We met with co-founder Samantha Richer on an early April afternoon at the home she shares with other founders of Cycle AlimenTerre, Max Godber, Iman Khailat and Mauricio Buschinelli. Located on a leafy street in Montréal’s NDG neighbourhood, the yard of the house attests to the occupations and values of its inhabitants. In the side yard is a jumble of bicycles, bike trailers and cycling paraphernalia, while in the backyard lie multiple composting units and a great deal of gardening equipment. Inside the house, seedlings populate the windowsills, organic dried foods in jars line the kitchen shelves, and the workbench in the basement is suggestive of multiple projects incorporating gardening and cycling.
The brainchild of Max Godber, Cycle AlimenTerre combines a commitment to urban food growing and to using bicycles as a viable mode of transportation. The organization is committed to addressing the issue of food security in NDG by using unused backyards within the community to grow local, pesticide and herbicide-free vegetables. Participating in the Sharing movement, homeowners donate backyard space to Cycle AlimenTerre who plant, tend to, and harvest vegetables. In exchange they receive a share of the produce and the gratification of contributing to a solution to the issue of food insecurity. When asked how Cycle AlimenTerre delivers its produce to communities such as Saint-Raymond, one of Montréal’s food deserts, Sam laughs and responds with “Guerrilla bike markets!” With fresh produce, a table and parasol loaded into a bicycle trailer, the group cycles to the neighbourhood and sets up an impromptu farmer’s market.
Cycle AlimenTerre is engaged in a movement that counters the monoculture that dominates the food landscape of North America through its urban gardening, spontaneous guerrilla markets, and small-plot intensive model of farming. It also fosters a sense of community among NDG members through food. As Sam asserts, growing veggies is a beautiful way of bringing people together. Everyone needs to eat, and healthy, locally grown food should be a right, not a privilege.