FED Urban Farm proves the growing value of contaminated soil sites, growing above ground in the heart of Victoria.
For the last year, they’ve proven it on a “storefront” – a patch of land in Dockside Green between two bridges, adjacent to industrial land and a working waterway alongside the Galloping Goose Regional Trial.
The farm isn’t new, but FED took over the 20,000-square-foot “brownfield” site last year, growing 7,400 pounds of hyper-local food in 2024 for Greater Victoria restaurants, organizations and those at risk of food insecurity since then.
“The most exciting thing about the farm here is not just what we’re doing – which is supporting business and proving this model can work in one of the most expensive real estate markets in Canada – but also showing there’s a lot of opportunity that this farm represents that we aren’t able to capture just yet. We’re hoping to see what other people can do with it when we’re able to spread the model,” said Alistair Howes, manager of programs and corporate engagement with FED Urban Agriculture Society.
“We’re one of the only operations that can utilize this space because we’re growing entirely above ground, avoiding any contamination issues.”
More than 3,000 felt containers transform what would be a wasted space into a community asset. The farm produces 200 to 300 pounds of lettuce a week for restaurant partners, as well as 70 for the FED community-supported agriculture box program and the onsite market set to spring up near the Goose in May.
“It is an opportunity to grow food in areas that wouldn’t otherwise be suitable for growing food,” said Brianna Stewart, managing director of FED Urban Agriculture, on the organization’s Vic West farm.
“These pieces of land exist everywhere … any gas station that has to sit for years and years, we could be growing food there and we could be supporting community, supporting local food economy and creating jobs.”
The work is also impacting the status of the once heavily contaminated site.
“We do need to grow above ground and we use a really specific system to do that,” Stewart said. “All of the wonderful things we’re putting into the soil – we grow using organic principles here – it’s actually regenerating the land around us at the same time, passively, as we make use of this cool space.”
The organization was already using some cool spaces before the farm, and always looking to expand to rooftops, parking lots and other brownfield sites.
“Before the farm we had pockets of gardens people didn’t know about,” Stewart said
They already had rooftop gardens at Our Place and the Songhees Wellness Centre, supporting food programs at both social organizations. Regular visitors to downtown Victoria might not realize the garden outside the Central Branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library, and planter boxes on Blanshard Street, are managed by FED Urban Agriculture.
The more public “storefront” offers an opportunity to let people know about that work, and seek other opportunities to promote the use of parking lots, rooftops and other sites needing remediation. It gives staff an opportunity to help folks understand it’s a social enterprise also meant to feed communities.
While they generate revenue and sell product, the small urban farm also serves as an educational and engagement space offering tours, workshops and volunteer opportunities. The agency is looking to integrate into the tourism sector as well, Stewart said.
Other programming outside the gates includes My FED Farm, where the organization provides free garden kits, including growing bags, seedlings, seeds and educational resources to vulnerable individuals and groups facing barriers to accessing fresh, healthy and affordable food. The kits provide a hands-on learning opportunity alongside fresh, nutritious produce.
Those little versions of the farm launched in March 2020 as a pandemic response for 500 households. It has since transitioned to work in community partnerships.
It’s always looking to grow, including grabbing a little more space adjacent to the current site, where some growing will be “directed at culturally relevant crops,” Stewart said.
Engaging with newcomers, they’ve learned there are items people from other countries might not be able to find locally, things like herbs and peppers. “We can try and grow them and have a little fun along the way,” Stewart said.
The pop-up market that runs typically three days a week May through October next to the Galloping Goose is yet another opportunity to engage the public and explain what they’re up to.
“It’s not just a collection of pots; it’s not a community garden; but it’s a fully-functioning commercial farm that also happens to run an onsite market and now support a larger charity,” Howes said.
Learn more about the agency at get-fed.ca.
