COMMUNITY GARDEN SOCIETY AWARDED $10,000

The local Alberta Active Creative Engaged Communities (ACE) evaluation committee has decided to award the $10,000 seed money to the newly formed Hinton Community Garden Society.

The Hinton Community Garden will be a productive, self-supporting, community greenhouse and outdoor garden. The goal is to plant the outside garden in spring of 2010, and to plant inside a greenhouse by the spring of 2011. The project will be promoted as a unique and innovative solution to high food prices, greenhouse gas emissions, and social fragmentation, eventually run as a non-profit company operating under the direction of the Society.

Mayor Glenn Taylor states that, “This community driven project will not only showcase Hinton as a progressive community, it will also showcase the desire for a greener way of doing things. The seed money for this project will go a long way in the planning for this project. I expect that the volunteers of Hinton will once again make Hinton proud by dedicating their time and energy to a distinctive project.”

The community garden has 3 objectives:
1. To provide food security to Hinton, by ensuring a perennial supply of fresh, organic produce.
2. To reduce Hinton’s greenhouse gas emissions, by reducing the fossil fuels consumed in the production, processing, and transportation of imported produce.
3. To foster social cohesion and inclusiveness by providing a “Third Place” where people of all ages can participate in gardening.

At a public meeting on January 12, 2009, a proposal for an all-season, organic, community-operated garden was presented to an audience of 36 to determine the level of community interest. In the three months since this meeting was held;
* nine more public meetings have been held,
* an email list of 75 interested people has been maintained,
* a non-profit Society has been formed,
* preliminary research has been conducted,
* letters of support have been received from numerous individuals and organizations.

For more information please contact Jerome Cranston at 780-865-3809 or email hintoncommunitygarden@gmail.com.