Two community growing projects for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank will each receive a $500 cash contribution from Mountain View County, council agreed Wednesday.The Rosebud Community Growing Project and Mountain View Growing Project together raised $220,000 last year for international food aid after their donations were matched four times by the federal government, agricultural services manager Jane Fulton reported to council.Both groups are locally based and volunteer operated, Fulton said in her report.“Their efforts involve many individuals, community businesses and donated land lots. There are 33 similar projects operating in Alberta.”Div. 3 Coun. Duncan Milne, an Ag Services Board member, said a $1,000 funding request originally came from the Mountain View Growing Project, started last year by a group of young farmers and business people in the Didsbury area.After “a good discussion,” Milne said, the board decided to recommend splitting the amount to also include the Rosebud project, which has been active since 2004.Besides donating money, contributors to the growing projects can also donate time, sponsor an acre at $200 to $250, or donate inputs such as fuel, seed, fertilizer or chemical.The Canadian Foodgrains Bank was formed in 1984 in response to a severe famine in Ethiopia. In its 26 years of operation, it has donated more than one million tonnes of food aid to struggling countries.
