Toggle

Whitehorse Daily Star

Image title

Photo by Vince Fedoroff

GROWING AN IDEA – The Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Teaching and Working Farm was one of the recipients of the $500,000 arctic Inspiration Prize announced Tuesday evening at the Yukon Arts Centre. among those accepting the prize were eoin Sheridan, far left, Mike Taylor and Derrick Hastings, holding the cheque, and Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Chief Roberta Joseph, far right. The federal government matched the prize, giving the farm a total of $1 million. Inset Larry Bagnell

Seeds for greenhouse work planted

A Yukon First Nation is hoping to see more frequent vegetable production in the coming years,

By Whitehorse Star on February 13, 2019

A Yukon First Nation is hoping to see more frequent vegetable production in the coming years, after walking away with $1 million Tuesday evening to make its 10-month greenhouse a reality.

That’s the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, which was awarded $500,000 through the Arctic Inspiration Prize (AIP).

Fertilizing the idea further was the rare sight of a teary-eyed federal politician – who, in a surprise announcement, said Ottawa will match the funds, bringing the total to $1 million.

The Dawson City-area First Nation’s long-term goal is to begin growing vegetables for most of the year. Currently, the growing season is limited to about five months during the warmer May-to-September period.

Derrick Hastings is a part of the team, which partnered with Yukon College, that hopes to construct the extended-season greenhouse. The project that aims to strengthen food security has been on the radar for quite some time, he said.

“I’m used to being around farm animals, not human animals,” Hastings joked last night.

“So this environment with the celebratory spirit of this event, I feel great, I feel on top of the world,” he smiled shortly after Yukon MP Larry Bagnell’s emotional unveiling of the federal contribution.

The hope is to begin producing veggies and offer training for those working in the greenhouse two winters from now – something Hastings is hopeful about.

“We’re going to request a little bit of a longer timeline,” he said of the arrangement for the funding, “to take our time in engineering it properly, look at potential localized solutions as opposed to over engineering.”

The structure will need heating technologies. That means more work with energy providers to install the necessary equipment.

“Right now, we’re close; we’re very close to being able to provide year-round,” Hastings said. “I think this facility is going to allow us to do that.”

It could also bring to fruition the need and use of localized fertilizers, not to mention the hands-on training that such a greenhouse could offer.

“Having more people invested year-round, it’s going to create that opportunity so people will use that experience to turn this into a profession as opposed to just seasonal work or farmhand.”

His eyes lighting up with possibilities, an excited Hastings added: “Those are terms I don’t want to hear anymore; I’d rather hear that these people are professionals in agriculture.”

Correcting himself, he said, smiling: “Northern agriculture.”

It’s that spirit that is all too common among all the winners: a sense of pride paired with innovation and inspiration of contributing to something greater than just the project itself.

Solving things like food insecurity isn’t an easy task in areas where transportation can be limited. As the Star reported last week, a recent report by Food Banks Canada found almost half of households in Nunavut, for instance, are food-insecure.

It’s also something Bagnell referenced in his speech earlier Tuesday night and later while speaking to reporters.

Fighting back tears while on stage, the MP choked up as he paid tribute to Arnold Witzig and Sima Sharifi, the Canadian couple who hail from Switzerland and Iran, respectively.

Together, they contributed $60 million (most of their wealth) toward the AIP to showcase the potential for the North, which has been recognizing talent and ideas since the prize’s inception in 2012.

“As immigrants to this country, they give us their life savings,” Bagnell said of the philanthropic duo.

“And as northerners, we are strongly impacted by the effects of climate change,” he added, shifting his attention to Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Chief Roberta Joseph, standing just behind him.

“This reality of climate change makes it all the more important to innovate in order to adapt, one of the key challenges of that and that northern communities face is food security.”

Noting that rising costs grow from the limited access to quality produce in and from the North, he added that these solutions are all the more special as they create opportunities for locals.

“Instead of spending greenhouse gases to bring rotten lettuce from California, they’ll be able to grow it, the First Nations and train other First Nations youth.”

The time and money it takes for food to come up here, paired with the unpredictability of infrastructure, can wreak havoc on some communities, the MP pointed out.

“On the Alaska Highway, there’s lots of spots where there’s one bridge that could shut us down.

“And the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people won’t have to worry about that because it’ll be right at their back door.”

(The most recent example of the failure of the Alaska Highway occurred in the summer of 2012. A culvert washout in the southern Yukon/northern B.C. region closed the artery for several days, leaving Whitehorse supermarket shelves bare of such commodities as meat, produce and dairy products.)

For Hastings, it’s the possibility of passing on the knowledge to not just future generations but fellow First Nations and Yukoners that is exhilarating.

“They want to know what we know, and one day we will be the leaders, the teachers, and this facility will allow us to host people,” he smiled.

“So this is component to our farm’s output, and we’re willing to share that with the whole region.”

Come the winter after next, Hastings guessed foods like spinach, bok choy, micro greens, Chinese cabbage and green onions could be grown at the site.

“There’s things out there that people want access to, and we can start looking at that when we have the facility to start preparing those things.”

As for more common crops like cucumbers and tomatoes, that could be a long-term goal.

“We’ll see – it all depends how effective this facility is, how warm it stays,” Hastings said. Supplemental lighting will be needed, likely meaning high-pressure sodium or LED lights.

“We want to grow certain veggies that you can plant densely and not need a lot of room, and don’t require 20 degrees for it to operate.”

That means foods like spinach, which “don’t mind if it’s five degrees,” may be more common in the short term.

The night wrapped up with performances by performers Elisapie, the N.W.T.’s Leela Gilday, fiddler Wesley Hardisty and homegrown talent Diyet.

The AIP aims to recognize those who have innovative ideas to meet needs in fields like health, traditional knowledge, science, language, education and sustainable housing.

It is by the North and for the North, and was held for the first time last night North of 60.

See related coverage.

Comments (2)

Up 7 Down 3

Eoin on Feb 15, 2019 at 6:10 pm

Max - the team has worked hard over the past 2 years to address the concerns that you mentioned. The prize fund will enable the solutions to be implemented.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the results over the next few years.

Up 12 Down 3

Max Mack on Feb 14, 2019 at 11:47 pm

I appreciate the sincerity of this couple that donated most of their wealth to foster innovation in the North.

But, I suspect the combined million dollars (prize + matching grant) does not address the "heating technologies" that are needed for the "year-round" greenhouse. And, how about ongoing labour and maintenance costs?

This will make for some very, very expensive spinach.

Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar

In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.

Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.