Paul Hughes, founder of urban farm Grow Calgary, is looking at his fifth season of food production - and his first year of 365 day growing potential. Grow Calgary harvests fresh food for those who can't afford it.
Paul Hughes, founder of urban farm Grow Calgary, is looking at his fifth season of food production - and his first year of 365 day growing potential.
Grow Calgary harvests fresh food for those who can't afford it.
The addition of an earthship greenhouse, a self-sufficient structure made from packed soil, rubber tires and other repurposed materials, first opened up the potential for 365 growth.
But last week's arrival of HydroKid - an insulated stainless steel Seacan prototype that aims to grow food year-round through a pesticide-free hydroponic system on a dime - might chart the course of food production in an entirely different direction.
Bragg Creeker Mike Medwid and Linda Tyler of Response Energy are the engineers behind the project - which began as a sustainable crusade to capture methane gas.
“Hopefully by this time next year we will have at least 15 of these, ” said Medwid, who is keyed in to the idea of “growing food for compassionate reasons and making food affordable for everybody ”.
While HydroKid is certainly not the first Seacan veggie grow house, it might be the most affordable - with a targeted budget of less than $50,000 per unit by using repurposed materials and moving the units as off-grid as possible through renewable energy systems such as solar panels.
According to the Response Energy team's research, similar models carry a price tag in excess of $100,000. The affordability piece could help the project roll out in less fortunate communities with greater ease - particularly in northern Canada, where access to fresh food is an ongoing struggle.
The team will look to public-private partnerships to move the project forward.
For Hughes and the Grow Calgary team - which is 100 per cent volunteer-run and runs on a shocking shoestring budget of roughly $10,000 per year, this might mean a whole new ball game.
Hughes, a veteran and single father of one, has made it his life's work to challenge modern lifestyles through a sustainable approach through everything he takes on, including leading the urban hen movement across Canada as the founder of the Canadian Liberated Urban Chicken Klub (CLUCK): less is more, take what you need and help where you can, grow your own and live in community.
“Grow Calgary has been a part of 150,000 meals-to-date, ” said Hughes, a long-time activist who is no stranger to challenging politicians and governments on basic rights to food access.
“My early indication is that this (HydroKid) is the horse to bet on, ” he said, explaining that this winter season will see him and his volunteers experimenting with different vegetable varieties to determine how to best maximize food production in the HydroKid.
One Cochrane resident and single parent of two (who asked that gender and identity not be revealed for fear of stigma) volunteers at Grow Calgary, enabling the family to fill their own fridge with fresh produce.
“There's a lot of value in helping others...it's playing into something much larger. ”
Grow Calgary provides fresh food to anyone in need. The organization donates to the Stoney-Nakoda Food Bank and partners with over 20 organizations.
Everything on the 11-acre parcel, located west of Canada Olympic Park alongside Highway 1, is there by donation - from the tractors to the truck to the Seacans.
The organization seeks to grow the freshest food for those who need it most and welcomes anyone who wants to get their hands in the dirt to stop by.
Learn more at growcalgary.ca.
