Fighting Hunger: Making More Public Space Edible

In the last week, the city of Vancouver, B.C. has announced it will plant over 150,000 fruit and nut trees in its city.

The goal?

"Street trees play an important role in helping Vancouver adapt to climate change, manage stormwater run-off, support biodiversity, and even provide food," Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a statement to the city's council last week.

Recently our town invested in beautiful flowering trees along the esplanade on our street. They are not fruit trees, but do drop "berries" in the fall. The mess is no better or worse than a crab apple tree.

Our town also has The Farm at Stratford a non-profit community garden, where some of the food is donated to our local food banks. It is a great first step, but it isn't enough. This year, the Sterling House food pantry's cupboards were bare and the volunteers struggled to have enough food for our neighbors in need.

Would the town consider a future investment in feeding our neighbors? Planting fruit trees in public spaces, and making our beautiful green spaces edible?

What do you think?