At a Committee of the Whole meeting on Thursday, the City of Victoria council voted to increase their food production by growing more food plants this season to help vulnerable populations cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
To fund this project, the city will be planting 20 per cent fewer hanging baskets around Victoria.
The motion to increase food production was brought forth by councillors Ben Isitt and Jeremy Loveday, who recommended doing so by scaling up the city’s existing ‘Growing in the City’ initiative.
Food plants will be grown in the Beacon Hill Park nursery.
“By simply scaling up our already existing Growing in the City program, we can grow food plants and work with partners such as Urban Food Table on distribution,” said Mayor Helps in a statement.
This measure aligns with a provincial initiative granting $3 million of funding to food banks across British Columbia.
The money will be distributed by Food Banks BC among not-for-profit organizations that require immediate support to buy and distribute food, pay employees, and cover other costs essential to the delivery of their food programs.
