So…
I just walked across Winnipeg. The entire city! Well, actually I first did about 32 kilometers of smaller walks to warm up across different neighborhoods over a recent long weekend in Canada. Then yesterday, Tuesday, May 23, 2023, I walked 40 kilometers across the entire city through a multitude of neighborhoods, starting well before the perimeter highway (that encircles the whole city) and overshooting the perimeter highway to the north by an extra 1.5 of walking.
This connected the rural, suburban and urban context. But why did I walk 72 kilometers this weekend?
Read more: Food security concerns? Just start a garden!
Walking for Food Security
For food security! Specifically, I walked to raise awareness for the concept of having food available for people near where they live. But I also walked because the city of Winnipeg, like all our cities around the world, have immense opportunity for growing food.
I know this. We all can see this.
But by taking one step after another step, this Walk Across Winnipeg (tagged as #walkacrosswinnipeg on social media) let me traipse through many neighborhoods and industrial areas, parks, and new developments and all the video and photo footage I captured reveals again and again … and well, again, the truth of this common knowledge. We have underutilized space everywhere with tons of opportunities for developing edible landscapes, community gardens, food forests, orchards, backyard edible Edens and more.
Witnessing the Work
Indeed some of the projects I visited show this with their successes and efforts. And people I met along my Winnipeg walk spoke earnestly of their concerns, their optimism and their overwhelming desire to have food in their communities!
As I walked, I also conducted a survey of the plant diversity in the city. I noted the amount of unplanted replacement trees—elms—for ash have died. And I celebrated the many types of projects people are engaging in, growing food everywhere around the city. People are doing awesome things already!
Would you consider walking across your city or town to observe food security initiatives in practice? I strongly encourage you to.
Stay tuned for my next Walk Across Winnipeg (this time west to east). And check out the links below to learn more about my recent walk.
LINKS
Best,
Zach
