Kimbal Musk, brother of Elon, says his new gardening movement will reach Canada ‘soon’

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    OTTAWA, Ontario (CTV Network) — Kimbal Musk, Elon’s brother, has launched a new initiative aimed at tackling food insecurity by providing a garden for as many homes as possible.

Musk, a restauranteur and entrepreneur, and Lionsgate Entertainment founder Frank Giustra recently launched the Million Gardens Movement (MGM), with the goal of providing every home in the United States with a sustainable source of food by helping them to grow a garden in whatever size their living space can handle.

“You don’t need a lot of space to have your own garden,” Giustra, whois also publisher of Modern Farmer magazine, told CTV News Channel on Monday.

“We have our little green garden tips that you can grow your starter garden on your patio or windowsill, on your fire escape. It may seem intimidating at the start, but it’s really quite easy to start a garden and we’re here to help you if you need help.”

For underprivileged families, the MGM will provide them with a beginner gardening kit to help them enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables on their own. While the kits are just available in the U.S. for now, Musk said they will be available in Canada “soon.”

According to a report from Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC) last September, rates of food insecurity spiked by 39 per cent during the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also noted that those in low-income and BIPOC communities were particularly hard-hit.

Musk also founded Big Green, which provides “learning gardens” to schools across the U.S. for children to learn the fundamentals of gardening. He said when kids grown their own vegetables not only do they get to experience new foods, but are also more inclined to eat the food they grew.

“It’s one of the most beautiful things, to see a child pull a carrot out of the ground for the first time,” he said.

“All they see is a little green stalk, and they pull a carrot out and this giant orange carrot jumps out. It is like a magic trick. It is so beautiful to see them do that and they will have never eaten a carrot before, but they will eat it with the dirt still on it.”

Kimbal added that many of the children who receive starter garden kits have little, if any, experience with fresh produce.

“Many of our kids have never tried to carrot, never tried a tomato,” he said. “It is a very sad tragedy, the reality of food, education, food literacy and food access in Canada and in America today.”

So far, the program has gathered support from actors Harrison Ford, Salma Hayek and Zooey Deschanel, while Jonathan Scott from Property Brothers is also onboard.

“Together we’ve done something pretty cool,” Kimbal said.

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