Is Our Fruit Still Fruit?

Welcome back new blogger William Kwan. William is a teenager currently attending David Thompson Secondary.  He likes to write in his spare time and is passionate about helping the environment.

It was over five thousand years ago when mankind first dabbled into the art of cultivating fruit.  Slowly but surely, fruit farmers around the world have tinkered away at what was once simply a mechanism of seed dispersal.  Through artificial selection, the biggest, brightest and sweetest crops have risen into prominence. Seeing the disparity between modern breeds and their wild relatives makes me wonder what I’m actually eating.  More importantly, is it healthy for us to be tampering with our natural sources of sustenance.

do you have a fruit tree in your yard?

no, this is not a locally grown apple. a little too perfect for that. but there are lots of apples grown right in vancouver, in our own backyards. do you have an apple tree? or another fruit bearing tree? does the amount of apples growing on your tree overwhelm you when its time to harvest? does some of the fruit end up falling on your yard, rotting & attracting unwanted pests?

solution! Vancouver Fruit Tree Project brings groups of volunteers together to pick fruit from your tree, and then the fruit gets redistributed in the community to those who need it, like daycares, community centres, etc.if you are the owner of a fruit tree in your backyard (or front yard), contact us and let’s work together!(joey is a new blogger with the vancouver fruit tree project society. like a good vancouver resident, she really loves food & coffee. she works at a local restaurant, & she also photographs & writes her own random little food blog. recently, she’s become increasingly interested in the topic of food security. she wanted to know more, & she wanted to know how she could be involved in her community. in her research, she stumbled upon the vancouver fruit tree project last month & really liked how they care about food, people, the environment, and about waste (or not wasting), among other things.)

The Invasion of Packaged Food

Welcome new blogger, William Kwan. William is a teenager currently attending David Thompson Secondary.  He likes to write in his spare time and is passionate about helping the environment.

It’s kind of scary how the once sacrosanct ritual of the home-cooked family meal is quickly becoming a thing of the past.  As our consumer-driven society indulges increasingly on microwave dinners and fast food orders, our innate connection to the environment diminishes because we no longer have the need for fresh, locally grown produce.  What’s special about the Vancouver Fruit Tree Project Society is that it not only fills empty stomachs with much-needed nutrition, but also carries on the age-old tradition of organic eating.  I fear for the day when being able to prepare delicious meals from natural and healthy ingredients is a rare privilege.   

Visiting Spring Ridge Commons: community urban food forest

I volunteer with the Vancouver Fruit Tree Project, and on a recent weekend trip to Victoria I learned about the Springtide Commons. It’s a special place: an edible permaculture garden maintained by and for the community. The oasis is the size of a few house lots, and plants are available for communal harvest.

“Spring Ridge Commons is Victoria’s oldest and largest public permaculture garden or community multi-layer  food forest… It is an example of what is possible when you start with a gravel parking lot in a relatively low-income area near the city centre.”

On a cloudy springtime day, there was a lot of activity in the Commons. Victoria’s growing season is weeks ahead of Vancouver’s right now so there was a lot of plant growth to admire. As well, we met neighbours in the Commons, found kale, picked herbs, learned about more native plants, and destroyed some invasive caterpillars. Later on, a private permaculture class was listening intently to their instructor.

The Spring Ridge project is inspiring as to how to raise community gardening to another level. It makes growing food together part of an education and easily accessible to anyone walking by- and a fine way of sharing knowledge and communal resources for free.

You can read more about the Spring Ridge Commons project here.

- Sam

Stone Soup Festival

Join the Vancouver Fruit Tree Project at the 16^th annual Stone Soup Festival, a celebration of food, art, environment and community, including farmers market, food vendors, local artists, community groups, talks and workshops, live music, children’s activities, free soup and more!

More than ever, people are aware of the issues of food security, the benefits of sharing resources and eating ‘local’. Stone Soup will celebrate the diversity of food in our neighbourhood, the environment and it’s importance to the culture of our community.

Features Of This Year’s Festival Include:

Growing Chefs!: Gardening WorkshopFor children 6-10 yrs and parents-Vegetable examinations, seed explorations and taste tests, then plant a seedling to take home.
Location: Al Mattison Lounge (55+ Centre)
Workshops at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm

Laura Bucci Handmade: Drop-In Collage Button Making WorkshopLocation: Family Activity Room
Time: 12-5pm

Henry Charles: VPL Storyteller In Residence-Food Stories from the Musqueam PerspectiveLocation: Britannia Library
Time: 1pm

Buen Provecho!Digital Storytelling Intergenerational Food Project
Location: Britannia Library
Time: Ongoing 12-5pm with Reception: 2:30pm

DixieStars: The Stone Soup StoryStorytelling and Music
Location: West Kid’s area
Times: 2 and 3pm

Saturday, May 7, 2011 Noon-5pm
Britannia Community Centre Site/Napier Greenway
1661 Napier St@Commercial Drive
Vancouver,BCV5L 4X4

For more information: (604)718-5800/www.britanniacentre.org