By Nathan Reiter
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Lethbridge Herald
A new program will look to encourage more people to grow their own food.
St. Mary’s University in Calgary is offering a certificate program in Small Scale Food Production that will begin in January 2026.
Tony Stolz, a spokesperson for St. Mary’s, says the program will fit a need.
“A hundred years ago, everybody was in the garden. Victory gardens after the war were a thing. People making their own food has been a thing for a lot of years. Especially now, in the context of the trade action with the US, there’s been a growing interest in more homegrown industries in general. This is kind of the low-hanging vegetables way to get into this because the types of crops that are most suitable for this type of agriculture are delicate. They can’t be transported all that well anyways. We’re talking microgreens and herbs, those types of crops as opposed to large or peeled crop.”
With the uncertainty of trade between Canada and the United States, tariffs have become a major talking point in recent months. Stolz says learning how to grow certain foods at home could help a lot of families with rising grocery costs.
“This can make a huge difference. If you look at the numbers, on how much microgreens that we import from the U.S. right now, it’s amazing. There’s absolutely no reason at all why we can’t grow that ourselves and grow it more economically, especially once you consider the cost of transportation and now tariffs. Plus, it’s going to be fresher and better quality.”
The program will run over a course of five months with five courses, each lasting one month. The courses include how to grow outside, how to grow inside, what to grow and how to succeed in the sector of small-scale production.
The entirety of the program will take place online and students will be able to complete the courses on their own timeframe within the deadline of the course. Students will undergo a practicum at the conclusion of the program and receive two months of support afterwards if they are starting a business.
Stolz says it was important to have an online course to maintain accessibility.
“In the spirit of the trend in general to flexibility online, we wanted this course to be available to people right across Alberta, period. In fact, we’re marketing it into BC. There’s no reason at all why you couldn’t be in any province to take this course. We wanted it for availability and for convenience.”
The cost of the program is $250 per course or $1,250 total. Find out more at https://stmu.ca/programs/small-scale-food-production/