The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is looking to test out a new program that they're hoping will unite urban resources and rural farming to better stock Canadian foodbanks.
Grow Hope Saskatchewan will look to unite the two sectors to increase the amount of food grown and help the two sectors of Canada connect.
Rick Block, a Saskatchewan representative for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, gives an overview of the program.
"Grow Hope is a very unique project, it's a unique Canadian Foodgrains Bank growing project. It's an initiative that really brings both rural and urban folks from Saskatchewan together to address global hunger, working together in the context of a project. In a nutshell, farmers are offering acres - whatever comes off those acres will go to the Foodgrains Bank. Those in urban environments - businesses, churches, etc. are invited to respond by supporting the costs to produce an acre.
"The running kind of metric right now is $350 an acre and people are invited to join in on this project to help offset the input costs. There are 411 acres available across six different farm families that have all offered these acres and they're all spread out across the province, including right around the main center."
Some of those areas include northwestern Saskatchewan, around Brunel and Willowbrook, near Yorkton, and Langenburg near the Manitoba border.
Block is hoping that the project is able to do more than just help out food banks by deepening a connection between the rural and urban spheres.
"The structure of the project really offers a unique and really effective way to help create more conversation and I think build bridges between urban and rural, which is something that Saskatchewan can benefit from because the nature of this project is helping to alleviate hunger in very severely affected areas internationally."
Block also hopes to connect with others through their field days.
"Another feature is the field days that we have, we often kind of piggyback other community events that are happening and it's a really great way for often some of our Grow Hope farmers and other farmers who are connected to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank to have a bit more interaction with folks that are maybe not part of the farming community."
For producers or potential sponsors looking to be a part of the Grow Hope program, Block recommends they visit the project's website at growhopesk.ca