Aurora looks to take a bite out of hunger with food charter

Residents of all income levels will be invited to grow fruits and vegetables, join education programs

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 2, 2021
Lisa Queen

Growing up in an Italian family in Toronto, Coun. Sandra Humfryes only had to walk into her backyard to pick fresh fruits and vegetables from the plants and trees her parents lovingly tended.

Years later, through her work with Welcome Table, a weekly drop-in community dinner including for residents in need, Humfryes saw how hunger, often hidden, can gnaw at the lives of families even in an affluent community like Aurora.

That need has only grown during the COVID-19 pandemic as many people lost jobs or struggled with precarious employment.

Now, Humfryes is spearheading a campaign to introduce a food charter, a document setting out principles related to food security and acting as inspiration for a community to develop food policies.

A draft is expected to come to council in October.

In addition, the campaign will see the town and residents of all income levels grow vegetable and fruit seedlings in greenhouses at the Joint Operations Centre on Industrial Parkway, which can then be transplanted to home gardens, whether in large backyards or apartment windowsill boxes.

The campaign also aims to grow a community food education program.

Organizers will also reach out to work with community partners such as the Aurora Food Pantry and York Region Food Network.

“It’s a whole food charter education program. I think it'll be a great program that everyone can participate in. Kids, parents, everyone, all together, can see that you can grow your own fruits and vegetables at home,” Humfryes said.

“Everybody should be entitled to fresh fruits and vegetables, produce. Every Aurora resident should have that as something that comes with living in this town. And that's what's going to be developed and documented. And when we move forward with this program, that that's something we're going to live by and protect.”

A key message will be that everyone, regardless of income or circumstances, can be involved with providing their own healthy food, Humfryes said.

“To me, that’s actually one of the most important parts of this program. I believe it will be something very, very valuable that we can teach ourselves and our kids and our kids’ kids, how to grow your own food,” she said.

“It’s a life lesson for them to know that anytime. ‘I can grow my own fresh food.’ To me, it’s essential.”

Kasie Colbeck, with Project Let-Us Aurora, a community Facebook group of residents growing their own food and sharing it with people in need, applauds the food charter and food security project.

“It’s important because there is an increasing need for fresh, healthy foods and the more grocery prices increase, the less accessible it is to get your daily requirements of fruits and vegetables and everything that’s good for us,” she said.

“Having a food security motion within the town is fantastic because it allows us the opportunity to strategically think of ways we can use existing resources in the town to grow food and to provide that food to people in need. Also, there’s the educational aspect as well.”

Alison Collins-Mrakas, wife of Mayor Tom Mrakas, works on Project Let-Us and is also with Welcome Table.

“Things like food charters are really about setting a vision for the town,” she said.

“Over the pandemic, it really kind of brought (it) home. Food insecurity has been around and people have been aware of it but during the pandemic, it was pretty obvious that many, many folks are experiencing pressures they weren’t previously experiencing.”

Before the pandemic, Welcome Table provided meals for 100 people a week. That has grown to as many as 140 weekly, Collins-Mrakas said.

Sara Tienkamp, the town’s manager of parks and fleet, said the project dovetails with other food-growing programs the town is involved in.

That includes land the town provided for a community garden on Industrial Parkway South operated by the York Region Food Network, and a new park being built next year on Hartwell Way that will include a community garden.