By Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle

Next year people in Oliver will be able to walk down Main Street and pick edible plants to use in their favourite recipes.

Pasta sauce, anyone?

It’s just one of many initiatives set out by Food Secure Oliver.

Recently, coordinator Caitlyn Bennett made a presentation to council, updating the Town on what’s happening in the drive to increase food security in Oliver.

She noted they have secured a grant of $5,000 from PlanH to replace flowers on Main Street with edible plants (spaghetti garden format) – everything you need to make pasta sauce. She explained that people can walk along Main Street and collect these plants. She also pointed out there will be a list of businesses that will help people plant their own gardens.

Bennett said she has been meeting with community partners and compiling a list of grants that will help further these initiatives.

She has matched local schools with grants from Whole Kids Foundation for garden projects. She added that one community partner, Oliver Eats on Station Street, has been matched with a couple of grants for innovative food businesses.

Bennett told council that she has set up a meeting with the Osoyoos Indian Band to help apply for an indigenous health and wellness grant. The request is for $8,500 for a small project involving indigenous plants.

Bennett is also requesting $45,000 for a three-year pilot project relating to fruit reclamation in the community.

This will involve volunteers collecting compromised fruit before it is wasted on the ground. Once collected, the fruit will be distributed through community partners to people in need.

Bennett said they are looking for a person to write various grants, adding they also need continued funding for a staff person.

She noted that a number of questions have come up during the planning for Food Secure initiatives. For example, when affordable housing is addressed, where do we put them in relation to food centres? And when talking about establishing transit in town, how will this transit get people closer to food services?

Bennett said food security in Oliver is a big priority and coincides with the downtown revitalization plan.

Councillor Petra Veintimilla said there are a lot of exciting things in the works, particularly the edible pathways project. “That’s going to be something totally tangible right there in front of us that we’re going to be able to see happening.”