Program Promotes Composting and Sharing

Nova Scotia's Department of the Environment in partnership with National Association of Food Banks announced today the launch of a new program entitled Plant a Row - Grow a Row.

The national launch, held in the Halifax Public Gardens, encourages community gardeners, municipalities, composting facility owners and home gardeners alike to designate a row in their garden to grow vegetables for their local food bank or soup kitchen.

The launch coincides with the opening of the Public Gardens for 2000 and marks the beginning of International Composting Awareness Week.

The founding partners of this program are the Canadian Association of Food Banks, the Composting Council of Canada and the Garden Writers Association of America. The program builds on programs already operating across Canada. It also embodies the long-standing tradition of gardeners sharing their harvest.

"Plant a Row - Grow a Row is the perfect program for the home gardener or for the vegetable producers of this province, as extra or surplus fresh fruit and produce is a welcomed addition to the food bank hampers," said Dianne Swinemar, executive director of the Metro Food Bank and chairperson of the National Association of Food Banks.

"Hunger is a concern. However, nutrition is an even greater concern, especially for the children that we feed through our programs," said Ms. Swinemar.

Also in attendance were MLA Mary Ann McGrath, on behalf of acting Environment Minister Michael Baker, Mayor Walter Fitzgerald of Halifax Regional Municipality and Susan Antler, executive director of the Composting Council of Canada. Celebrity advocate Cathy Jones, of CBC-TV's This Hour Has 22 Minutes, also attended.

"Canadians are noted to help people around the world. Now we can also direct our attention to those in need right in our own communities," Ms. Jones said.

Nova Scotia has been chosen as the location for the national launch because of its commitment to ending hunger and to helping the environment through its support of composting. Nova Scotia will be the first province in Canada to divert 50 per cent of its waste from disposal sites through reduction, reuse and recycling, including composting.

Local supporters of the program include the Metro Food Bank, the Nova Scotia Department of the Environment, the Resource Recovery Fund Board and the Halifax Seed Company.