A charitable farm just outside of St. Albert is celebrating its fifth year of growing free food for Edmonton's Food Bank.
About 20 Edmonton and St. Albert-area volunteers were at the Pandemic Planting Project farm just north of the Sandpiper Golf and Country Club west of St. Albert on Aug. 31 to kick off the fall harvest. Established in 2020 by owner David Benjestorf, the farm grows and donates tens of thousands of pounds of food to the Edmonton Food Bank each year.
A lawyer and Edmonton Food Bank director, David Benjestorf said he got the idea during the 2020 pandemic when food bank demand soared and border closures threatened food imports. Inspired by the Netflix show The Biggest Little Farm, Benjestorf, who had no prior farming experience, rallied his friends to plant some seven acres of fruits and vegetables on his Sturgeon County property, learning the basics of farming from YouTube. They ended up with some 60,000 pounds of food for the food bank.
Today, the farm grows 22 crops for the food bank, including peas, beans, beets, carrots, honey, and potatoes — about 15 acres worth of the latter. The farm donated about 107,660 pounds of food to the food bank last year, and Benjestorf hopes to beat that total this fall.
Helping hands
Volunteers were busy with the potato harvest last Sunday at the farm. Tractors tilled tubers from the earth for volunteers to claw out of the dusty soil. Youths marvelled at the super-sized spuds and the fat, striped potato beetles found in the dirt, while their parents poured buckets of potatoes into overflowing cardboard bins.
St. Albert volunteer Joey Dvorak was one of the tractor drivers. A friend of Benjestorf, he has been involved with the farm since the beginning, despite early doubts.
“We all thought that he was crazy,” he said. “And then it was a great idea.”
Dvorak said he and his sons now volunteer at the farm about three times a week. They’ve learned a lot about growing beets and cooking Swiss chard in the process.
“It’s a beautiful place and a great way to give back to the community.”
Alona Iwu said the food bank helped her family when they arrived in Edmonton from Ukraine several years ago. Now, she picks potatoes at the farm to help others in need.
“It’s very important to support people.”
First-time volunteer and Spruce Grove resident Cathie Calarco said this farm was an incredible, inspirational project, adding she loves seeing all the youths here learning about food production.
“The world can be a really heavy place right now,” she said, and projects like this give people a chance to come together as a community.
“Everyone deserves to have healthy food.”
Benjestorf said demand at the Edmonton Food Bank is very high this year, with some 50,000 hampers going out the door every month — more than twice the average of 18,000.
“Now, more than ever, the food banks across the province need our help.”
Benjestorf said he typically has 15 to 80 volunteers come out to the farm on weekends in September to help bring in the crops. Volunteers can work as long as they like, and get to take home free produce, meet new friends, and learn about food production.
“There’s just something gratifying about working with your hands and providing a meal to somebody in need,” Benjestorf said.
“I say that we’re feeding people in need, but doing this feeds my soul.”
Residents can volunteer at Benjestorf’s farm from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekends this September. Email [email protected] for details.
