Make room for a wheat field beside the chicken coop in Vancouver

The Environmental Youth Alliance Society has 30 homeowners willing to uproot their turf to plant small-scale wheat fields. The group aims to educate schools about the origin and history of grain. Illustration Vancouver Sun.

Group seeks funding for ‘ Lawns to Loaves’ pilot project

By Jeff Lee
The Vancouver Sun
15 Jun 2011

Excerpt:

From chicken coops in backyards and vegetable plots at city hall, Vancouver is branching out into experimental wheat plots in place of lawns.

The idea of replacing turf with a waving patch of yellow grain is among a list of ideas the Vision Vancouver-led council is considering for this year’s Greenest City Neighbourhood grants allocations.

On Thursday, council will be asked to give a youth group, Environmental Youth Alliance Society, $ 5,000 for a pilot project called “ Lawns to Loaves — A Collaborative City Wheat Field.” The society has 30 homeowners willing to replace their lawns with small-scale grain production. It is also working with two eastside schools, Windermere and Vancouver Technical, to teach students about the origin and history of grain and where their bread comes from.

Read the complete article here.

More on EYA’s ‘Lawn to Loaves’ here.