City Farmer Nominated for the YMCA Power of Peace Award

Peace and urban agriculture - from the City Farmer nomination letter:

· They cultivate calmness and tranquility at their location and within their programming – as much as they cultivate vegetables, herbs and fruits.

· They train people in how to do urban agriculture, with the idea of promoting economic and environmental sustainability – important aspects of peace-building.

· They educate about food security – a potential source of tension internationally.

· In addition to supporting urban agriculture, they advocate for the importance of a sound rural agricultural base, which is vital to good development.

· Inclusiveness is an important part of their philosophy – they are committed to working with a diverse group of people, whether economically, ethnoculturally, socially or in terms of physical or mental challenges.

· They actively promote intergenerational interaction, with the idea of encouraging sharing between generations – including the wisdom and knowledge related to agricultural production.

· They encourage intercultural community gardening, as conflict can be lessened when people garden together. Their Demonstration Garden has a mix of vegetables and herbs, representing different cultural culinary needs.

· They practice “simplicity.” The organization is maintained on a ”shoe-string.”

· They are action oriented. Everything they do is “do-able” for anyone.

The complete nomination letter follows.

“I am very pleased to nominate City Farmer, a Local Peacemaker, for the 2008 Peace Awards. City Farmer is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. It was founded in 1978 by a group of local activists who wanted to make people more aware of their natural environment. They opened their Demonstration Garden in 1982, to show people how to grow food in the small spaces available in a city. The Garden is expanding considerably this year to include the Wes Barrett Youth Garden. Wes Barrett was the Head Gardener of City Farmer for many years and a community builder.

“Visitors to City Farmer are provided with environmentally friendly techniques for maintaining their home landscape. They provide training to the general public, schools and other groups on:

* Organic food gardening
* Adult and kids worm composting
* Backyard composting
* Organic pest control
* Natural yard care
* Water-wise gardening

“At the garden, it is possible for people to familiarize themselves with things such as an actual cob tool shed or dog waste composter or a permeable lane.

“The organization is a non-profit with a Board of Directors. City Farmer supports itself to a large extent through its composting education program.

“City Farmer is located in the Kitsilano area of Vancouver. In addition to the work they have done locally, they are well known internationally. They have been visited by politicians, film crews, journalists and ordinary folks from all over the world. There is an upcoming visit from a Mongolian film crew, looking at the possibility of doing urban agriculture in Ulan Bator.

Peace Work:

City Farmer is involved in Peace Work in various ways.

· They cultivate calmness and tranquility at their location and within their programming – as much as they cultivate vegetables, herbs and fruits.

· They train people in how to do urban agriculture, with the idea of promoting economic and environmental sustainability – important aspects of peace-building.

· They educate about food security – a potential source of tension internationally.

· In addition to supporting urban agriculture, they advocate for the importance of a sound rural agricultural base, which is vital to good development.

· Inclusiveness is an important part of their philosophy – they are committed to working with a diverse group of people, whether economically, ethnoculturally, socially or in terms of physical or mental challenges.

· They actively promote intergenerational interaction, with the idea of encouraging sharing between generations – including the wisdom and knowledge related to agricultural production.

· They encourage intercultural community gardening, as conflict can be lessened when people garden together. Their Demonstration Garden has a mix of vegetables and herbs, representing different cultural culinary needs.

· They practice “simplicity.” The organization is maintained on a ”shoe-string.”

· They are action oriented. Everything they do is “do-able” for anyone.

“I came to know City Farmer by first visiting their Demonstration Garden. It is a beautiful, restful place where one can slow down to the rhythm of nature. I sent some Youth Peace Network participants from Africa to meet with Michael and Sharon, the Head Gardener. With the rapid rate of rural-urban migration, urban agriculture has become a major issue in Africa and other parts of the world. Koffi and Edem, the YPN’ers were warmly greeted and learned a lot of practical information during their visit. Thereafter, I brought a YMCA Connections group for a tour of the Garden. They enjoyed themselves, despite the rainy day – Sharon had tea with us afterwards where she shared more information about urban gardening as we warmed up.

“I think peace is built through the collective actions of many different groups and people, working on many different aspects of our social, economic, cultural, environmental and spiritual lives. I think that City Farmer is contributing to peace building in a unique, practical and deeply relevant way.”

Link to YMCA Power of Peace Award. List of all nominees can be found here. This year’s winner was the “The Cinderella Project”.