ommunity EDITOR MARTIN WISSMATH THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2012 7 Urban farmers Growing Eden In south Van Families rent plots of land on urban farm on 57th Avenue to grow fresh food By HAYLEY DOCTOR low-income families, including those on disability stipends, and new immigrants to Canada get togeth- er and learn how to grow food and cook healthy meals. Funded by the United Way, Growing Eden is based out of the George Pear- son Centre in south Vancouver and is connected to the Farmers on 57th ur- ban garden project. This is the second year of the program that runs from April to October. “We have 12 families that come, and they bring their children and we give them a plot of land and teach them how to grow food,” said Aimee Taylor, horti- cultural therapist and co-founder of the program. “Then what we do is we har- vest that food from our gardens and we make a lunch with that.” Growing Eden put up flyers around south Vancouver and in local housing co-ops to help find people who would like to become involved. The group meets weekly and en- courages new participants to come toa session to find out more about sustain- able sources of food and healthy meals. While the program focuses on grow- ing sustainable sources of food, many families bring their children for an edu- cational and fun weekly outing. There are also arts and crafts activi- ties and a community kitchen where a fresh meal, prepared from produce grown by participants, feeds about 35 people each week. “We also have the ability to educate through this program,” Taylor said. Participants learn about food security and urban food production. “People come from different angles,” she added. They either want to learn about food or maybe food is difficult to come by.” Growing Eden received a three-year grant from the United Way to front the cost of creating a garden with a play area as well as a greenhouse. “We try to create a beautiful garden,” said Tay- lor. Bob Perry, a computer science stu- dent at Langara, agrees urban farming is a good idea, possibly even here at Langara. “It would be great if it were imple- mented properly. We would need to make it efficient and a high-density thing that uses all the space it has,” said Perry. “Farming techniques have come a long way and I think it could eventually work for anywhere that wanted to try it.” Spaces are still available for families interested in taking part. For more in- formation, please contact Farmers on 57th at farmerson57th@gmail.com. Ge Eden is a project where 12 AIMEE TAYLOR photo Families prepare their plot of land for the urban farm on 57th Avenue. e& Kyle Berger stops to pose while playing in a Jewish Community Centre ice hockey game at the Richmond Ice Centre. Journo sports a new career Former owner of Jewish newspaper felt called to work with youth By LEV JACKSON yle Berger works as the sports coordinator at the Jewish Com- munity Centre of Greater Van- ouver on 41st Avenue and Oak Street. Berger, 36, has always been a con- tributing member of the Jewish com- munity. Before finding his way to the JCC he worked for a youth group called United Synagogue Youth. He was a board member at Beth Tikvah temple in Richmond, captained a JCC ice hock- ey team and wrote for the weekly Jew- ish newspaper The Jewish Indepen- dent, which he also owned. “Judaism has always been a big part of my life, certainly bigger than I thought it would be. For me, it’s more cultural than it is religious.” Berger said his connection with the JCC and the Jewish paper is more about sup- porting the community than relating to his religious beliefs. He was not originally looking for a job in recreation leadership. Upon com- pletion of the journalism program at then Kwantlen University College (now Kwantlen Polytechnic University), he began writing for the weekly sports pa- per Sports View, which has since gone out of print. As Berger covered the Vancouver Canucks and Vancouver Grizzlies games working for the paper, he gradu- ally became disillusioned by sports journalism, and longed for a change. “T would sit in interview scrums af- ter a game with 20 people around inter- viewing the same player holding their microphones up. I would read their sto- ries the next day and they all got a com- pletely different story out of the same interview that I got. They would take the quote the player gave, and stretch it into what they wanted it to mean.” Berger made the switch from sports to the Jewish community paper. After 10 years with the publication, Berger once again went looking for a change of scenery. Now the sports coordinator at the JCC, he runs the daily operations of the gym and the organized sports leagues. One of the main points of focus for him has always been the JCC ice hock- ey league. Throughout his seven years working at the JCC Berger increased the league from six teams to ten, and made it the department’s premier pro- gram. He said his beginnings as a journal- ist still help him in his current position. “It was my experience with the pa- per that best helps me solve controver- sies in the [sports] leagues. Whenever there is an issue between two teams, or two players that I would have to review, my time at the paper really taught me to appreciate that there is always two sides to a story,” Berger said. LEORA ISRAEL photo North Arm Trail goes south of Langara City to develop a new greenway along the south of Langara Golf Course for pedestrians and cyclists By AGUSTINA COCCARO s part of the effort of turning Van- Per into the Greenest City on arth by 2020, the city is develop- ing 17 greenways, one of which passes by Langara. The North Arm Trail is a new bike and pedestrian corridor that will con- nect 59th Avenue from Champlain Heights to Southlands. The 11-kilometre bikeway is expect- ed to connect the southern neighbor- hoods of Vancouver and runs along the southern edge of Langara Golf Course offering student cyclists another safe route to travel through the city. “Work is expected to be completed by 2012, with a few minor pieces of con- struction that could possibly occur in 2018,” said Alex Russell, the City of Vancouver’s communications manager. “Residents should expect localized traffic disruptions at specific construc- tion sites along the route.” The North Arm Trail will connect several elementary and secondary schools, community centres, parks and the George Pearson Rehabilitation Hospital. The new greenway will also be a scenic route in the city as it runs down the Fraserview ravine and pass- es through many of the natural fea- tures of south Vancouver. Langara nursing student and cyclist Shelby Young said she is excited for the new greenways but is sure that these new bike lanes will face as much con- troversy as the bike lanes downtown. “The attitude in the city about bikes is pretty frustrating, but I think once drivers get over the fact that the roads have been shortened, they’ll like it,” said Young. “It’s nice to be separated from the cars, and it’s safer for the driv- ers too.” The North Arm Trail will not only connect east to west but also north to south. The greenway already connects with the Ontario Street bike lane and would be attached to two other pro- posed greenways running along Arbu- tus and Renfrew. Currently 59th Avenue is a quiet res- idential street with minimal traffic. The city hopes people living in the com- munity will use the new greenway, as well as those who want to connect from other greenways or bikeways. Of the 17 greenways in development, only two are fully complete. Several ex- isting routes will also be expanded. PROPOSED Greenways DOWNTOWN HISTORIC TRAIL Three walking routes through Gastown, Yaletown and Chinatown PORTSIDE Runs along the southern edge of Burrard Inlet SPIRIT TRAIL Along the eastern edge of UBC from the Fraser River to English Bay FRASER RIVER TRAIL Expands current trail along the north side of the Fraser's North Arm