Construction Group Donates 'Farm In A Box' To London Food Bank
Author of the article:
Sep 28, 2023 • 4-minute read
A shipping container turned into a hydroponic greenhouse will mark a new front in London’s battle for food security.
The London and District Construction Association announced Thursday it’s donating a sea can – a 12-metre shipping container – and the labour and materials to create a “farm in a box” for the London food bank.
“The best way to get off the food inflation treadmill is to start to grow your own crops,” Mike Carter, executive director of the association, said as the London food bank launched its annual Thanksgiving food drive.
The hydroponic operation will produce more than 1.4-hectares worth of a regular farm’s yield in leafy greens, all year long, he said.
“So, you have a constant flow of highly nutritious food that can be available for folks who need it,” Carter said. “Our members are uniquely capable of building a farm in a box. We’re very good at building the structures that farmers need.”
Construction association members have donated about $750,000 worth of food during the past seven years and will continue to donate, Carter said.
But it’s clear money and donations alone aren’t making residents of the city and region more food secure, he said.
Food security is defined as physical and economic access to safe, nutritious food.
“We’re like a duck, we’re treading water really fast just to try to keep up, because food inflation just eats into everything at an astonishing rate,” Carter said. The container should be ready by spring, he said.
The donation comes as the construction association marks its 125th anniversary. Association members include contractors, manufacturers and suppliers of construction material and equipment and other sector -related companies.
“We decided to do a legacy Initiative so that when we hit 150, folks then can look back and say, we did something that had lasting impact on on the community. We like to think we actually build communities,” Carter said.
The first container is a pilot project, likely supported with services on the construction association’s property, he said.
He expects others in the construction sector, including developers, to join and expand the initiative, Carter said.
“We hope and expect it’s the way of the future. You can put one on any development. Fanshawe (College) could have some for their students. Western (University) could have something for their students. It’s a fairly sort of straightforward concept once you start the process.”
Since spring, London food bank co-director Glen Person has been urging city hall and other organizations to renew efforts to increase food security in London.
The London food bank continues to benefit from strong donor support, but other food banks in Canada are closing or rationing supplies and some organizations in the city have shut their smaller food banks down, he said.
With the number of London food bank clients rising 91 per cent during the past two years, “we can’t possibly keep up with it,” Pearson said.
“This farm in the box is the idea that you’re not asking people to donate, you’re not trying to save up your money and go to a grocery store, you’re growing your own food as a community.”
By the end of the year, the food bank likely will have helped close to 40,000 different Londoners, co-director Jane Roy said.
“Basically 10 per cent of the population is relying on on assistance. Even though our numbers are going up, our hamper size is not going down,” she said. “So, all we’re asking again is that the public join us. The public has consistently responded with both food and money. It’s continually made a difference.”
Lead photo: London and District Construction Association board chairperson Scott Masse, left, London food bank co-director Glen Pearson and construction association executive director Mike Carter announce a new food security effort on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, rebuilding a shipping container into a hydroponic farm operation. (Randy Richmond/The London Free Press)