Top Banner
Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley Thompson, Associate Professor, Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, 70 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2 [email protected] Abstract Infrastructure and equipment to support food production is a key aspect of building sustainable livelihoods and food security. A prototype called the farm-in-a-box, containing most of the agriculture material required to build and operate a farm homestead, is studied in a remote First Nation community in Canada, in this paper. The farm-in-a-box helped build a greenhouse, brooder and irrigation system using the shipping container as a structural element. With the input of the farm-in-a-box infrastructure and equipment as physical assets, Meechim Inc. was able to mobilize its natural, human, social and natural assets to turn these into financial assets, better food access and more sustainable livelihoods. This prototype has promise, with modifications, for building food security and sustainable livelihoods in not only other First Nation communities but anywhere. Introduction The lack of infrastructure for food systems contributes to food insecurity and poverty in many rural and remote areas world-wide [1]. Where food access is limited, cost-effective solutions are needed to create food-based community food security and community economic development [2]. The “farm-in-a-box” prototype provides an interesting approach to community food security by shipping food growing materials where it is needed for the community to grow its own food on the plentiful land available in remote locations. Community food security is defined as existing “when all community residents obtain a safe, personally acceptable, nutritious diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes healthy choices, community self reliance and equal access for everyone” [3]. This approach considers the root causes of the food system ills – to eradicate hunger, and overall poverty issues. A farm-in-a-box is a shipping container loaded with materials to start a farm homestead, with the container serving as the building skeleton for the greenhouse and chicken brooder as well as the storage for farm equipment. In Canada, the first trial for the farm-in-a-box was in Garden Hill First Nation (GHFN) in 2015, which is a remote fly-in community in northern Manitoba with limited infrastructure, lack of housing and high food insecurity. This “farm-in-a box’ is a model that, if successful in GHFN, can jumpstart food production and local healthy food access in areas that need it most, remote areas with high shipping costs for healthy food access in areas that need it most, remote areas with high shipping costs for food and materials and lack of jobs. This model has to be analyzed for its potential considering its ability to deliver food security and livelihood assets to remote and rural communities as well as any community wanting community economic development.
13

Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

Jun 07, 2020

Download

Documents

dariahiddleston
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Page 1: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity

Shirley  Thompson,  Associate  Professor,  Natural  Resources  Institute,  University  of  Manitoba,    70  Dysart  Road,  Winnipeg,  Manitoba,  R3T  2N2  [email protected]   Abstract

Infrastructure and equipment to support food production is a key aspect of building sustainable livelihoods and food security. A prototype called the farm-in-a-box, containing most of the agriculture material required to build and operate a farm homestead, is studied in a remote First Nation community in Canada, in this paper. The farm-in-a-box helped build a greenhouse, brooder and irrigation system using the shipping container as a structural element. With the input of the farm-in-a-box infrastructure and equipment as physical assets, Meechim Inc. was able to mobilize its natural, human, social and natural assets to turn these into financial assets, better food access and more sustainable livelihoods. This prototype has promise, with modifications, for building food security and sustainable livelihoods in not only other First Nation communities but anywhere.

Introduction The lack of infrastructure for food systems contributes to food insecurity and poverty in many rural and remote areas world-wide [1]. Where food access is limited, cost-effective solutions are needed to create food-based community food security and community economic development [2]. The “farm-in-a-box” prototype provides an interesting approach to community food security by shipping food growing materials where it is needed for the community to grow its own food on the plentiful land available in remote locations. Community food security is defined as existing “when all community residents obtain a safe, personally acceptable, nutritious diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes healthy choices, community self reliance and equal access for everyone” [3]. This approach considers the root causes of the food system ills – to eradicate hunger, and overall poverty issues. A farm-in-a-box is a shipping container loaded with materials to start a farm homestead, with the container serving as the building skeleton for the greenhouse and chicken brooder as well as the storage for farm equipment. In Canada, the first trial for the farm-in-a-box was in Garden Hill First Nation (GHFN) in 2015, which is a remote fly-in community in northern Manitoba with limited infrastructure, lack of housing and high food insecurity. This “farm-in-a box’ is a model that, if successful in GHFN, can jumpstart food production and local healthy food access in areas that need it most, remote areas with high shipping costs for healthy food access in areas that need it most, remote areas with high shipping costs for food and materials and lack of jobs. This model has to be analyzed for its potential considering its ability to deliver food security and livelihood assets to remote and rural communities as well as any community wanting community economic development.

Page 2: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

Meechim Incorporated. Meechim means food in Ojibway-Cree. Meechim Inc. is a First Nation run food-based social enterprise that was formed by GHFN community members with the help of AKI Energy, Four Arrows Regional Health Authority (FARHA) and the Eco-health learning circle at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), University of Manitobaiin 2014. The goals of Meechim Inc. include providing youth and adult training and work opportunities by providing agriculture equipment and infrastructure, as well as endeavoring to grow community food security and sustainable livelihoods. Meechim Inc. endeavors to provide sufficient nutrients, protein and calories for a large segment of the local population of 2,665. By developing capacity in agriculture through the FN band sponsored employment training opportunities it will cultivate jobs where there is 76% unemployment [4]. Food security. The definition of community food security by the 1996 World Food Summit is “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.” Problems associated with food access in remote fly-in communities in Manitoba include limited selection of perishable foods, high food prices, escalating transportation costs, uncertainty of travel on winter ice roads, high poverty rates, and a declining use of local country foods [5, 6]. The re-invigoration of local food production is considered key to food access [5]. Community-based approaches are one possible response to tackle food insecurity, alongside business activities, government programs, and social policy [7, 8]. ii The Setting. GHFN is located on Island Lake in Manitoba, at its north tip, approximately 610 km (380 miles) northeast of Winnipeg (see Figure 1). GHFN is accessible via plane from a nearby island or winter road or a boat from Wasagamack and St. Theresa Point First Nations, both of which are approximately 17 km (11 miles) northeast by boat. The population in this community is escalating rapidly with a median age of 18.9 years. In 2011, the population of GHFN was 2,776, up by 46.3 percent from 1,898 in 2006 [4]. The very high birth rates of this youthful population are creating pressure on available housing. There is a shortage of housing with private dwelling for only 545 families when census families number 640 [18]. Due to lack of housing, the average household with 5.1 people has a higher number of people than the Manitoba average of 3.8 [4].iii Not only housing is limited, but other infrastructure, with the community lacking any community centre, library or other public meeting place. As well the quality of housing is poor without piped water and sewage. 54% of homes have water trucked to cisterns or barrels; 49% have no service. Only 18% of adults in GHFN have completed high school with 5% having a college education. Despite the high population growth, GHFN has preserved its language, culture, and traditions. Most people (60%) speak Ojibway-Cree fluently with 14% speaking Cree as both their mother tongue and the language spoken at home. In addition to valuing their language and social customs, hunting and fishing traditions remain strong [9]. Hunting traplines, which were assigned to each family by the colonial government centuries ago to maximize the number of furs being traded to the Hudson Bay Company, are still used for sustenance despite often being located hundreds of kilometers away from the community or

Page 3: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

even in another province. GHFN has a history of gardening, which gave the community its name. Although gardening is not popular now in the community or for the last two generations, their grandparents or great grandparents relied on gardening as well as hunting, fishing and gathering. To deal with the difficulties of the climate and soil, indigenous agriculture worked with nature to care for earth, similar to permaculture [11]. Unlike conventional gardening techniques, permaculture is based on the local indigenous agriculture, culture and environment. Food sources should be resilient. GHFN has discontinuous permafrost, poor soils, and a short growing season at the northern edge of the boreal forest with temperatures dipping to below -40 degrees Celsius in winter. The Need for Meechim Inc. at Garden Hill First Nation: Food Security. 88% of GHFN households were found to be very food insecure, which is approximately ten times the Canadian average in 2009 [9, 10]. Food security occurs “when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” [12]. Many families are too poor to afford healthy food, as retail food is very costly with limited selection of healthy foods, high transportation costs and a scarcity of any employment opportunities. Since the only nearby grocery store is located on an island across from GHFN, food adds a $12 boat trip to the already high cost of food. High-impact food programs are needed to prevent the dire health consequences of food insecurity, in a community where 631 residents or 24% of the population, are on the diabetes registry in this community is in need of healthy food opportunities [13].iv Sustainable Livelihoods Assessment. A sustainable livelihood is a useful analysis for this research considering five assets or dimensions: natural, physical, human, financial and social assets. The definition of sustainable livelihoods is “the assets, the activities, and the access to these (mediated by institutions and social relations) that together determine the living gained by an individual or household” [14]. Processes (e.g., laws, policies, societal norms and incentives) and institutional structures (e.g., rules, customs, etc.) at multiple levels (individual, household, community, regional, government, multinational corporations) affect each of these assets [14, 15]. Livelihood strategies are developed by people considering their external environment, which they have little control over [16, 17]. The amalgam of assets, policies and institutional factors are complex causing poverty and underdevelopment on First Nation reserves [18, 9].v Methods Faculty and graduate students collaborated with Meechim Inc., AKI Energy and GHFN chief and council regarding a work employment training program and building the farm homestead. This holistic mixed methods approach included participatory research with Meechim Inc. workers, AKI Energy and GHFN community members, including the building of both the greenhouse and chicken brooder, helping with market days, worker training and instigating field trials. The first year was documented and then a sustainable livelihoods analysis was applied to determine how the farm-in-a-box improved livelihoods.

Page 4: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

Findings These findings document the first year of history of Meechim Inc. to capture the critical initial stages of development. In August 2014, after many years of Dr. Thompson working with GHFN on many food issues we discussed building a farm. In September 2014, the band with community members had designated a site for the farm and bulldozed its 15 acres of young forest without any money or program funding in place. At that time, NRI took soil samples, which found the clay soil was depleted of nitrogen and phosphorous. That fall graduate students and Dr. Thompson from NRI started meeting with GHFN, AKI Energy and Four Arrows Regional Health Authority (FARHA) on planning the farm and markets. After AKI Energy and NRI students and faculty met with the chief and council in GHFN, a small market survey in GHFN was first undertaken in 2014 by AKI Energy. The survey showed that a family of five in GHFN spends, on average, $1000 each month for purchasing food from the Northern Store. This store is on the neighbouring island and boat taxing to it costs another $12/person round-trip. With 548 households in the community, it was calculated that at least $7 million/year is being spent on food in GHFN. To further test the market, while also feeding the community, AKI Energy and Meechim flew fruits, vegetables and meat up to sell at a monthly market starting in winter 2014. At that time they had to purchase the food at retail prices with a 30% markup by Harris Meats to access the Nutrition North subsidy. The cost for food was not cheap by urban standards but was considerably cheaper than the Northern Store, for example offering $3.50 for a dozen eggs, $1.00 for one onion, $2.50 for two pounds of carrots, etc. AKI Energy received the Nutrition North freight subsidy for Meechim Inc. in the summer of 2015, with only a small markup to cover local labour costs and to expand future markets to other communities. Immediately, Meechim Inc. made healthy food accessible to the community by selling non-local healthy food at cheaper prices than the only store – the Northern Store -- as a non-profit social enterprise business. The amount of produce purchased for sale started small at $1000 to $2000 in the winter of 2014/2015, for the first few trials, but grew rapidly to be $20,000 sales/market day in the summer of 2015. The Meechim market day is strategically chosen to co-ordinate with paydays, welfare days and/or child and family cheque deliveries to allow people to get better, more healthy food for their limited money. The market was typically held in the radio/television station building in the 2014/2015, providing a home shopping channel for the day. Only fish was local in the spring of 2015, with local chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, beans and other agriculture products available in the fall.

Page 5: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

Fig. 1: Meechim Inc. Health Food Market held in the Radio/Television Station The Farm-in-a-Box. To provide community food security, Meechim Inc. is seriously focusing on growing enough nutrients, protein and calories to meet the dietary needs of their population. Realizing the climate and soil challenges, to allow the project to feed the community, different permaculture approaches to work with nature were incorporated into the plan. After several meetings that included GHFN, AKI Energy, Four Arrows Regional Health Authority (FARHA) and community members, the materials were decided on and bought, including two intermodal containers to ship them. The “farm-in-a-box” was driven up to GHFN by transport trucks on the winter ice road before the ice roads ended in March 2015. Two forty-feet intermodal freight containers were driven up on winter roads to a remote, fly-in northern community to start a farm homestead on 15 acres for the first year of planting. Three different trucks hauled two shipping containers and a three-season camper as shown in Fig. 1. Contents in the shipment to GHFN included a tractor, building materials for a greenhouse, office, electric fence and chicken tractor materials, chicken feed for 1200 chickens, low speed two passenger utility electric standard (2 4 volt, 5.5 hp), two cisterns, irrigation hoses, two 3000 watt diesel generators, solar energy panels/batteries and other farming tools, three solar panels with four deep cell 12 volt batteries, etc. Since the shipments were sent up several months before the program started, vandalism was a concern, with the shipping container doors having a chain lock on them. Despite this, a break in did occur but with only safety equipment stolen and no vandalism. With only one door and no windows – the door could easily be blocked with a heavy chain and a big rock, which prevented any further stealth.

Page 6: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

Fig. 2: Trucking farm-in-a-box on winter roads to Garden Hill First Nation Photocredit: Robert Guilford

The work on-site at the farm only began May 19th, 2015, to both build the homestead and prepare the soil for planting and irrigation barely in time for the short growing season. To jumpstart building the homestead a work crew came from University of Manitoba, AKI Energy and Meechim Inc. As well, a professional film person accompanied them on the first two weeks who focused mainly on videotaping greenhouse building. First, the water cistern was set up on a platform on top of the railcar, which was filled by the community’s water truck, to gravity-feed water hoses as shown in Fig. 3. Another cistern was located at the highest point in the farm landscape, which was filled from the nearby lake by a gasoline operated water pump gravity, feeding driplines and a hose to irrigate the farm. Almost half of the 15 acres was planted the first year, although they expect smaller yields of potatoes and other products, as they were very late getting their annual crops in until late June.

The plan for the farm originally was to be off-grid using solar panels and battery back ups, as there was no electrical hook-up. However, the immediate need for electricity to power the trailer, electric car and different power equipment, as well as the continuous need for brooder heat lights and electric fencing overwhelmed that consideration. The cost of gasoline generated electricity amounted to more than $100/day and resulted in small spills, constant vigilance and lots of noise pollution. Clearly, it made no sense to charge an electric car from a gas-fueled generator. After four weeks the solar systems had not been put in place to reduce demand for fossil fuels and so an electrical hookup was put in place.

Page 7: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

Fig. 3: Filling gravity fed water system with water truck. An immediate priority was building a functional brooder for the impending arrival that week of 700 one-day old broilers and layers. With a requirement to keep the temperature maintained at 35°C for the first week and then 32°C the second week, the only available space were temperature could be controlled was the rail car. With building materials still filling most of the railcar, a wooden frame was erected at the back half of the railway car with three poultry nibbler waterers and six infrared lamps powered by the generator. Although not a well functioning brooder, due to it not being spacious, safe, easy to clean, as well as lacking ventilation, it was inexpensive and most of the chicks did survive. The poor design did result in greater labour costs to feed and water at least six times per day and higher chick mortality. For better survival rates and biosafety, the new design for future farms should require a maximum of 365 to 275 birds in the sixty-foot railcar (574 square feet) in order to provide a minimum of 1.5 to 2 feet square/chick with three times the water and feeder capacities, as well as easy access for workers to clean, water and fill feed bin without creating biosafety issues. As it was, workers had to walk around electrical wire and on chicken manure to feed and water many times a day and with food, space and water in short supply, chicks competed for all their basic needs. An explanation for all these design flaws are that the greenhouse focus of filming, completely unrelated to NRI’s video done much later by Klatt and Thompson [21], had a reality television effect that resulted in the brooder being built hastily when the chicks arrived. Some design improvements to enable easier feeding and watering were made for the second batch and the number of chicks was reduced to 500 for half the rail car, which was still higher than ideal but better resulting in much higher

Page 8: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

survival rates (96% survival rate in the 2nd batch versus 76% survival rate for the first batch).

Figure 4: Brooder to house baby chicks in railway car for first four weeks In addition to greenhouse building, soil building had to occur as the clay soil, which is deficient in phosphorus and nitrogen required fish and peat to be added. Other possibilities and ways to enrich the soil are green manure, composting efforts, and hugelkulture. With the abundance of trees in this boreal forest area and the lack of organic matter in soil, hugelkultur was tried, which incorporates tree materials into the soil as it rots increasing soil temperature, providing room for roots, and holds water. A green manure crop included clover and legumes to fix atmospheric nitrogen in their root nodules to make it available to plants, which was also fed to the chickens in the chicken trailers with their chicken manure being incorporated into the soil to provide organic matter and nutrients [11]. Crops in this market garden included potatoes, beans and greens as well as perennial section for raspberries and apples. vi Analysis by Sustainable Livelihoods Framework This section analyses by the Sustainable Livelihood framework, considering that different assets are needed to build sustainable livelihoods. The impact of farm-in-a-box providing infrastructure and equipment on other assets as well as a policy and institutional analysis is analyzed below. Human assets, namely the the skills, health, and education of individuals that contribute to the productivity of labor and capacity to manage land [2, 19, 20], were improved by the

Page 9: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

worker training program. GHFN funded employment training for five community full-time summer workers and one local farm supervisor as well. In addition, Meechim Inc., from the $300,000 grant, paid for a local market and farm manager and one part-time market supervisor, as well as a farmer/builder. As well, NRI funded two students to live on-site for most of the agricultural season. As part of this program, workers engaged in vegetable production, berry production and carpentry to build a greenhouse and chicken brooder, as well as develop an irrigation system. As well as acquiring skills and education, the hard physical labour of the workers improved their fitness levels and health. Community workers, managers and supervisors started with limited or no agriculture experience, although one was an accomplished carpenter and others as large equipment operators. Similarly, experts from AKI energy and University of Manitoba had a large learning curve, as they had experience with small-scale chicken-raising but lacked both larger scale chicken raising experience or any experience farming or living in northern remote communities. GHFN workers and NRI interns developed skills in animal husbandry caring for day old chicks in the broiler, pasture raising them, and then participating in their butchering. As well, the workers and students participated in the full cycle of crop production from starting seeds, watering, weeding to harvesting. GHFN workers and supervisors as well as NRI interns were able to master a wide variety of construction skills and agriculture skills through the training program. The experts in the process learned about some of the adaptations required to improve biosafety and better survival rates for their chicken brooder and better understood appropriate technology and programming, e.g., breaking down and inability to fix electric car, and the need for better planning and teamwork to make the farm-in-the-box work. Social assets are about belonging and feeling a connection with others, which facilitate cooperative action, sharing, bonding and social bridging, to others in powerful positions that can enable future work [2, 17]. The workers developed a positive sense of community belonging and pride in their community feeling that their farming work was going to feed the community and providing the lasting resource of a farm. Workers built social assets by creating bridges and networks with NRI professor and students, AKI Energy, FARHA and others as well as personnel from government and funding agencies. Also, AKI Energy and NRI became more involved with other environmental aspects of the community and recruited further expert assistance due to their extensive networks. Natural assets include seeds, plants, soil, water, land access and other aspects of food production and supply, land, as well as hunting, fishing and gathering [2, 17]. Most families in GHFN hunt, fish and gather berries and medicines, in their pristine ancestral territory providing an important food source and natural asset. Regarding GHFN agriculture, although some people had a few backyard chickens and others had gardens, agriculture was very limited prior to Meechim Inc. A generous natural asset was provided by the GHFN band, when Meechim Inc. was given free access to 15 acres of land for growing food, strategically located a few hundred metres from both a lake for irrigation and a natural source of peat. Together these provided most of the natural assets required to grow a farm successfully, facilitated by traditional indigenous

Page 10: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

methods of building the soil of local peat, fish and wood chips/hugelkulture. Using permaculture and modern irrigation and other methods, the workers worked with nature to grow the farm, which will sustain and build natural capital over time. Physical assets are the infrastructure and equipment in the community, which was the curtailing factor in the community for agriculture, prior to the project, without a tractor, wood chipper, etc. [2, 17]. The promise of the farm was that it would provide a homestead, to reduce the housing crisis in the community, as well as infrastructure for the farm of greenhouses, tractors, utility vehicle for the homestead to be self-sufficient. Without piped water or an electricity connection at the farm or any structures existing on the farm, there was a need to have a place to stay for constructing the homestead and a need for an alternative energy source or hook up to the electrical grid. The three-season camper provided comfortable, cheap ($14,000 Canadian) accommodation for two or three people, but fit six at times. With kitchenette including fridge, range and microwave, as well as shower, bathroom and two bedrooms, it provided a permanent living accommodation for people on-site as the baby chicks needed 24/7 care to feed, water and keep generator working. The storage container, served as the northern wall of the greenhouse as well as the inside served as brooder, storage shed. In addition, the container was the floor building block for the “penthouse”. Containers are considered to be ideal as a building material due to being durable, strong, stackable, cuttable, movable, modular, plentiful and relatively cheap ($4000 or less used). It is considered eco-friendly as it upcycles over 3,500 kg of steel and reduced the use of traditional building materials needed (i.e. bricks and cement). Construction involved very little labour, requiring only simple modification to cut the steel for the brooder, a side door, chicken hatch and ventilation. Containers are made to be held up by their four corners and easily stacked and so easily supported the cistern full of water and small living/working area. The penthouse is designed to be built from wood beside the cistern. However, stacking an insulated container atop the other container may be more cost-effective and could come with the plumbing, doors and windows already installed or left to be done on-site. Financial assets amount to the buying power of savings and credit [2, 17]. The idea of the farm-in-a-box garnered $300,000 in provincial grants and also for research purposes the NRI, through the financial support of SSHRC and MITACS, was able to contribute another $60,000 in materials and student labour, including the trailer accommodation. Although there is no on-going, operating government funding to Meechim Inc., the chicken and vegetables sales are expected to provide an on-going revenue stream to pay for labour and farm production. The Meechim market has established a regular market, which will provide a venue for selling chickens and other farm produce, as well as store-bought food. Many GHFN community members lack regular sources of income, which results in the average median family being CA$24,320 [4]. Institutional and Policy Factors for First Nations (FNs) often work against community development for many reasons. On the FHFN reserve, the land and housing are owned by the federal government [2] and their territory and resources are owned by the provincial government. As a result of not owning property or resources, both the community and

Page 11: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

individuals cannot get loans easily to start businesses. Also as FNs are typically not eligible funding for provincial funding. However, due to the enormity of the food security problem in Northern Manitoba, the provincial government through the Northern Healthy Food Initiative (NHFI), has funded small food programming initiatives [5], and made this GHFN farm their first large scale agricultural project. Meechim Inc. was provided funding due to its ability to be sustainable over time as a viable social enterprise. Social enterprise policy is being embraced by Manitoba government and many funding organizations. Meechim Inc. fits the definition of social enterprise as it is producing and selling goods and services for both generating income and also for achieving social, cultural, health and environmental aims to help build GHFN as a healthy community. As well, AKI Energy is promoting Meechim Inc. as a sustainable model to provide community food security for other food insecure First Nation Inc. to get these farms in as many new communities as possible using a video done by Klatt and Thompson from NRI in the fourth week at http://youtu.be/9CeWRoRQaZk[21]. Conclusion The farm-in-a-box arose out of the needs in the community for better food security and infrastructure. While rich in natural and human assets, GHFN suffered from inadequate physical and financial capital. With the input of the farm-in-a-box infrastructure and equipment as physical assets, Meechim Inc. was able to mobilize its natural, human, social and natural assets to turn these assets into financial assets and better food security. This farm-in-a-box built capacity in agriculture through the FN band sponsored employment training opportunities and food security through marketing local agriculture production, and other goods. Providing infrastructure and agriculture equipment, as well as some expertise, is a key aspect that is needed in remote First Nation and other impoverished communities from outside funders, with most other materials and labour available in the community. To improve sustainable livelihoods in FNs, government and private fund investment is needed to improve infrastructure in FN and northern communities. Shifting spending of community members to a local, community-run food market, keeps food and money cycling in the community, which decreases local food insecurity and increases human, social, financial and natural capital. The assets analysis was able to show what a difference the infrastructure, equipment and farm-in-a-box materials made in the community of GHFN across all the different capitals, not just physical assets or financial assets. The materials and shipping container provided by farm-in-the-box allowed Meechim Inc. to build an irrigated permaculture farm including a greenhouse and chicken tractors. The trailer was a necessary component as to provide continuous on-site care of chickens and a place to live while you are building a homestead. Some design flaws included the lack of carefully balancing energy needs with sustainable energy production and lack of adequate planning that prioritizes agricultural production and critical paths (e.g., brooder design). Clearly, this was a prototype learning situation that can be improved in future models and a GANTT chart with critical paths would have helped to keep things on track.

Page 12: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

Acknowledgements This research received financially support through the SSHRC Insight Grant Award called “The good life through indigenous community development: Sustainable development planning to build community assets in Island Lake First Nation.” The authors give special thanks to Ivan Harper, Malay Das, Tosan Oskaranan, Shaun Loney, Darcy Wood, Zack & Val Flett and all the great GHFN community members and Meechim Inc. workers for their support.                                                                                                                 References [1] Information on http://www.fao.org/ docrep/003/w3613e/w3613e00.htm [2] S. Thompson, M. Rony, J. Temmer, D. Wood, Pulling in the indigenous fishery cooperative net: Fishing for sustainable livelihoods and food security in Garden Hill First Nation, Manitoba, Canada. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 4(3), (2014) 177–192. [3] M.W. Hamm, A.C. Bellows, Community food security and nutrition educators, J Nutr Educ Behav, 2003, 35:37-43. [4] Information on http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dppd/aprof/ [5] S. Thompson, A. Gulrukh, M. Ballard, B. Beardy, D. Islam, V. Lozeznik, K. Wong, Is community economic development putting healthy food on the table? Food sovereignty in northern Manitoba’s Aboriginal communities. Journal of Aboriginal Economic Development, 7(2), (2011) 14–39. [7] E. M. Power, Combining social justice and sustainability for food security. In M. Koc, R. MacRae, L. J. A. Mougeot, & J. Welsh (Eds.), For hunger-proof cities: Sustainable urban food systems, IDRC Books, Ottawa 1999, pp. 30–37. [8] E. M. Power, V. Tarasuk,. The impact of income on healthy eating in Canada. Health Canada Policy Forum, 60. (2006, March).  [9] S. Thompson, A. G. Kamal, M. A. Alam, J. Wiebe, Community development to feed the family in northern Manitoba communities: Evaluating food activities based on their food sovereignty, food security, and sustainable livelihood outcomes. Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research, 3(2), (2012).43–66. [10] Information on http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/alt_formats/hpfbdgpsa/pdf/surveill/income_food_sec-sec_alim-eng.pdf [11] C. Connor, Grow a Sustainable Diet: Planning and growing to feed ourselves and the earth. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers (2014). [12] Information on http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/w3613e/w3613e00.htm [13] S. Thompson, M. Rony, J. Temmer, D. Wood, Pulling in the indigenous fishery cooperative net: Fishing for sustainable livelihoods and food security in Garden Hill First Nation, Manitoba, Canada. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 4(3), (2014), 177–192. [14] F. Ellis, Rural livelihoods and diversity in developing countries. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (2000). [15] M. A. Brocklesby, E. Fisher, Community development in sustainable livelihoods approaches – an introduction. Community Development Journal, 38(3), (2003), 185–198.

Page 13: Growing a farm in a boxed3 - University of Manitoba...Growing a farm in a fly-in First Nation community using shipping containers for building infrastructure and capacity Shirley(Thompson,(

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 [16] R. Chambers, G. R. Conway, Sustainable rural livelihoods: Practical concepts for the 21st century (IDS Discussion Paper No. 296). Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 1992. [17] Information on http://www.efls.ca/web resources/DFID_Sustainable_livelihoods_guidance _sheet.pdf [18] M. Ballard, Flooding sustainable livelihoods of the Lake St Martin First Nation: The need to enhance the role of gender and language in Anishinaabe knowledge systems (Doctoral thesis). Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 2012. [19] L. Brendtro, M. Brokenleg, S. Van Bockern, The Circle of Courage. Beyond Behavior, (2), (1991), 5-12. [20] L. Brendtro, M. Brokenleg, S. Van Bockern, The Circle of Courage and Positive Psychology. Reclaiming Children and Youth, (14), (2005). 130-136. [21] R. Klatt and S. Thompson, Meechim Inc. Film available at http://youtu.be/9CeWRoRQaZk.