Tobique First Nation Community Garden
Community gardens are sprouting up everywhere! In these days of ever rising food costs, and as more folks become aware of the dangers of genetically modified organisms and pesticide and herbicide drenched produce, it only makes sense to grow your own food.
Growing a garden puts us back in touch with the earth and real food, as it is meant to be, fresh from the garden!
There are thousands of varieties of fruits and vegetables upon this planet, yet when we visit the produce section of our supermarkets we are presented with just one variety each of just a few different kinds of vegetables.
Carrots, for instance, come in virtually every colour in the rainbow, yet we generally only see the classic orange variety in the stores.
These limited selections are further usually wrapped and bagged in plastic that is made from petroleum that pollutes the planet both in its manufacture and again when it is thrown out….plastic bags are not biodegradable and will still be mouldering in landfills a thousand years from now, or floating in our oceans in vast drifting islands of plastic debris.
Industrialized farms grow limited crop selections in order to maximize profits, and they grow varieties that are hybridized or genetically modified to be able to truck over long distances.
For instance, I picked up a small mesh bag at a local store recently that was grown in China! Why on earth are we importing garlic from China? New Brunswick is an agricultural Eden, yet much of our produce comes from thousands of miles away.
We need to take back our food sovereignty and growing our own is the way to go!
Stephanie Levesque is the nutritionist at the Negotkuk Health Center, and this year, along with a team of enthusiastic volunteers, she organized a Community Garden Project Contest at Tobique First Nation.
Cash prizes were offered for the best gardens, and the judging was held on August 8.
There were many beautiful and productive gardens to judge this year, and there should be even more people gardening next year!
Stephanie Kelley
Photos courtesy of
Stephanie Levesque
