Garden on top of Mapleview mall provides food for community

The issue of food security is very much alive throughout the region. And in Burlington, people who rely on food banks are getting help from an unexpected source.

The Burlington Food Bank accepts a weekly delivery of fresh garden vegetables from an “urban garden” that most people wouldn’t know is even there.

Just above the trendy stores below there’s a different kind of product on display on the roof of the Mapleview Shopping Centre, fresh produce.

The rooftop garden is a project started by the mall to turn the empty space into a version of a garden oasis.

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“It feels a little surreal to me that we could be on the mall rooftop and growing gardens and looking at the QEW, but I think it’s a really good juxtaposition of finding ways to utilize the mall and work closely to have these sustainability initiatives and again give back to our community,” Melissa Wagner from Mapleview Shopping Centre said.

The garden includes a variety of plants like edible flowers, heirloom tomatoes and purple tomatoes.

It was started in May to cut down on the mall’s environmental impact and contribute to the community.

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The vegetables from the rooftop garden are harvested every week and wind up at the Burlington Food Bank. And the food bank says they do more than provide healthy food.

“Any of our local produce that we get from local growers is always much fresher and has far more nutrition and has a lot better taste, so its one of those things that really helps our clients feel that they’re cared for and are given food that has great dignity that comes along with the food itself,” Robin Bailey from the Burlington Food Bank said.

The food bank says the rooftop garden provides 20 to 30 pounds of vegetables a week, adding to the fresh vegetables grown in their own community garden plots.