The Agrihood Project

Mission: We are a group of Calgarians seeking a more connected and rewarding life in a rural setting. Our dreams bring us together and help us create a vision that includes self-sufficiency, balance, and a deeper commitment to community and stewardship of the land. Our vision is to integrate our group into Rockyford and engage the residents of the Village and surrounding area in our projects. We want to actively and enthusiastically participate in the community while bringing the Agrihood to life.

From www.ic.org/directory/the-agrihood-project/:

An agrihood is a housing development built around a farm and often includes a re-skilling component. Residents work together, contributing their labour and skills to grow delicious, nutritious food and keep the cost of food affordable. This arrangement makes farm-to-table living a reality.

Our plan includes three pillars. The first one is a Sustainability Centre, which is a demonstration site showcasing building methods and food growing in Southern Alberta. We will share our knowledge with others to build resilience and self-sufficiency. Our programs emphasize high-quality education and lifelong learning in both the Rockyford community and beyond. We also envision the Centre as both a demonstration site and a hands-on learning lab for program participants to connect concepts with real-world design. Programs are offered in tandem with the physical development of the site, allowing program participants to help design, build, and contribute.

The second pillar is growing food. Food security is important to all of us, and much of the school ground is dedicated to food production. A large greenhouse enables us to grow food year-round. We envision providing high-quality produce to the citizens of Rockyford and surrounding area, giving the residents the opportunity to buy local and support the village. In addition, our goal is to model a resilient and adaptive community that draws agri-tourists into Rockyford.

And the final pillar is housing. Our focus with the housing is to create highly energy-efficient and healthy homes constructed out of environmentally responsible materials. Once the housing is completed, we anticipate there will be approximately 16 – 24 units, attracting 30 - 50 new residents to Rockyford.

A service of the Data Commons Co-op. The project has been supported by Equal Exchange, the Cooperative Charitable Trust, the USDA, and many others - thank you! Tech volunteers over the years include: Benjamin Bradley with support from GAIA Host. Ben Mauer with support from Quilted. Paul Fitzpatrick. Ronin Tech Collective, Brattleboro Tech Collective, Sligo Computer Services. Jason Lemieux. Default map tiles courtesy of MapQuest. Default map data (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA.