Raymond Ngarbouie couldn’t have known that his desire for affordable and familiar produce would turn into a project that produces 50,000 pounds of food per year and feeds hundreds of families and revitalizes a troubled downtown park. What he knew was that his favourite foods from back home were hard to access, expensive, and didn’t taste right.

Raymond is one of the guests on Season Six of the Museum’s Podcast, Countless Journeys. This season’s theme, “What is Canadian Food?”, looks at how immigration is shaping Canadian cuisine, and how food connects newcomers to their heritage, adapts to new tastes, and builds new communities.

A Hunger for Home

Born in Chad and raised during the country’s civil wars, Raymond came to Canada via Cameroon. He now lives in Winnipeg.

“When I newly arrived to Canada, it wasn't easy for me to find foods that I used to eat back home,” says Raymond.

International food stores had some of the foods he missed, but vegetables had to be frozen to survive a transatlantic voyage.

“Besides the quality and the tastes and all this, the cost for one meal was a challenge,” says Raymond. “As a lower-income person, I could not afford it.”

Putting Ideas into Action

With a background in agriculture and an interest in economic and community development, Raymond got an idea to create a community garden to allow newcomers to grow familiar foods from home, reduce their food costs, eat healthier, get outside, and meet new people.

“I went to the Knox Church to talk to Reverend Bill Miller at that time with Janet Hirose, who was the chair of the board,” says Raymond. “And I said all I need for now is a piece of land.”

This conversation kicked the project into motion, leading to a partnership in 2008 with the University of Manitoba, which provided half an acre of land for the use, initially, of 16 families of 16 different nationalities.

Since then, the project has seen extraordinary growth. It now includes 389 families from over 50 nationalities. 99% of families are newcomers and refugees, Raymond says. And of course, the project has had to expand well beyond the initial half-acre. “We have our garden sites within the city of Winnipeg, across the city in at least five different locations, and also to the periphery of the city and as well as outside the city, in rural areas like Niverville and Landmark,” says Raymond.

A Park, Reborn

Raymond’s efforts have also spurred the revitalization of Winnipeg’s Central Park in the city’s downtown. He recalls, “It used to be a difficult place, full of needles and all this… Since the park is located right in front of the Knox Church, the idea was to reclaim the park to see how activities there can make some positive changes.”

Garden families sell their surplus produce there, but there are also people selling their crafts, offering hair braiding, and playing music.

The revitalization of the park inspired philanthropist Gerald Gray to pledge a million dollars towards the park’s redevelopment.

And then that investment grew. “We got a message from the city of Winnipeg and the mayor, the former mayor, the Prime Minister, and all these people with the Winnipeg Foundation. They came to the park to meet us and to make an announcement of a $5.6 million investment to redevelop the park.”

You Are What You Grow

In 2023, Raymond was a recipient of the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award.

The UK’s poet laureate Alfred Austin, some hundred years ago, said: "Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are." Raymond Ngarbouie calls himself a soldier for economic and community development; the Rainbow Community Garden is a good demonstration of that identity.

Hear more of Raymond’s story and about other fascinating people enriching Canada through food on Season Six of Countless Journeys. The first episode drops on May 13, with new episodes released every other week.