Coronavirus strips Aurora vegetable gardens of sense of community

#homegrown: No potlucks, sharing stories and seeds at community gardens this year

Yorkregion.com
May 7, 2020
Lisa Banner

The coronavirus has put an end to families gathering at the Aurora Community Garden this season, sharing stories and swapping seeds.

As of the Banner’s deadline, the Aurora-based York Region Food Network was “still up in the air” about what the season will look at its allotment on Industrial Parkway South, as well as four other gardens it operates in Newmarket and Vaughan.

But one way or another, this will be a dour year, said executive director Kate Greavette.

The gardens may remain closed, or may open under strict rules that would have to be approved by York Region Public Health.

The provincial government declared community gardens an essential service on April 25 after ordering them closed on March 30.

The 56 plots at the Aurora Community Garden are usually a place with a sense of community, Greavette said.

People of different generations and backgrounds share their love of producing food and participate in workshops, potlucks and garden parties.

‘It’s really this amazing hub to be at, and we’re quite disappointed and sad this year that we have lost that element of the gardens,” Greavette said.

“But we are glad the province of Ontario has classified community gardens as an essential service. They are giving community gardens that respect.”

A spokesperson for the Aurora Farmers Market and Artisan Fair could not be reached for comment by the Banner’s deadline.

However, the group’s website says that opening day has been postponed until coronavirus restrictions imposed by the town have been lifted.                                

“The many restrictions and regulations needing to be implemented for us to be open at this time would make your market experience stressful and less than desirable,” the website said.

This season will “absolutely” be different for farmers’ markets, which will have to demonstrate to public health units that they are selling prepackaged food, aren’t allowing non-food items to be sold and have proper protocols in place governing issues such as physical distancing and available hand sanitizer, said Catherine Clark, executive director of Farmers’ Markets Ontario.

“Markets are to be considered essential services. They are not events. It’s a shop and go (approach),” she said.

“It’s (usually) a social thing -- you meet your friends, you’re in a park. No, as organizers, that’s not the way the markets are going to operate this year. You’re going to be asked to move along. You gotta get in and you gotta get out.”

York Region Public Health works closely with farmers’ markets, especially now to ensure COVID-19 precautions are taken, said Scott Cholewa, manager of infectious diseases.

Markets are encouraged to have their vendors set up so customers can preorder and prepay online, have curbside pickup and have items prepackaged to eliminate handling, he said.

York Farm Fresh, a nonprofit organization uniting farmers, farmers’ markets and others promoting local food growth in York Region, has a section on its website, yorkfarmfresh.com, showing the measures a number of local food producers are taking to provide safe, local food during the pandemic.

On April 25, the provincial government changed course to declare community food gardens an essential service.

Local medical officers of health will provide advice, recommendations and instructions that the gardens must meet in order to operate, such as physical distancing and cleaning and disinfecting practices.

And on April 27, the federal and provincial governments announced an investment of up to $2.5 million to help the agri-food sector expand online, providing more opportunities for producers to grow their business and offer more food choices for families who are shopping from home during the COVID-19 outbreak.

“This investment will provide support as businesses quickly adapt to new and different ways of providing affordable and nutritious food to Canadians,” Newmarket-Aurora MPP Christine Elliott said in a statement.