Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Garden Share and Food Recovery Programs on Quadra IslandQuadra ICAN started up two food security initiatives last week. The Garden Share program is designed to increase the amount of food grown on Quadra Island. Marc Doll, a local farmer and one of the candidates during the last election, said Vancouver Island grew about half of its food prior to the Second World War. He believes this statistic is currently closer to 4% or 5%.ICAN Coordinator Ramona Boyle explained that this is the Garden Share program’s second year. “What it does is to create a list of people who have farms or properties that they would like to see growing food, but maybe don't have the ability to do that on their own. We match them with people who would like to grow food but don't have the space or the property to do that. Last year, I think we had about a dozen matches. We would like to double that, to increase food supply and food resiliency on the island,” she said.This year they have a new coordinator. Rena Patrick, who many Cortes Radio listeners will remember as Hurricane Rena, former host of the Homegrown Show.“We know that there are an increasing number of older property owners who are struggling to manage gardens that they have established over many years and are just finding it a little bit too much for themselves. So we expect that this is going to be a growing trend.”ICAN’s food recovery program officially starts up on Monday, March 20, but they have already begun distribution. RB: “I think the real root of the program is that we know that there are people who are struggling, who don't look like they're struggling because they have a roof over their head. They are functioning, but it's getting harder and harder for them. According to the 2016 census 230 Quadra Island households, or roughly 20% of the population needed to use more than 30% of their income for rent or mortgage payments. This means there is often less money for other needs, like groceries.RB: “Food will be distributed twice a week, in Heriot Bay and the Cove, at different times to try and reach more people. The food so far is being collected from both Tru Value Food stores and from Amped on Nutrition. On Monday we collected 116.2 kilos of food and we distributed it to individuals who told us that food would feed 50 people. We also distributed to agencies who estimated that the food would provide meals for 125 people. So that's in total 175 people who will receive at least one meal from the food that was distributed on Monday.”