MIKE YOUDS
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
Healthy Harvest Farm is harvesting its last crop after eight years as a therapeutic horticulture program run by Canadian Mental Health Association.
The farm at 4890 Beaver Creek Road will continue to operate for the time being, as it has folded into the neighbouring Hupacasath Community Garden, said Anna Lewis, who managed both operations before resigning from her CMHA role.
Todd Patola, CMHA’s Port Alberni board president, said their lease expired on the property — part of a parcel owned by Hupacasath First Nation and including the community garden — and they opted not to renew.
Patola said CMHA will continue to support non-profit farm programs for clients but decided to end its involvement with Healthy Harvest, which was intended as a for-profit operation.
“It’s a win-win for everyone,” he said. “We’re very pleased to see it continuing to run as a program.”
Residents with mental health challenges work on the farm, receiving honoraria and vegetables as well as experience and life skills.
While CMHA plowed $120,000 into the farm over the years, the operation was supposed to be financially self-sustaining through sale of produce. Yet the narrow profit margins of garden produce are not enough to sustain what is basically a health support program, Lewis said.
“In the last three years I’ve run the program with no financing, basically,” she said. “It needs long-term funding.”
While similar programs operate elsewhere in the province, they tend to have stable funding in terms of health-care dollars. In comparison, Hupasacath Community Garden is a social initiative supported through HFN health dollars, delivering weekly vegetables to on-reserve residents.
Healthy Harvest Farm received an annual $600 grand-in-aid from the city’s Community Investment Program for the last few years, used to purchase seeds and provide bus passes enabling clients to participate.
Well over 100 people have participated in the program, Lewis said. Some clients attended sporadically, while others were fully dedicated and engaged in the operation.
“It’s therapeutic and you’re providing additional funds for somebody living on a disability income,” she explained. “The hope is they’re feeding the souls as well as the minds. For some people, it’s a reason to get out of bed in the morning.”
There were other groups that contributed to Healthy Harvest. Seed money was provided by the Vancouver Foundation; Alberni Valley Community Foundation provided funds specifically for irrigation.
“We had lots of community support,” Lewis said.
Last year was a harsh one for program participants due to the loss of a couple of long-term clients, one to fentanyl poisoning and another to a heart attack, Lewis noted.
She will carry on managing the place for another year with the goal of providing a smooth transition as the two farms merge.
“They’re going to want more workers, so we may be able to keep all the crew employed.”
In that sense, the farm will continue to play a role in community wellbeing.
“I’m passionate about the farm and what we created. I want to keep that ability for people to come and learn.”