West Island high school's garlic crop stolen
An entire garlic crop grown for an entrepreneurial project at a West Island high school was stolen in late July, crushing the spirits of those who had spent the last nine months working on it.
Macdonald High School teacher Ormilla Seecharran, who started the garlic initiative several years ago, said another teacher discovered the theft last weekend.
"My heart dropped. My jaw dropped," she said. "The first thing that came to me is: How do I tell the kids? How do you tell them that somebody came onto school property and stole a project that is clearly indicated that it is a student project?"
Four planter boxes held around 120 bulbs of garlic that had been planted last November by students in the class. Normally, some of the crop is harvested and used to make pesto and scape butter, while the rest is replanted by a class of new students in the fall.
Seecharran said the garlic products are usually sold at school events — this year's crop would have brought in between $200 and $300. They're popular enough that parents and others in the know seek them out in advance.
"If we sell out, people get quite upset," she said.
The teacher who found the empty planters filed a report with police, but Seecharran said if the garlic is returned, it will be happily accepted, no questions asked.
"If they just dump it on our front steps that would be absolutely awesome," she said.
She said the garlic was taken in the last two weeks of July. Students plant garlic for the class because it requires minimal intervention in summer months, but Seecharran said they will consider cameras and other deterrents in the future.
Dan Brisebois, a co-founder of the Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm in Les Cèdres, said local garlic can be quite valuable, which could tempt thieves.
Last year, someone stole $4,000 worth of garlic from a farm in Shefford, Que.
"Fresh local garlic tastes better than anything you could ever buy in a grocery store," he said. "So people who know garlic, love garlic are willing to pay money for garlic."
He said a smaller theft could be someone taking it for their families, but larger thefts might involve sales to restaurants.
"I've heard of thousands of bulbs being stolen, and I always listen to that with horror," he said.
