Canada: Home veggie gardening gets a boost from U.S. trade threats
Many shoppers aren’t just rejecting U.S. produce in favour of B.C. veggies — they’re looking to grow their own
By Darron Kloster
Times Colonist
Mar 20, 2025
Excerpt:
Wendy and Kelly Noel were picking out lettuce and tomato seeds at Gardenworks’ Oak Bay store on Wednesday.
It’s something the mother-daughter duo does every spring. Wendy has a greenhouse and backyard garden, and Kelly a small plot, and the produce they grow gives them healthy salads and other meals through the growing season.
“If I could grow it all I would,” said Wendy. “But there’s only so much energy and time.”
Both say gardening is their small way of offsetting rising inflation and more recent uncertainty about how we’re getting our food.
Food security has long been a concern on Vancouver Island, where the food supply for nearly one million people depends on boats and barges, and a limited 72-hour supply should we be cut off during a disaster.
That was accentuated during the pandemic when supply chains weakened, creating a boom in home gardening. It’s coming to the fore again as a trade war with the United States raises fresh questions about where we get our produce and at what cost.
Read the complete article here.
Source: https://cityfarmer.info/canada-home-veggie-gardening-gets-a-boost-from-u-s-trade-threats/
