Locals take precautions, staying off the boulders where bears can doze out of sight, carrying deterrents like bear spray or marine flares and reporting sightings on the town’s Facebook page. Every Halloween, emergency services band together to patrol the perimeter of town for bears so kids can safely go trick-or-treating.

But there’s a much more pressing threat to community health than a 1,000-pound polar bear ambling through the streets of Churchill, one that doesn’t get the attention it deserves: food insecurity. Churchill, home to 900 residents year round, is accessible only by train and air, meaning that the cost of fresh produce is often double that which people would pay in the capital city of Winnipeg, located over 600 miles south.

A mother and her yearling cubs testing the ice forming along the Hudson Bay. (Photo: Trina Moyles/Modern Farmer)

“In the dead of winter last year, the [grocery store] didn’t get their shipment in. So, there was nothing on the shelves,” says Jayden Chapman, sustainability coordinator at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC), a non-profit organization that facilitates research and education initiatives in the North.

It was a reminder of the food security crisis in 2017 when a devastating flood event washed out the train tracks and cut off the flow of food and essential goods into the community. All essential goods had to be flown in,’ and, as a result, food prices skyrocketed and quality plummeted. 

“We’d get a shipment in and it would already be black and moldy. They’d still put it on the shelf because it was our only option,” says Chapman.

In the face of crisis, staff at the CNSC decided to innovate, and through a collaboration with Growcer Modular Food Solutions, they piloted one of the first vertical, hydroponic farm projects—housed in a 40-foot shipping container built to withstand the harsh winter conditions that can dip below -40 Fahrenheit—in northern Canada. The pilot project was a success and, as a result, the Rocket Greens initiative was born.

Today, Chapman and her colleagues produce between 250 and 400 units of fresh greens, which they deliver via a weekly subscription program to residents, restaurants and businesses. 

CNSC sustainability coordinator Jayden Chapman shows off a harvest of leafy greens. (Photo: Trina Moyles/Modern Farmer)

Katherine Branson, a sustainability technician at CNSC, manages the weekly production, planting seeds and transplanting seedlings after two weeks. Most plants take five to six weeks to grow to maturity, she says. Branson plants a variety of leafy greens and herbs—40 varieties in total—often opting for leafy kale, which tends to thrive. The plants are irrigated by a 1,200-liter tank, which circulates water continuously and is topped up every three weeks.

“I try to grow to full capacity every week, no matter how many people are buying because we like to donate the surplus,” explains Branson. “This is really important to us. We can’t really address food security and sovereignty if we’re just selling to the people who can afford it. We donate it so people who don’t have the means can access it.”

Another critical issue facing the town of Churchill is organic waste management, says Chapman, particularly related to scents attracting polar bears and increasing the risk of human-bear conflict. During the summer and fall months, as bears wait for the bay to freeze, they often follow their noses into town or to the garbage dump. Increasingly warming temperatures, due to climate change, is resulting in delayed freeze-up and bears spending more days on land.

A polar bear outside the CNSC is caught on trail camera, part of Dr. Doug Clark’s research on the frequency of bear visitation to human facilities. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Douglas Clark, University of Saskatchewan)

Dr. Doug Clark, a researcher at the University of Saskatchewan, uses trail cameras to study the relationship between the increasing number of days that bears spend on land and the frequency of visitation to human facilities, including the CNSC. In warmer years, like 2023, Clark is seeing a correlation between delayed sea ice and increased visitation of bears to human structures, including waste bins.

“This [research] tells us that we should focus our efforts on better managing waste and other attractants to prevent human-bear interactions,” says Clark. “And when they do occur to prevent escalation.”

This winter, Chapman and her colleagues are excited to launch a new initiative at the CNSC and pilot an in-vessel, outdoor composter to transform kitchen waste into compost. 

During the summer and fall months, when dozens of researchers and guests come to stay at the CNSC, the facility produces upwards of five gallons of organic waste a day. In the current system, the waste is stored behind the building, and although bears can’t get into it, the scent still attracts them, as documented by Clark’s research.

“This will help to reduce the smell of garbage around the Centre and the tension and risk of bumping into a polar bear,” says Chapman.

Waste management is a critical issue facing sub-arctic and arctic communities in Canada today, particularly related to attracting polar bears. (Photo: Trina Moyles/Modern Farmer)

The BIOvator, a stainless steel incinerator, breaks down organic and carbon materials, including a combination of kitchen waste and cardboard, or wood shavings, and converts the waste into nutrient-rich soil.

“We’re basically creating a product out of garbage,” says Chapman.

As part of the pilot project, the center will collect kitchen waste from the facility, staff’s kitchen waste from their own households and local restaurants in town. But Chapman hopes to expand their reach further into the community, which would, in turn, divert food waste from the landfill. The soil will be distributed to a community garden project in Churchill.

Chapman’s team’s efforts are part of a wider trend to implement improved waste management strategies in Churchill to reduce the number of bears wandering into town. For example, the town of Churchill is currently considering switching from an interior dump, which houses waste for several years before being shipped south to a landfill, to a thermal incinerator, which is a more environmentally safe method.

A yearling cub on the outskirts of town. (Photo: Trina Moyles/Modern Farmer)

With the looming threats of climate change, northern communities around the Hudson Bay will continue to face challenges with melting sea ice and the increased presence of polar bears in the community. But Churchill is leading the way as a model community in the Arctic for food security initiatives.

Other remote northern towns are following in Churchill’s footsteps. In 2018, Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, an Inuit community in northern Quebec, invested in a hydroponic farm in a shipping container. The following year, a vertical farm was established by a local grocery store in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories to supply people with fresh produce. The Gitmaxmak’ay Nisga’a Society, a non-profit First Nations organization based in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, invested in a similar model in 2020, and today feeds 1,600 members on a weekly basis.

“Over the years, we’ve spent a lot of time updating and troubleshooting the hydroponic farm,” says Branson. “But we’ve been producing healthy greens in Churchill for six years now.”

Jayden Chapman and Katherine Branson transfer fresh produce from the shipping container to the CNSC to organize into weekly subscription boxes. (Photo: Trina Moyles/Modern Farmer)

Since they started, the Rocket Greens initiative has sold more than 40,000 units of produce and the price of leafy greens (around $7 with government subsidies) has dropped to $4.

“It’s pretty amazing,” says Branson, as she places heads of lettuce into the weekly boxes.

Before she leaves the research station, she does as locals do in Churchill: looks both ways for bears. With none in sight, Branson steps out into the frigid sub-arctic temperatures to deliver fresh greens right onto people’s front doorsteps.

The post What It Takes to Feed the Community in the Polar Bear Capital of the World appeared first on Modern Farmer.

But the solutions to child malnutrition aren’t always dependent on money, GMOs, or Western expertise, argues Alphonse Twinamatsiko, a farmer and sustainable agriculture technician from southwestern Uganda. Twinamatsiko works as a consultant for various community-based organizations, including Go Organic Africa. “We have everything we already need to address malnutrition,” he says.

Rather than importing ideas from Western countries, Twinamatsiko is looking no further than his own backyard where a simple wooden cage, built for less than $50, houses one male and two female rabbits.

The 29-year-old was born and raised in the Kabale District in southwestern Uganda where more than 60 percent of the population practices small-scale agriculture. Farmers grow indigenous varieties of sorghum, sweet potatoes, cowpeas, beans, and maize. While many also raise goats and chickens, livestock is rarely eaten, but rather reserved as a sort of “living bank account” and sold to pay for school fees, land, and medical emergencies.

“Most families only eat meat once or twice a year,” says Twinamatsiko, “usually during religious holidays like Christmas and Eid, or at weddings and burials.”

As a result of this carbohydrate-heavy diet, UNICEF estimates that 45 percent of children under five years old in Kabale are experiencing forms of malnutrition. One of the most common kinds is kwashiorkor, an energy-protein deficiency caused by the lack of protein, iron, and vitamin B12. Kwashiorkor can lead to stunted growth and development, and the World Health Organization estimates malnutrition is the underlying cause of 45 percent of all child deaths, worldwide.

But why rabbits?

In 2012, Alphonse Twinamatsiko graduated from Baraka College in Kenya, studying sustainable agriculture and rural development. It was in Kenya where he first saw rabbit-breeding projects on a larger scale, and then brought the technology back home to Kabale, Uganda.

Rabbits are more efficient than chickens or goats, as farmers use locally available weeds and vegetation to feed them, versus relying on expensive grain feeds in the market. Farmers in Kabale argue that, on a small scale, rabbits are less prone to diseases or mortality than chickens.

In 2012, Twinamatsiko completed a diploma in sustainable agriculture and rural development at Baraka Agricultural College in Molo, Kenya. While there, he learned about intensive rabbit breeding. Although Twinamatsiko raised the animals recreationally as a child, he never considered it a serious venture. At Baraka College, however, he had the opportunity to visit household and larger-scale rabbit breeding projects and learn about their benefits. Inspired by his experiences, Twinamatsiko returned to southwestern Uganda with the goal to promote rabbit breeding.

There’s a good reason for the expression “breed like rabbits.” One doe can give birth to four to six litters every year, producing upwards of 60 offspring. That’s a huge return for poor farmers who rarely eat meat.

Rabbits are an ideal meat-source for poor farmers in Kabale for a variety of reasons, Twinamatsiko argues. The majority of farmers can’t afford to buy grain feed in the market to raise chickens, nor do they have enough land to graze cattle. Instead, rabbits can be fed on weeds and wild vegetation, which are locally available and affordable to farmers. Secondly, disease vulnerability and mortality rates are lower in rabbits than chickens, especially when they’re kept in elevated cages. And finally, there’s a good reason for the expression “breed like rabbits.” Twinamatsiko says that one doe can give birth to four to six litters every year, producing upwards of 60 offspring. That’s a huge return for poor farmers who rarely eat meat.

In 2013, Twinamatsiko teamed up with a local medical doctor, Dr. Anguyo Geoffrey, who runs a community healthcare organization called the Kigezi Healthcare Foundation (KIHEFO). Dr. Anguyo regularly identifies cases of extreme malnutrition in southwestern Uganda. He admits sick children and their caretakers for rehabilitation treatment at KIHEFO’s clinic in Kabale. Together, Twinamatsiko and KIHEFO began developing a rabbit-breeding program with the goal to supply rabbit stock to poor farmers with vulnerable children. In May 2015, KIHEFO built a Rabbit Breeding Center in Kabale, and Twinamatsiko rolled up his sleeves and got to work in the community.

Twinamatsiko (left) and Atayo Benson display a new sign at KIHEFO’s Rabbit Breeding Centre in Kyanamira, Kabale, in southwestern Uganda. KIHEFO’s project is breeding rabbits on large-scale to distribute free to poor farmers in need of a helping hand up. KIHEFO provides rabbits and training to help farmers start their own projects and work to alleviating forms of malnutrition and poverty.

Last year, Twinamatsiko and his colleagues at Go Organic Africa opened the first-ever “Rabbit Joint” in Kabale-town. Twinamatsiko hopes to prove that rabbit meat can be just as delicious as pork, or goat joints, which are more common in the area. Weekly, he purchases rabbits from farmers participating in the project, helping them to generate additional household income.

There are now more than 300 rabbits at the center, including Californian, New Zealand, and Flemish Giant, which are typically bred for meat. Through KIHEFO’s development programing, poor households receive three animals (two does and one buck) and training, which enables them to start their own projects. To date, more than 100 farmers have begun breeding rabbits in their backyards.

Emily Ninsiima, 28 years old, is a small-scale farmer who lives in the village of Kicumbi. She’s a single mother to two young daughters. In 2014, she received support from Twinamatsiko and KIHEFO to raise rabbits.

Emily Ninsiima received rabbits and training from Twinamatsiko and KIHEFO’s rabbit breeding project that aims to alleviate child malnutrition. She says there’s little risk to raising rabbits. Starting with only one male and two females, Ninsiima’s population has quickly expanded. Her family’s meat intake has tripled over the past year.

“It’s made a big difference,” says Ninsiima, whose rabbit population grew quickly. Over the course of a year, she tripled her family’s meat intake. She sold five of the rabbits, generating additional income and gave away a few to her neighbors so they could start their own projects. “It’s doesn’t take much time to feed and care for them,” explains Ninsiima, “and the risk of failure is low.” She also points out that rabbits produce a large amount of manure, which she processes into organic compost and fertilizer for her field crops.

Today Twinamatsiko isn’t only training farmers how to raise rabbits – he’s building new markets and buying back the surplus at a guaranteed price. A few months ago, he opened the first “Rabbit Joint” (restaurant) in Kabale town, serving a signature dish of roasted rabbit, cabbage coleslaw, and steamed plantain. He admits that it’s been challenging to convince the public that rabbit meat can be just as tasty and desirable as other more preferred meats, like goat and pork.

But working to change the cultural palate is all part of Twinamatsiko’s greater task to support sustainable solutions to child malnutrition, food security and economic development in Uganda.

“As a farmer, you have to be creative. You have to be innovative,” he says.

The post Rabbits: Cute, Cuddly, and Capable of Feeding Villages appeared first on Modern Farmer.

We could blame history, which has largely defined who drives the tractor in society. More than a century ago, European farmers settled in North America and dropped seed into the soil, raising their sons into farmers and their daughters into “farmer’s wives.” Culture maintained the practice of transferring land and farming knowledge from father to son, while women accessed land through their husbands. Women’s efforts on family farms around food – growing, preserving, preparing, and distributing – are often celebrated in history. But rarely do we talk about how the tradition of inheritance plays a part in the small percentage of women who own farmland today.

Rarely do we talk about how the tradition of inheritance plays a part in the small percentage of women who own farmland today.

For one, it’s never been more expensive for aspiring female farmers to secure land. (Or, really, all farmers.) In Canada, the value of land increased by 113 percent from 2000 to 2012, while in the U.S., the cost of farmland in Iowa jumped 31 percent in a single year alone. In 2015, the United States farm real estate value, a measurement of the value of all land and buildings on farms, averaged $3,020 per acre.

“I don’t think I’ve ever considered owning farmland,” admits Hanel.

Instead of facing the improbability of purchasing land and equipment necessary to farm – which can cost upwards of $1.5 million dollars – the solution for the young urbanite, like Hanel, could be looking within the city – or even in her own home. In early 2015, Hanel started up Micro YYC, an urban farming and micro greens operation in Calgary. She bypassed the barrier of accessing land altogether by “farming” in her basement, investing only $3,000 in industry shelves, grow lights, seed trays, and seeds. “Compared to buying land and things like farm machinery, it was peanuts,” says Hanel. “When I ventured into [farming] on my own, focusing on micro greens just seemed like the most doable thing – no buying, no borrowing, no rent, no weather issues, and I could start right away in the middle of winter.”

Imelda Raby

Hanel’s approach to farming in the city has paid off. Moving into her third year as a grower and business owner, her creativity and entrepreneurship has already turned a profit.

Plus, Hanel’s trying to shake up micro-green production in Calgary, forgoing growing the common alfalfa and pea shoots to experiment with niche varieties like basil, chervil, kale, red cabbage, and mustard greens. She tends the shoots from home, watering, weeding, and trouble-shooting against mold, and packages her harvest into spicy and mild mixes for weekly sale at the Gull Valley Greenhouse’s booth at the Calgary Farmers’ Market. With more than 10,000 people frequenting the market every week, she’s able to sell around 200 units and gross $500 to $800 a week. Hanel is also cultivating relationships with local chefs. Her basil shoots are featured in an exquisite tomato salad at Taste, a trendy kitchen and lounge in Calgary.

Hanel isn’t deterred by gender dynamics. She’s forging ahead, carving out new possibilities for women to break barriers of accessing land to grow food in the city.

Overall, statistical analysis of the numbers of female urban farm operators in North America is still lacking. But a recent article by The New York Times that interviewed 19 urban farms in New York City reported that 15 of those farms – nearly 80 percent – were led by women. To date, Hanel is one of the only female farmers running her own operation in Calgary, though she hopes it’s just the beginning for other women to follow her lead.

“Even though I am outnumbered by my male peers, I have experienced kindness and support from others in the field, even my competitors,” says Hanel. “This is one of the great things about being involved in a food movement. Having shared values means that, on some level, we are all working together. Urban farming isn’t easy, but if you have the drive to do it, there’s so much opportunity to succeed – and you don’t need to own land to do it.”

While the city offers alternatives to the conventional farm model, the more insidious gender stereotyping about “who can farm” still remains rooted in societal attitudes. But Hanel isn’t deterred by gender dynamics. She’s forging ahead, carving out new possibilities for women to break barriers of accessing land to grow food in the city.

“There will always be people, not necessarily only men, who will question what I could possibly know about growing food, or owning a business,” says Hanel. “But I feel confident to say that I’m doing it successfully.”

The post Urban Farms: The New Frontier for Female Farmers appeared first on Modern Farmer.