A local sustainability champion recently presented Airdrie City council with information regarding a proposed community urban agriculture task force, which would be designed to help tackle food waste and get Airdronians growing food locally.
The Aug. 15 presentation was spearheaded by Emily Marston, a lifelong Airdrie resident who grew up on a local farm. Marston is currently serving as project manager at the University of Calgary’s Artic Institute of North America. Having graduated from Olds College in 2018 with a diploma in environmental stewardship and rural planning, Marston is currently working towards a bachelor’s degree in environmental management at Royal Roads University.
She has also been heavily involved in volunteerism in the community and founded the Mud Pie Project to help improve Airdrie’s community connections, self-sustainability, and environmental areas through community gardening and the formation of an urban agriculture collective.
“Mud Pie Project is a hands-on and online environmental education organization made up of farmers and environmental educators that focus on environmental education and self-sustainable practices within the urban community,” Marston said during the presentation.
According to Marston, the motivation behind the Mud Pie Project was a lack of agriculture know-how among urban residents, coupled with rising inflation. She said the project has two focuses – being self-sustainable and reconnecting to the environment.
“The reason why I created [The Mud Pie Project] is the cost of living has increased by almost six per cent in one year,” she said. “Food prices have increased almost nine per cent and most importantly, the Canadian Food Banks have seen a 20 per cent increase in demand since 2020 and that is still going strong.”
She added Canadian obesity rates have increased by 2.5 per cent from 2019 to 2021 – a health issue compounded by a lack of funding towards environmental initiatives, a lack of healthy food, and the increased cost of living.
During the presentation, Marston proposed to council the formation of an urban agriculture collective in Airdrie, which could be accomplished through large plot-based community gardens, partnerships between urban and rural communities and growing areas, or individual partnerships between urban and rural residents.
“An urban agriculture collective allows communities to build an equitable and sustainable food system through garden-based learning, growing, and sharing,” she said.
She added the project is increasingly relevant to Airdrie, as the Airdrie Food Bank helped feed 40,000 people in 2016, and the Airdrie Horticulture Society provided 104 plots for community gardens, with a 140-person waitlist from 2016.
“This collective would improve youth volunteer programs and increase community engagement,” Marston added.
She said the Mud Pie Project currently includes volunteers and communities of all ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, and from both urban and rural areas. Furthermore, she said the project helps reduce food waste and costs, improves mental health, and promotes a healthy sustainable lifestyle.
The environmental advocate stated Airdrie is a leader in environmental movements across Alberta and Canada.
“First and foremost, Airdrie is amazing,” she said. “We are a huge leader when it comes to improving environmental issues in the city.”
As evidence of that claim, she brought up how Airdrie is home to Canada’s largest municipal rooftop solar PV system, offers wetland protection through Ducks Unlimited Canada, is home to a backyard hen pilot project, and is recognized as “Bee City” through the preservation and protection work regarding pollinator habitats (and only the second city in Alberta to do so).
“Bees are a huge sustainability issue in our ecosystem right now, but Airdrie has done what they can right now to protect that and get people involved, so this is the reason why I think Airdrie is the best place to really push our environmental sustainability lifestyle,” Marston said.
She added Airdrie is also home to community orchards and gardens, including orchards in each of the city’s four quadrants – Monklands Community Garden and Orchard in the northwest, Plainsmen Orchard in the northeast, Ravenswood Orchard in the southeast, and Windsong Orchard in the southwest.
However, Marston noted the orchards are poorly distinguished, with little to no information on what is being grown or how Airdrie residents can get involved. She stated there is no planned public involvement for participation on growing, maintaining, and harvesting of areas.
“The orchards are no longer large enough to support a growing city or in priority areas like low-income households and senior living areas,” she said.
“My grandma is 93 and during COVID, she was stuck in her house the entire time until she came out to our house and got in the garden.
“Her mental health improved, her mobility improved, she was eating healthily again and I would love to see that throughout the city as well.”
Marston also proposed improving the City’s community orchards including better signage of vegetation, orchard areas including informational boards or QR codes on trees.
In addition, she suggested incorporating a community gardening schedule where locals can participate and volunteer in the gardening process throughout the growing season.
She said her goal is to partner with the City of Airdrie to help improve the city’s four orchards and begin an urban agriculture collective by the spring of 2023.
She also proposed the idea of allowing community gardens on dwellings to grow a large variety of fruits and vegetables for four to six months, which could help reduce grocery bills and the carbon footprint of Airdrie residents.
The urban collective would include a partnership between Airdrie and rural Rocky View residents and local organizations and programs.
“This will provide a basic and local environmental education to city dwellers and help to collect excess food for the Airdrie Food Bank,” she said.
Following the presentation, Coun. Al Jones said the presentation was timely considering the world is facing food security issues.
“We’re over seven billion [people] and with climate change and inconvenient wars, food security is a bigger issue than it ever was,” he said. “And we are seeing it in the pricing at the grocery stores.”
He said he applauds Marston on the initiative and hopes to discuss a partnership further.
Coun. Tina Petrow stated environmental sustainability is something that has always been very important to her. She remarked on the work the City has done to protect is bee population.
“Airdrie has always done a good job of trying to support [sustainability] so this is a great step forward,” she said.
Councillors voted unanimously to work together with the Mud Pie Project and other interested members of the community to form an urban agriculture collective and to determine next steps.
They also voted to direct administration to increase communication and interactions around the community orchards to assist residents in utilizing them.
