After five years of offering locally-grown leafy greens to Valemount residents and nearly a year of stocking fresh vegetables on IGA shelves, Village Greens is ending its operations. An organization under the umbrella of the Valemount Learning Society, the initiative was meant to provide fresh, nutritious food to Valemount residents, Village Greens coordinator Korie Marshall told The Goat. Locals could drop in to the organization's office once a week and pay for the vegetables that had been harvested that week, usually leafy greens like lettuce, spinach and Swiss chard.
The Society purchased its hydroponic growing system from Growcer, a company specializing in providing hydroponic growing systems to organizations throughout Canada, and set it up beside the Valemount Community Forest's office. The building resembles a shipping container, and its humble metal-clad walls belie an interior still abuzz with activity – the gentle hum of LED lights, the whirring fans of its HVAC system, a pervasive earthy smell from the freshly-irrigated plants – but all that activity comes with a hefty power bill, Marshall says.
"We underestimated the cost of the power when we started the whole program," she said. "The lights run 18 hours a day… HVAC is running constantly, and the pumps are running constantly." The organization has made several attempts to save money, such as cutting down staff and installing solar panels, but those measures haven't been sufficient, Marshall said.
The solar panels only produce about a fifth of the power the operation needs at the best of times, and produce even less than that in winter, she added. While Marshall and others have looked into getting grants for maintenance and repair costs, or power bills and growing supplies, there are no grants that cover operating costs and utilities, according to her.
Source: pentictonherald.ca