Farm the North

The Indigenous communities of the Canadian North face a high rate of food insecurity due to a number of factors. Food insecurity is generally defined when people lack secure access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food. It is much worse in the North with rates of household food insecurity reaching 16.9%, 21.6% and 57% in the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut respectively, while Canada overall is 12.7%. Financial hardship and socioeconomic inequities is a large factor, and is only exacerbated due to the high cost of nutritious and perishable food in the North.  As of March 2019, the average cost to feed a healthy diet to a family of four in the North was $422.07 per week, and continues to increase due to the price of food, fuel, and energy.  Also the availability of nutritious and perishable foods plays a large part as well.  Especially to communities that you can only access by plane, or during the winter when the water is frozen.  During the freezing and thawing of the Peel and Mackenzie Rivers in May and October, the Dempster highway(the only road in the North) is unavailable for 2-3 weeks both months.  

The harsh and changing climate (due to climate change such as the permafrost thawing) are impacting food insecurity in many ways.  Some of these include damage to roads which limit access to food and essential supplies, changes and disruptions to caribou migrations, historic flooding (my own family and community in Fort McPherson was severely impacted in 2023), and the increase and severity of forest fires over the past few years. Food insecurity is a serious public health issue for the Indigenous communities of the North, that risks worsening in the coming years.

We are developing a Modular Growing System (MGS) that can be installed either inside the homes/offices of people in the community or inside a shipping container.  The shipping container farm is powered by solar and wind, and potentially micro hydro in the future. The design is based on similar container farms such as FreightFarms, but at a lower cost. It also uses a sustainable environmental regulation system. Solar panels will also be installed on the homes and offices that are using the MGS as well.  The MGS utilizes a variety of growing mediums, such as hydroponic and aeroponic.  The MGS uses light spectrum LEDs for optimum plant growth and is controlled by AI.  The HVAC, humidity and nutrient delivery are also controlled by AI. The entire system can be remotely controlled and each system is connected so that they can be monitored and adjusted as needed.  

Our solution, Farm the North, is designed to help the Indigenous communities of the Canadian North.  Starting first with Fort McPherson, NWT, since that is where my family and members of the team reside.  We have a plot of land in the community for 2-3 shipping containers to start as well as 5-6 houses for our pilot project to launch and to start collecting data and perfecting the Modular Growing System(MGS).  We are starting with members of the community most in need,  that being the elderly and single mothers.  Then moving on to the rest of the community in batches over time.  Once this phase is completed, we will be moving to the surrounding communities of Tsiigehtchic NWT and Aklavik NWT.  We will also be installing shipping containers in Hay River NWT, as this is much easier to access by road and can be used as a pilot project.  We plan to take this project to many more communities in the NWT, as well as to communities in Nunavut in the coming years. 

We will be collecting continuous feedback from members of the community, including those not in the pilot project, the school and various businesses. This will enable us to tailor each system to the various households, and make changes as needed.  We want to be a force for good in the communities that can foster an increase in health and wellness, as well as educate the youth.  We also plan on installing a large system at the school, to not only provide food security but also provide hands-on education to the kids on various aspects, including agriculture, technology, energy, etc.

The Farm the North team and myself are the right people to design and deliver this solution because we are members of the community.  The majority of people involved are Gwich'in, living in or are from Fort McPherson or Inuvik, NWT.  We have members on the tribal council, who are integral pillars of the community and the surrounding communities. Myself, as team lead, was born in Inuvik, NWT, am Gwich'in Metis (on my father's side).  I left the north when I was young, but am very connected to my roots and want to use my knowledge and talents to help my people in the way I know how.  Everything we are doing is to help eliminate food insecurity for the Indigenous community of the North and build a sustainable future for the generations to come.

We are in the concept stage and have only built some initial prototypes of different growing systems.  I built a similar system back in college where I studied electronic engineering, using a rudimentary control system with sensors, to control lighting, HVAC, humidity, and water delivery.  We are using this design as the beginning stage for the pilot project, and our software engineer is building out our AI system to be used for the first prototype, which we will be building out over the next few months.  We are testing a couple hydroponic systems with some partners, and I have visited a few FreightFarms sites over the past year to see what they are doing and how we can build our own.  We will be building our prototype container in July or August of this year and testing it over the fall/winter so that we can deploy the system next year.  Since there is a small window to deliver and setup the containers in the North, basically June to September.  We have primarily been building the team, setting up the infrastructure and now we are ready to build the main prototypes and begin testing.  

We are applying to Solve to gain mentorship from experts in various fields that will help us build the vision we have for Farm the North. To gain visibility and exposure from potential partners, media, and Indigenous leaders.  Network with members of the Indigenous community, thought leaders and like minded individuals.  Access to resources, services and and also receive funding to support the development and growth of Farm the North so that we can help build a sustainable future for the Indigenous people of the North.

As I mentioned above, as team leader and founder of Farm the North, I am Gwich'in, born in the North, but left when I was a baby. My mother was a teacher, from Toronto, who came up to the North to teach for 3 years and met my father.  My story and reason for creating Farm the North, started just before the Pandemic, Sept 2019, one month before my fortieth birthday.  I travelled to the North to visit/meet my father, whom I hadn't seen since I was 1 year old.  It was an emotional and overwhelming experience, seeing/meeting an entire side of my family I wasn't in contact with for almost 40 years.  I was welcomed into the community as if I had always lived there. I went to my cousin's wedding three days after arriving, held in the school gymnasium, because the community center had burned down a few years prior.  The entire community came, everyone brought food, laid out in the center with everyone in a large circle around it. Another cousin, known throughout the north,  flew in with his band to play the fiddle for dancing and jigging later in the evening.  Throughout the evening, members of the community came up to say hello and tell stories of my mother and me.  I learned a lot about my family, the history of the North and my people.  

One thing I discovered was how much food cost up there, how hard it was to get certain things, and how things worked. How the supply chain in the North operates and how difficult things are to transport.  I took the ferry to cross the Mackenzie river to visit Inuvik and discovered how bad the roads are and what it takes to maintain them.  While talking with my father one evening, while the sun was still high in the sky at 11pm, I came up with the idea for Farm the North and planned to return the next summer to start.  It was a project I could work on with my father and connect with the community in a way I know I could help, but as they say, Man plans and God laughs.  

Then came March 2020 and the start of the pandemic, by the summer, everything was closed to the north and for the next 3 years. Farm the North was put on hold. Last year I was set to return to the North in July, but again, this time, due to climate change, the Peel River froze differently.  When the river thawed, it caused massive flooding. My father and stepmother live outside of town along the river, along with 10 or so other families and another 6 on the other side of the river.  The flooding washed everything away, except for my father's house.  All of their vehicles, his little cabin that I stayed in when I visited, my step mothers smoking house to tan moose hides for creating moccasins and other traditional garments.  The flooding caused a lot of devastation throughout the North, but at least no one was injured.  As they say, things happen for a reason, as I was going to put a small container in that location.  Now I know where not to put one.  Over the last year, I have been networking, building the team, and preparing to launch later this year. We will be incorporated as an Indigenous non-profit later in the summer, most likely based in Alberta with an office in NWT and Ontario. 

Farm the North approaches the problem of food sovereignty and insecurity in a new way by empowering the individual and community together utilizing technology and traditional technologies.  Improving on existing technology like container vertical farming by merging traditional knowledge on growing and permaculture design and also incorporating plant-based environmental systems.  Also by training the next generation to utilize and incorporate these next-gen technologies it will enable the future generations of the North to be sustainable and food sovereignty.  While creating strong and resilient communities that rely less on government subsidies and handouts that can ripple out into other areas throughout the nation.  

The reason our solution will have an impact is because it gives the power of food sovereignty and security back to the individual and the community instead of relying on the government and outside forces. It also empowers the next generation to learn and discover new agricultural techniques while uncovering traditional farming methods as well.  When they have a mission and are striving for something greater than themselves, it eliminates the negative forces that are currently harming the Indigenous youth across the nation.  Drug abuse, alcoholism, suicide, violence can be greatly reduced or eliminated and a renewed sense of meaning can embolden the next generation.  Food is the life force that mother nature provides, which not only nurtures the body, but the mind and soul as well.  Food has always been a central force that brings together a community, especially to the Indigenous people of the North.

We aim to achieve food security and sovereignty for the Indigenous communities of the North. To not only improve nutrition and wellness but to also promote sustainable agriculture and give back to the community.   For every home that we are able to install and "turn on" our growing system is one more step towards a future complete food security.  Over the next 5 years, we plan to be in 6-10 communities across the Canadian North as well as building out a dozen container farms across those communities as well.  We will work with tribal leaders and elders as well as educating the youth on continuing the work for generations to come.  As well as providing job security and co-op opportunities for high-school and college educated students that want to further their education in the ag-tech sector.

The core technology that Farm the North uses is a sensor network controlled by AI as well as control software for the various systems.  We will be creating a localized mesh network to integrate each of the individual systems so that it doesn't rely on the internet completely, and can act as a redundancy.  We are also integrating traditional knowledge systems on growing techniques and understanding.  As well as integrating plant-based solutions for temperature and humidity control and also sustainable insulation.  We plan to incorporate blockchain in the future and potentially virtual reality for educational learning and design.

Cambridge,Ontario

Omemee, Ontario

Fort McPherson, NorthWest Territories

Edmonton, Alberta

4- part time

2- contractors

We have been working on and off for about a year and a half. 

Our current leadership is all Indigenous Canadians, Gwich'in, two of which are female.

One contractor is african and the other is filipino.

Our goal moving forward would be a preference towards an Indigenous workforce as we acquire non-profit status to be considered an Indigenous non-profit.  We plan to train and hire mainly from the communities we are located and operate in.  This gives opportunity to learn and grow as the organization grows.

Our board will also consist entirely of Indigenous people half of whom will be female as well.

We are in the process of becoming an Indigenous non-profit where our main source of funding is through donations, grants, and the sale of various items through fundraisers. 

Since I work as a managing partner in a direct response ad agency, developing marketing campaigns to raise money is something I have been doing for almost a decade.   Whether that's creating digital ad campaigns using Facebook or Google/YouTube or creating direct mail campaigns to send to donors.  I am in the process of launching a marketing campaign to raise money via donations from businesses and corporations as well as a multi-channel marketing campaign focused on individuals from a compiled list.  

We are creating a for profit B2C media company that runs a YouTube channel documenting the entire process starting in the summer, which will provide additional monthly revenue through advertising, sponsorships and memberships. This will take some time to establish and build up,  but will increase as it grows. As well as selling various merchandise and swag.  

We also have a couple ideas to raise money that we haven't seen anyone else in the non-profit space utilize yet, but that is slated for next year when we officially launch our large pilot project.