Harvest helps feed the world

By Lethbridge Herald on August 28, 2025.

Joe Manio
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A company of 11 combines harvested grain grown during the 19th Coaldale-Lethbridge Foodgrains Growing Project Harvest, just east of Coaldale Wednesday. The annual Harvest and accompanying celebratory barbecue is part of a continuing annual campaign to alleviate hunger (food insecurity).

Before the harvest and barbecue began, Coaldale Mennonite lead pastor Pieter van Ewijk said a blessing for the harvesters and for everyone who came to show support.

“As a pastor, I love seeing the number of churches come together, but also a number of people that don’t belong to any church, but they feel the need to look after the people that are hungry. And the community comes together,” said Van Ewijk.

“So it’s so nice to see that people that have a heart that tells them to help. Are able to help through a project like this.Nearly three million dollars raised. That is phenomenal.”

The Coaldale-Lethbridge Foodgrains Growing Project is a community-driven agricultural initiative that organizes volunteers to farm a field each year to raise funds for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, an organization that helps alleviate global hunger. 

Local farmers and volunteers donate their time, land, and resources, with the Canadian government matching the donations at a 4:1 ratio. 

“We rent land from individual land owners every year, and around here agricultural land is difficult to find because it’s such a (valuable) commodity,” says volunteer committee chair and organizer Ed Donkersgoed. “We have to have a like-minded landowner who is willing to let us use and rent the land. That’s already a huge win for us.”

“We rent at market rate and then the landowner has the option of donating some back if he or she is drawn to do that. So it’s a big win.”

The project culminates in a harvest barbecue event, a community celebration of farming and generosity that transforms agricultural produce into hope for those in need worldwide.

Canadian Foodgrains Bank Regional Representative Abe Janzen came down from Winnipeg to attend the Harvest.

“We have 32 projects like this all over the country, from the far north to the coast to the American border and west to east. So, you know, it’s a wonderful thing,” said Janzen. “I mean, there’s probably 200 cars here today and probably 200 or 300 people that came out to support this.

“Last year, we raised $4.5 million here in Alberta. Half of that is raised with projects like this, with farmers donating their work and their businesses donating the ingredients to put the crop in.”

Food insecurity is the inability to access an adequate quantity or quality of food due to financial constraints. 

This is a significant public health issue in Canada and Alberta that results in poor physical and mental health outcomes. 

It disproportionately affects Indigenous Peoples, racialized communities, and lone-parent families, reflecting systemic inequities in wealth accumulation.