Everyone in the Village of Midway stands to benefit from the completion of the food preservation area at the community garden that was put in thanks to a $20,000 Age Friendly BC grant.
Midway Councillor Richard Dunsdon was the project champion and contact person for the grant, which covered 100 per cent of the costs of providing an area near the community garden where food can be prepared for long-term storage. The grant was announced in February 2012 and the food prep facility will be in use this harvest season.
“I wanted to take the garden's growing capabilities to the next level in terms of long term storage and move away from "in season" food consumption,” Dunsdon told The Times.
“In terms of food processing I was looking at dehydration, vacuum sealing, canning, juicing,” he added. Included in the food prep area are a range, fridge and freezer.
Dunsdon said the grant would enable all Midway residents, but particularly seniors, to buy into a healthy food life style and remain active and productive.
The Village owns the building and the community garden group will continue to run the garden project.
“The village wishes to acknowledge the strong commitment from the Community Garden Group and Councillor Richard Dunsdon who oversaw many aspects of the project and were crucial in its’ success,” said Village Administrator Penny Feist.
In September 2011, Premier Christy Clark announced the launch of Age-friendly BC, a grant and recognition program to help local governments create environments that support the good health and community participation of seniors.
The Age-friendly BC program focuses on providing communities with support, information and recognition to help meet the needs of an aging population. Local governments can achieve age-friendly recognition and officially become an Age-friendly BC community once they have completed four basic steps that focus on community engagement, commitment, assessment and action.
