To help resolve food security issues and keep Ontarian families occupied during the pandemic at the same time, Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group has launched a new gardening program.
Dubbed “SEEDit,” the insurer’s program will offer 2,000 Ontario families with $50 SEEDit certificates each, which will allow them to purchase fruit and vegetable plants and seeds from 19 garden centres across the province. It is hoped that each household will produce a pound each of produce, for an estimated 2,000 pounds of produce.
Through the program, Commonwell Mutual will ask participating families to “pay it forward,” by requesting them to give a portion of their eventual produce to support food banks, food security programs, or neighbours at the local level.
Registration for the SEEDit program starts April 29, and it is open for all Ontarians.
“We think it’s a great way to support our communities in these difficult times by providing both the joy of gardening for Ontarians and the ability to share fresh, healthy produce to support local food security programs,” said Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group president and CEO Tim Shauf. “The Commonwell has financially supported individual community food programs in the past, but we believe the SEEDit program will have an ongoing impact, far past this growing season and on a much larger scale.”
Shauf added that he and his team are thrilled that Ontarians will learn about backyard agriculture through the program while actively contributing to food security.
“We believe that food security is truly achieved in our communities when everyone chips in and gets involved,” the chief executive said.
As part of the program, Commonwell Mutual is encouraging participating families to post pictures of their progress on social media, using the tag #CommonwellSEEDit. The insurer has also created a Facebook community for SEEDit, and is welcoming both participants and non-participants to join in order to share gardening tips and tricks with others.
“We know that Ontarians have decades of proven and practical backyard agricultural advice,” said Shauf. “We want everyone to spill their best secrets so that SEEDit can hit our 2000 pounds of produce goal and beyond.”
