Islanders sharing food baskets with help of provincial grant

Twenty-five Island families will share in the bounty of a local organic farm thanks to the generosity of people buying food baskets and a provincial food insecurity grant.

Soleil Hutchinson, who farms in Bonshaw, said the program is something she's wanted to do since shestarted farming a decade ago.

"I didn't really farm to kind of feed high-end restaurants," said Hutchinson.

"I started farming so I could feed everyone."

Hutchinson runs a community-supported agriculture program on her farm, where families buy her produce in advance. They drop by the farm every week or two for a selection from the recent harvest.

Food and community

This year, Hutchinson offered subscribers an option to pay more so that a food-insecure family could also be part of the program. Subscribers raised $4,000 and the province topped that up for a total of $13,000.

"It's not just people that are food insecure," she said of the families that will benefit.

"They need to also love vegetables and know how to cook with them."

Hutchinson partnered with CHANCES Family Centre and the P.E.I. Association for Newcomers to Canada to identify recipients.

The community-supported agriculture program is not just about food. Because people all come to the farm to collect their produce, there is a community aspect as well, and Hutchinson said she is as excited about that as about the sharing of food.

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