Editor:
In 1999, 35 million small family plots produced 90 per cent of Russia's potatoes,
77 per cent of vegetables, 87 per cent of fruits, 59 per cent of meat and 49 per cent of milk.
In 2003 through the small Private Garden Plot Act, the Russian government has offered its' citizens free of charge plots of land in private inheritable ownership to grow food. The plots are one to three hectares in size.
Compare this to North America where families lose their homes and family farms, are burdened by huge debt, where young people cannot afford the price of land and only a miserable 0.6 per cent of farming is organic.
This spring commit to growing food. Imagine all of our yards stitched together to form a beautiful farm quilt, where each garden helps to create a more sustainable community.
Learn more from the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden Society and their demonstration garden on Mason Road in Sechelt. Connect with One Straw Society and their Grow Your Own Garden and Live and Learn programs.
Support the local farmers at our farmers' markets in Sechelt, Roberts Creek and Gibsons.
Thanks to pioneers in my neighborhood such as Giodora's Gardens that are community leaders in a world where local food is good for people and the environment. As the timeless Greek proverb says, "A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. ''
Denise Lagassé
Halfmoon Bay
