without funding. Elsie’s diligent work to do her part in the development of local food security such as funding the NWT wide Local Food Learning and Leadership program (Ecology North 2012), The Indoor School Gardening Program (Territorial Farmers Association 2013 and 2014), the Food Security Networking meeting (spring 2013) and the Gardening Mentorship Program in N’dilo (Yellowknives Dene First Nation 2013) would not have been possible. Elsie has also worked hard to encourage other Government of the Northwest Territories Departments to match her contributions towards creating local food security, so far with minimal results. Thank you Elsie for your trust in our projects!


• Researchers, gardeners and laymen from Canada, Denmark, Greenland, Norway, Sweden and USA.

• Promotes concrete cooperation between the three nations across a diverse range of scientific, environmental, economic, commercial and educational areas.

Joint Committee project on Arctic agriculture



Activities: • Research on microorganisms

associated with arctic agriculture

• Dissemination of results and establishing of local food security projects

• Organizing International conferences (Greenland June/July 2013)



Being drawn together as a group by the love of our work and meeting in Greenland in 2013, we discovered something very special: When two or more work together, miracles can happen ………


…..we can walk on water!

Photo courtesy of Greenland Agricultural Advisory Service in Qaqortoq


Collaborators

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Highlight YK Dene First Nation Department of Health and Social Services, Elsie De Roose, Territorial Nutritionist.

“success stories: local agri -food activities in the northwest … · 2019. 5. 20. ·...

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