Growing Sustainability: Hydroponic Cultivation of Food Sovereignty in Canada

Abstract

This research aims to understand attitudes held by communities towards controlled environment agriculture (CEA) as a pathway to building resilient local food systems across Canada, particularly in northern and Indigenous communities. Local controlled environment agriculture projects such as hydroponics and aquaponics are gaining appreciation across Canada as new agriculture techniques for vegetable production, as they offer potential benefits such as reduced emissions from the transport of foods, lower food prices, creation of local jobs, and reduced vulnerabilities to changes in global food markets. Despite early research showing the validity of CEA in reducing food insecurity, there is minimal research showing the sustainability and sociocultural impacts of CEA. Many CEA units in Canada lack community support and are facing challenges in the continuity of programs, despite their potential effectiveness in building capacity and resiliency in the wake of climate change. Through a partnership with Growcer Hydroponics Inc., interviews were conducted with CEA community actors to understand patterns, behaviours, and sentiments related to the governance and culture of CEA and local food systems. A mixed methods approach was used to understand the current perceptions and values held by community members and how these correlate to the success of the farms in addressing communities’ sustainability, food security, and food sovereignty needs. Responses were analyzed through sustainability, food justice, and respectful research frameworks. This research found that the desire for more accessible fresh and healthy foods is the primary motivation for the implementation of CEA in remote communities in Canada. CEA units are well supported if the community members' values include food, nature, relationships, education, equality, culture, and self-reliance. A considerable finding of this study is that although it was previously believed that CEA may have minimal benefits as the foods grown are not socially nor culturally relevant, community members have found ways to connect CEA to cultural and traditional practices and teachings.