A week after launching an online guide to local food across the Peterborough area, Local Food Peterborough has launched a new Facebook group for people planning to grow food this season.
The “Grow Food Peterborough” Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/growfoodpeterborough is intended for people who are experienced in growing food as well as those who are new to growing.
Members can share questions, ideas, and information and find inspiration. Some experienced members, including local farmers, are volunteering as mentors in the group.
Local Food Peterborough is an initiative of members of the Future of Food and Farming Working Group of Sustainable Peterborough, formed in 2012.
The working group’s co-chairs are Dawn Berry Merriam, partner with Merriam & Associates and a local farmer, and Pat Learmonth, director of Farms at Work, a non-profit regional project supporting new farmers, food system development, and farmland protection in east central Ontario. Working group members include Jillian Bishop of local food organization Nourish and manager of the Peterborough Downtown Farmers’ Market, local food activist Linda Slavin, Peterborough Public Health dietitian Lauren Kennedy, and more.
The new Grow Food Peterborough Facebook group will complement the work of Nourish, known for food skills workshops that teach participants to cook, grow, and preserve their own food.
Nourish also coordinates community gardens throughout the area. In related news, the Ontario government announced on Saturday (April 24) that it would be permitting the use of allotment gardens and community gardens across the province during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Those wishing to join the Grow Food Peterborough group will have to answer three brief questions. Approved members of the Facebook group can directly post pictures of their growing projects, as well as questions and comments. Businesses are not permitted to advertise in the group.
Farms at Work is facilitating the Facebook group, as well as maintaining and developing the Local Food Peterborough website at localfoodptbo.ca and its social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The organization is seeking charitable donations for website maintenance and development as well as promotion of local food and any special projects. To donate, visit tidescanadagifts.secure.force.com/donate/?id=a304N000002vH3K.
