With Edmonton's low-income seniors struggling with rising food costs, a local group is in search of volunteers to support its community gardens.
Seeds for Seniors supplies at-risk seniors with produce grown at the five inner-city seniors' residences operated by Operation Friendship Seniors Society as well as half a dozen backyard gardens, said Seeds for Seniors founder Gabby Hay-Byers.
"People either plant extra for us or, when they have excess, we'll take the food to facilities where seniors are living independently and have their own kitchenettes," she told Taproot.
This year, Hay-Byers anticipates growing at least $2,500 worth of produce at the seniors' residences and about $1,300 in partner gardens in the community. Now that the growing season has begun, Hay-Byers is searching for more volunteers to ensure the community gardens thrive.
"The weeding gets to be a lot," she said, noting that volunteers can help out with any aspect of gardening. No experience is required, as guidance is provided by herself, other volunteers, and the seniors themselves, many of whom are experienced gardeners. One of the gardens is overseen by a retired farmer, in fact.
The growing season is off to a good start, but there's a lot at stake with this year's yield given the economic challenges facing those on fixed incomes. The cost of food is expected to rise by 5% to 7% this year after years of increases. The June 2023 Vital Signs report from the Edmonton Community Foundation indicates that 20.3% of Albertans experienced food insecurity in 2022, compared with 12.3% in 2011. Edmonton's Food Bank served hampers to more than 35,000 people in November, its highest number in 42 years, and in February, the organization was forced to cut back on the number of hampers individuals could receive each month from four boxes to three.
Jimmy Morrison holds an array of produce contributed to the Seeds for Seniors project. (Gabby Hay-Byers)
Hay-Byers has seen firsthand the difficulties low-income seniors face. After her grandfather ran out of his retirement savings, he lived in a rent-controlled facility and struggled to afford the necessities of life. Since her family had a large garden on their acreage, they would often bring in fresh produce for both her grandfather and other seniors in the building.
"My mom would just put it in the common area of his living facility and (the food) would disappear by the time we came back down an hour later," she said.
When her grandfather passed away six years ago, Hay-Byers and her family came back to clean out his apartment and, seeing that his freezer was full of Hungry-Man frozen dinners, walked the halls giving them away to other low-income seniors.
"Knowing that there are homeless seniors and low-income seniors choosing between paying utilities and having good, nutritious food, kind of galvanized me," she said.
Three years ago, she decided to use her gardening skills and free time to start growing food for seniors within the city. She partnered with Operation Friendship Seniors Society, a non-profit organization that provides housing and other support for vulnerable seniors, and put gardens in the yards of facilities such as McCauley Lodge, Sparling Lodge, and Alliance Manor, and on the rooftop at Pioneer Place Senior Citizen Apartments.
At every point of the growing season, from planting in May and June, until the harvest of root vegetables in September and October, Hay-Byers needs volunteers to keep the gardens growing optimally and ease her own workload just a little. Practically every day, she is busy with Seeds for Seniors work — usually gardening — on top of a full-time job.
"I've made the choice to be single and child-free," she said. "This is my life's work, I guess you could say."
Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Gabby Hay-Byers at haybyersg@gmail.com.