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CA (BC): Community farm seeks funding for aquaponics greenhouse

Emma’s Acres is an agricultural social enterprise business located in the District of Mission that is managed by the L.I.N.C. (Long-term Inmates Now in the Community) Society (www.lincsociety.bc.ca). Established in 1992 as a peer support group by Glen Flett, a lifer on parole, L.I.N.C. became a non-profit society in September 1998 and a registered charity in November 1999. Committed to preserving community safety, L.I.N.C. performs a valuable service throughout British Columbia by assisting its members in finding ways to break the cycle of incarceration and create meaningful lives.

Employing victims/survivors, ex-offenders and offenders, vegetables, herbs and fruits are grown naturally at Emma’s Acres without the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers on an 8-acre property leased to L.I.N.C. by the local municipal government. The produce is then sold at the Mission City Farmers’ Market, Deroche Farmers’ Market, the Downtown Eastside Kitchen Table and Fruits and Greens in Mission. Some of the produce is also donated to local non-profit societies in the District of Mission including the food banks and the community kitchen. As well, anyone who is a friend or family member of someone who is murdered gets whatever the L.I.N.C. Society grows for free. The proceeds of the sales at Emma’s Acres goes towards funding L.I.N.C.’s work in the community, in particular its work with survivors of serious crime.

"In this second stage of the Emma's Acres project, we want to increase the project's food sustainability by putting aquaponics in the second greenhouse, building a smoke house and a chicken coop for eggs. We are in need as well of a good walk along tractor for the fields. Aquaponics would allow us the flexibility to grow more produce sustainably in the greenhouse environment. The fish in the greenhouse would be a source of protein. The smokehouse is so we can smoke the fish, tomatoes and other veggies which would give us value added products which restaurants and our community could use. The chicken coop would give us another source of protein with the eggs the chickens will produce. The manure would be utilized on the fields. The walk behind tractor is an essential piece of equipment for bed preparation and succession planting in market gardens. We want to add another bee hive as well. Bees are essential to crop pollination.

"We would like Emma's Acres to be a source of non GMO, non spray vegetables, herbs and fruits for the local community in an even bigger way then it has been. The increased production with aquaponics will allow us to grow sustainably all year long plus the fish will be a good source of protein as will the eggs from the chicken coop. The smokehouse will allow us to preserve what we grow in a traditional way while creating a value added product. Another bee hive will increase our honey production and give us even greater pollination of our field crops. The walk along tractor will assist with bed preparation and succession planting in a more efficient manner. All of these things in the third stage of the Emma's Acres project will allow us to make even greater impact in our work with offenders, victims and our community food security."

You can vote for the project at the Aviva Community Fund.
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