News + Insights

Educational Shift

August 27, 2024

By Nadine Pearson, Architect

We all experienced the chaos that ensued as COVID-19 rapidly grew into a global pandemic. International supply chains threatened to fall apart and grocery shelves quickly became bare as supply could not keep up with the demand. Fast forward to the following spring, garden centers were experiencing higher demand than ever before. Clearly, the world took notice. Those bare grocery shelves highlighted just how precarious our food supply can be.

For the years that followed, the supply chain has continued to prove its fragility. It wasn’t but a few months ago that stores were limiting sugar to 1 bag per household.

As a result of the last few years, it seems the desire for local goods and food – even hyperlocal – is at the top of the minds of many as they move away from reliance on global supply chains. I personally have enjoyed growing and preserving my own food for many years, and it excites me to think about what this new mindset means for local markets, and even more so, community and education.

If more and more people look to growing their own food, it seems appropriate that Community Centres might venture to add gardens and greenhouses to their programming. Winnipeg has quite a few community gardens already, but some neighbourhoods just don’t have the space. Community Centres would be an excellent venue to provide that opportunity. One of the best things about a community garden is the potential mix of experience and knowledge that would present the opportunity to learn.

Many of us might remember planting a seed in that little foam cup in Kindergarten and placing them by the window. The excitement that came when that little sprout pushed up through the soil never failed. If society desires a shift to local and hyperlocal food sources, it makes sense to continue and expand the learning that has been initiated by the bean sprout we grew in Kindergarten. Perhaps schools will add more focus to agricultural education with gardens and greenhouses.

In fact, some schools have already started this. I had the opportunity to tour Alexandria Area High School in Minnesota in 2019 as a precedent for a new high school. They had a greenhouse/agricultural education centre on campus to offer their students hands-on, project-based agricultural education. I even learned a neat (simple & cost effective) setup for my tomato plants in the few minutes I spent inside the greenhouse!

Construction for a new Student Commons at College Jeanne Sauvé recently completed, which included an expansive outdoor environment with three distinct outdoor classrooms. Their outdoor spaces were given just as much attention as the building addition itself. An outdoor amphitheatre on the north side of the commons allows for presentations and seminar-style teaching. A gathering circle at the south end of the school yard offers opportunity for aboriginal education. Just south of the Commons is a small plaza fitted with ten raised-bed planters supported by a compost recycling system within the school. The plans also included space for a future garden plot to further feed their gardening programming.

College Jeanne Sauvé Student Commons

Adding horticultural education to school programming doesn’t have to be a big move. It could be as simple as adding full-spectrum undercabinet lighting or large windows with generous sills for starting seeds or growing herbs right inside the classroom. It could be just a few raised beds with a hose bib nearby. It could even be a single composter that recycles organic food waste and is used to feed flower beds on the school grounds.

If nothing else, growing our own food gets us outside!