City of Kingston’s Fines for Food Pilot Grows Fresh Produce for Local Food Bank

By Aara Macauley, CFRC's Broadcast Journalist and Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

CFRC was on hand for a ribbon cutting ceremony held by the city of Kingston to unveil an innovative modular vertical farm that will provide fresh produce to Partners in Mission Food Bank on a weekly basis as part of its expanded Fines for Foods pilot. This is the first time a Canadian city has used parking fine revenue to fund a vertical farm-as-a-service model for food relief. 

The 40-foot vertical hydroponic farm, which takes up around the space of a large shipping container in the back lot of Kingston’s Innovation Hub at 945 Princess Street has already grown 3,900 pounds of greens for the Food Bank, and Executive Director Dan Irwin expects this project to assist between 300 and 400 families weekly.

An $80,000 portion of Kingston’s $180,000 monthly parking fine revenue is being redirected to help support the farm-as-service operation, which runs year-round. The local food initiative is further supported through an RBC donation to the Food Resiliency Foundation Fund. Originally supported for one year, City Council has since voted in favour of a five-year commitment to the pilot.

CFRC spoke to several speakers at the event, including Councillor Conny Glenn, who spearheaded the original motion.

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