Initiative of Food Matters Manitoba challenges Manitobans to spend $10 a week of their grocery money on a local food purchase
An urban-based food issues think-tank is challenging Manito-bans to make this the year they start buying more local food and connecting with the people who grow it.
The Dig In Challenge is a five-month initiative of Food Matters Manitoba, being launched in May asking 500 families to commit a portion of their food budget sourcing locally produced food.
Their challenge also aims to open up an ongoing dialogue between urbanites and farmers, while teaching gardening, cooking, and food preservation skills as a means of encouraging lasting lifestyle changes related to food, said Sagan Morrow, Dig In Challenge co-ordinator with FMM.
Read Also
Canada’s ‘Harvest for Victory’ in the Second World War
Propaganda posters celebrating farming show the legacy of Canadian agriculture during the Second World War.
A series of about 40 workshops are also planned to give people a chance to learn some of the skills they need to change their eating habits, said Morrow.
“Ultimately we just want people to make lifestyle changes towards eating local food,” she said. This isn’t another 100-mile diet project, or push to get people making drastic changes in their lifestyle, she stressed.
“We’re asking people to make small changes that they’ll keep their whole lives,” she said.
Food goals
They already have about 25 per cent of their 500-family goal reached, she added.
The focus of Dig In is a website where participants can sign on and make their pledge. It’s also a great resource to find and share recipes, learn more about cooking from scratch and share “kitchen wisdom” on matters like dealing with kids who are fussy eaters, said Morrow.
They’ve also created a special link on the site where farmers can post their profile, describing what they produce while making themselves available to those who might want to learn more about their type of farm, or, if available, buy any foodstuffs the farm is direct selling.
That’s where people without links to farmers can “dig in” to what it means to connect with agriculture, by talking directly with farmers, said Morrow.
“Our main goal is to really promote healthy, local, sustainable and fair food in the province and to connect consumers with farmers and to really build community for people to share knowledge,” she said.
Dig In’s workshops will cover topics such as gardening, composting, cooking, canning and preserving — making opportunities to swap tips and learn skills that aren’t accessible to those without connections to those who still have them. An early-May workshop, for example will have people digging into gardening with a “Gardening 101” workshop hosted by the Manitoba Master Gardeners Association.
Another hosted by Men-nonite Central Committee takes a “make Manitoba delicious” approach by offering tips and help with canning and preserving. Fruit Share, a voluntary Winnipeg-based organization, will host another workshop showing people how to identify local fruits, learn about their nutritional value and find out how to optimize use of the abundant apples and other fruits growing in backyards.
Workshops
Food label reading, composting and reducing food waste are other workshop topics.
They’ll be creating webcasts of workshops to posting online as a lasting resource, said Morrow.
“We want to make this accessible and successful for as many people as possible,” she said.
Dig In Challenge will continue each growing season over the next four years and is being supported by Food Matters Manitoba partner organizations.
More information about the campaign, including all the workshops is found at www.DigInManitoba.ca/challenge.
