The Loutet Farm will be the first urban farm in North Vancouver. There is a ground breaking event this Saturday from 3:30 to 4:30 pm in Loutet Park, with prizes for the best gumboots! Here’s what’s interesting about this urban farm, first of all it’s located on underutilized public parkland within a residential area. When it is up and running, the urban farm will operate year round. So neighbours can step out their door and buy fresh, extremely local veggies daily. Funds from produce sales will be fed back into the farm, making it a sustainable venture that will also create valuable green-collar jobs. A range of courses geared to sustainable food production will be offered there.
Loutet Farm is a unique partnership between North Shore Neighbourhood House, City of North Vancouver and the University of British Columbia. UBC’s School of Architecture and Landscape Archictecture and Green Skins Lab did all the ground work on the project. Project organizer Heather Johnstone says Loutet Farm is the first step in building a plant to plate local food system on the North Shore.