This article appeared in my local paper – the Delta Optimist – this past weekend.  I am happy to say that we are one of the families who are participating in the Harvest Box Program by the Earthwise Gardens.  We are looking forward to receiving our first box of locally grown produce.

Food security is a hot-button issue these days.

As awareness grows, more and more people are expressing the desire to develop strong local food systems and ecologically sustainable farms so communities can be confident of a local supply of nutritious, sustainably grown food.

Community supported agriculture programs are one method to support the growth of sustainable food systems and to provide access to fresh, local produce direct from the farm.

The Earthwise Society's Harvest Box program provides subscribers with 22 weekly harvest boxes of seasonal produce from the Earthwise Farm for an annual membership of $500.

The contents of the box will vary with the seasons, so participants really get a sense of what is available locally throughout the year in our climate.

Shane Sarsfield, a farm intern who has been working on the Earthwise Farm since March, has been prepping and planting crops for the start of the program. Sarsfield expects June's boxes will contain different varieties of fresh heritage lettuce, baby beets and carrots, spinach, rhubarb and baby potatoes.

During the summer, delicious heirloom tomatoes, multi-coloured beans, corn and specialty eggplants will fill the boxes, while in the late fall, the farm will harvest five varieties of winter squash, broccoli, Swiss chard and winter hardy lettuces like Rouge D'Hiver.

"The best thing about the box program is that people can really develop a relationship with the farm — and get to look forward to tasting what's in the box each week," says Sarsfield.

The Harvest Box program will introduce people to some more unusual vegetables like kohlrabi and rapini, both of which will be in the June boxes.

Allison and Madison, two students at South Delta Secondary, are working on a recipe book to help people with preparation tips for some of the less well known or "underappreciated" vegetables. The recipe book is a term project for the Sustainable Resources 12 in Agriculture program offered at the Earthwise Farm in partnership with the Delta school district.

People who want to take part in the Harvest Box program can register by contacting Earthwise at 604-946-9828.

It is also possible for an individual or company to sponsor a Harvest Box for a family in need. Earthwise has partnered with Delta social service organizations Reach and Deltassist to identify families that are most in need of fresh, healthy local produce to supplement their diet.

Donations from $25 to $500 will supply from one to 22 weeks of farm-fresh, seasonal produce to identified families. Donors will receive a charitable tax receipt for their contribution.

The deadline to subscribe to the program is June 9, although sponsorships will be accepted at any time.

via www.delta-optimist.com

The province’s long-awaited plan to revitalize the early childhood sector will finally be released to the public today.
The Early Years Report will reveal government’s plan to help the struggling sector and detail how $7 million dedicated to the sector in the recent provincial budget will be allocated.
Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Doug Currie has been loath to give any details about the plan before the official release of the report, but he did say the strategy would include a boost in wages for early childhood educators.
Early childhood educators, daycare operators and parents have been eagerly awaiting this strategy since last July when Kindergarten Commissioner Pat Mella’s report on the rollout of kindergarten into the public school system was released.
The move of kindergarten into schools has created a major strain on the early childhood sector.
Over 100 early childhood educators (ECEs) have left P.E.I. daycare centres to take better-paying jobs in the public system as kindergarten instructors. That has left a concerning gap in licensed educators for Island daycares.
Now many centres, especially those in rural P.E.I., are facing imminent closure if financial support and trained teaching staff isn’t injected into the sector soon.
But there are also parents who are concerned about children who don’t attend childcare centres. They are hoping government’s early childhood development strategy will include supports for all children on P.E.I., regardless of whether they attend daycare.

“We’re really hoping to see much more reference to a comprehensive approach to the early years,” said Jane Boyd, president of the childcare advocacy group Parents for Choice and Quality.

Many parents can’t afford to put their children in licensed childcare facilities, so if the government focuses its support only on the sector of early learning operators and educators, children who attend unlicensed centres or who stay home with parents will fall through the cracks, Boyd said.

“We really hope there will be components of the government’s early learning action plan that will address the needs of those children too because, let’s face it, the majority of children on P.E.I. are not in licensed childcare … there are so many young vulnerable children on P.E.I. and we remain concerned about what is the plan so that there is a comprehensive approach that reaches all children.”
Sonya Corrigan, executive director of the Early Childhood Development Association (ECDA), told The Guardian last April she hopes government’s early childhood plan will help make quality childcare more accessible for all families.
 “Children and families deserve to have access to early learning opportunities in all communities,” Corrigan told The Guardian when the provincial budget was released in April. “Unfortunately affordability has been a huge barrier to that as well as access to service, so we hope that as we go forward we’re going to put systems in place that will eliminate the affordability factor and increase accessibility.”
The plan will be announced at a 10 a.m. news conference at Park Royal Church in Charlottetown.

via www.theguardian.pe.ca