Daniel Reid JARDINS COMMUNAUTAIRES ET SÉCURITÉ ALIMENTAIRE COMMUNITY GARDENS AND FOOD SECURITY

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1 JARDINS COMMUNAUTAIRES ET SÉCURITÉ ALIMENTAIRE COMMUNITY GARDENS AND FOOD SECURITY Daniel Reid Abstract En 1977, les autorités municipales de Montréal ont décrété que 10% du territoire serait dorénavant zoné espaces verts. La plupart des quartiers avaient suffisamment de terrains disponibles pour respecter cette norme. A la même époque, l'administration municipale a mis en place un programme municipal de jardins communautaires. Les jardins communautaires offrent l'opportunité aux citadins de cultiver leurs légumes et de fraterniser. À Montréal, 1.5% de la population adulte jardine dans un jardin communautaire municipal. Les jardins sont dispersés sur tout le territoire et sont facilement accessibles, soit 8200 jardinets dans 97 jardins communautaires. Dans les arrondissements les plus peuplés, il faut attendre de 1 à 3 ans sur la liste d'attente avant d'accéder à un jardinet. Le programme comporte un minimum de réglementation afin de simplifier l'activité. En terme de coût, la contribution moyenne d'un jardinier revient à 10$/jardinet pour un lopin de terre mesurant 3m x 6m. Avant la réorganisation municipale de 2002, suite à laquelle chaque arrondissement gérait ses propres jardins communautaires (Ville de Montréal), l'investissement de la municipalité, il est d'environ 0,2% du budget du Service des sports, des loisirs et du développement social. Le jardinage communautaire permet l'auto-production d'aliments de qualité sur des terrains gérés par la municipalité. Cette activité populaire favorise l'estime de soi et l'acquisition de nouvelles connaissances pratiques et techniques. A Montréal, les saisons de cultures sont réduites dû aux longs hivers et ne permettent qu'une récolte ; ainsi, pendant les mois de récolte, cette initiative municipale allège la problématique de la sécurité alimentaire. Le programme des jardins communautaires de Montréal est considéré comme le programme de jardinage collectif le plus accessible et le mieux organisé en Amérique (Reid, 2006). Keywords: Urban Agriculture, Community Gardens, Montreal. City of Montreal has found innovative ways to integrate productive growing in places such as a. Over a water reservoir, b. Higway tunnels. Source: Minimum Cost Housing Group,

2 Figure 1. Urban agriculture activities on the island of Montreal By kind permission of Julia Lebedeva In 1977 local authorities announced that 10% of Montreal's territory would be designated as green spaces; at that time, most neighborhoods had sufficient available land to respect this norm. In parallel, the community gardens program, which was also created by the municipality of Montreal, was launched. Today, in Montreal, community gardens provide growing space within the city to 1.5% of the adult urban population enabling them to both cultivate a plot of land and to socialize. Ninety seven community gardens host about 8,200 plots which are relatively well distributed throughout the city and easily accessible to the local population. Nevertheless, in the most populated boroughs, it can take up to three years to have access to an available plot. Garden rules are kept to a bare minimum to simplify this activity. 92

3 Figure 2. Site Plan; Victoria Community Garden, Area of Garden: m² Source: 2002 Minimum Cost Housing Group, McGill University (Bhatt et all., 2005) Figure 3. Site Plan; Pere-Marquette Community Garden, Area of Garden: m² Source: 2002 Minimum Cost Housing Group, McGill University (Bhatt et all., 2005) In terms of costs, gardeners pay $10/year to cover the fees of their 3m x 6m plot. In addition, before the 2002 municipal reorganization that led each borough to manage the program (Ville de Montréal), the municipality allocated 0.2% of the budget of the Service des sports, des loisirs et du développement social Department to this program. Community gardening helps the production of good quality food on municipal lands. This popular activity empowers people and enhances their technical knowledge. In Montreal, the growing periods are reduced by long lasting winters, thus allowing a single harvest; still, this program significantly contributes to the food security of participating families. The Montreal community garden program is considered one of the most dynamic and well organized in America (Reid, 2006). 93

4 Figure 4. City of Montreal has found innovative ways to integrate productive growing in places such as: a. Over a water reservoir, b. Highway tunnels. Source: Minimum Cost Housing Group, Figure 6. View of a gardening plot, 2004 Source: Minimum Cost Housing Group, McGill University Figure 5. a. Plan of a small community garden. b. Detail of a gardening plot: Tires or tomatoes? Source: 2002 Minimum Cost Housing Group, McGill University (Bhatt et all., 2005)

5 REFERENCES BHATT V. & KONGSHAUG R. (Eds.) Making the edible landscape: a study of urban agriculture in Montreal. Montréal: School of Architecture, McGill University. [online] Available from [Accessed 10/12/08]. REID D. 2006, "Montreal's Community Gardening Program" [online] Available from documents/montreal_community_gardening_program.pdf [Accessed 10/12/08]. VILLE DE MONTREAL. "History of community gardens" [online] Available from 9&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL [Accessed 10/02/09]. Author s Address: Daniel Reid, horticultural animator Ville de Montréal daniel_reid@ville.montreal.qc.ca 95 Daniel Reid