Kiana Simmons
Collective Farming Toolkit for Community Growing | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Kiana is a community farmer, facilitator, event coordinator and capacity development professional with a passion for bringing people together & strengthening local food systems at the community level. Kiana has a background in municipal affairs & climate change mitigation. In 2020 they joined the Community Farm program at Beetbox Farm in Ottawa, Ontario, where they discovered a love of growing food and helped scale-up the project to feed 80 community members on a half acre of land. As an Ontario Community Changemaker, they hope to help communities beyond their own establish sustainable & impactful collective growing projects.
About the Project
The Collective Farming Toolkit for Community Growing is manual for establishing a financially sustainable and permanent collective farming program.
Through this model, a coordinated group of participants share the cost and time commitment to plant, grow, and harvest their own fruit and vegetables following a weekly crop plan and task list. The model provides a space for the community to convene and learn about food production and farming practices, while receiving a share of fresh, organic vegetables throughout the season.
The toolkit provides valuable guidelines, resources and templates to organize & establish a collective farming project in your community.