Farms and gardens are bursting with produce now which means it’s a great time for a harvest dinner. A local non-profit called Fresh Roots hosts one of those every August to raise funds for their school educational programs. But they’ve had to do things a little differently this year. Our story producer Rachel Sanders went down to the Italian Cultural Centre this week with mask on and microphone on a long boom pole to find out more.
FARM DINNER | Speaking of making the most of summer, how about putting some time aside to savour the bounty of the season? If you hurry (ticket sales end Friday, August 7th) you can still score a Fresh Roots Farm Schoolyard Harvest Dinner – a summer harvest box filled with everything from an elegant amuse bouche, charcuterie board fixings, and a delicious main course through to dessert (cheesecake), wine, beer or kombucha and flowers for the table. Have a look at the full menu here. This will be a tasty meal. Spread a blanket on your deck, back yard or living room floor and enjoy! The Schoolyard Harvest Dinner is a fundraiser for Fresh Roots and funds generated from the dinner directly benefit its SOYL (Sustainable Opportunities Youth Leadership) program, which engages and empowers youth to learn about working together to grow food. Good food for a great cause. Do it! Find out more.
July 28, 2020 | Scout Vancouver
Vancouver, BC | With less than two weeks left to score yourself mid-August feast from some of the region’s top producers, in support of a fantastic program. From the Fresh Roots team:
For this extra-special year, we are creating summer harvest boxes filled with everything you’ll need to create a beautiful summertime meal experience to share with friends, family, or your colleagues at home or in a location of your choice. The box will include fresh and chef-prepared ingredients for a simple and delicious meal to finish at home and thoughtful accoutrements like wine and flowers for the table. Menu created by Chef Natasha Sawyer and TJ Conwi.
Funds generated from the dinner directly benefit its SOYL (Sustainable Opportunities Youth Leadership) program, which engages and empowers youth.
Menu
Amuse Bouche
Profiteroles stuffed with Fresh Roots herbs and goat cheese, accompanied by candied Agassiz hazelnuts and wine compressed figs.
Charcuterie
A meat and veggie option with either a selection of charcuterie from Legends Haul or Végé-Pâté and spreadable dips from Saltspring Harvest and pickled vegetables from Cropthorne Farm, Zaklan Heritage Farm and Fresh Roots
Main
Sous vide Organic Ocean Seafood sockeye and Legends Haul sirloin masala, Fresh Roots harvest salad, zucchini palak paneer terrine, carrot vindaloo vinaigrette, atchara relish, and wheatberries
Dessert
Summer Cheesecake with raspberry coulis from Olera Organic Farms
Beverages
Choice of a bottle of red or white wine from Marquis Wine Cellars cans of 33 Acres Brewing Company Sunshine French Blanchè beer and kombucha from Bucha Brew
Accoutrements
a bouquet of flowers for the table, cookies from Susgrainable surprises created by our SOYL youth program participants, and more.
Info and tickets: freshroots.ca/harvestdinner
On Thursday, August 13th we’ll celebrate together (apart) with an elegant summer meal experience composed of the best and freshest of the season’s harvest all in support of Fresh Roots programs that engage and empower youth.
Traditionally our event has been a long table dinner held on the lawn at David Thompson Secondary. This year, observing restrictions of large group gatherings, Fresh Roots and guests will be connecting and congregating as a community online. Gathering together virtually and celebrating with a delicious, intimate summer meal experience composed of the season’s harvest in support of youth.
For this extra-special year, Fresh Roots is creating summer harvest boxes filled with everything you’ll need to create a beautiful summertime meal experience to share with friends, family, or colleagues at home. The box will include fresh and chef-prepared ingredients for a simple and delicious meal and thoughtful accoutrements like wine and flowers for the table.
Guests will come together online on August 13 at 6:00 pm for a celebration and program featuring kitchen tips and tricks from chefs TJ Conwi and Natasha Sawyer about how to compose your plates with the contents of your summer harvest box. Participants from the SOYL program will also share stories about their time with Fresh Roots.
-MENU-
Amuse Bouche – Profiteroles stuffed with Freshroots Herbs and Salt Spring Island Goat Cheese. Candied Agassiz Hazelnuts. Wine Compressed Figs
Charcuterie Board – a selection of charcuterie from Legends Haul, an assortment of local pickled vegetables from our friends at Cropthorne Farm, Zaklan Heritage Farm and Freshroots, Saltspring Harvest Vege Pate and Vegan Spreadable dips accompanied by a demi-load of freshly- baked Fife Bakery Bread
Main – Sous Vide Organic Ocean Sockeye Masala and Legends Haul Sirloin, Fresh Roots Harvest Salad, Zucchini Palak Paneer Terrine, Carrot Vindaloo Vinaigrette, Atchara Relish, and Wheatberries
Dessert –Cheesecake topped with raspberry coulis from Olera Organic Farms
Beverages- your choice of a bottle of red or white wine from Marquis Wine Cellars, cans of 33 Acres Sunshine French Blanchè beer and kombucha from Bucha Brew.
Accoutrements- a bouquet of flowers for the table, cookies from Susgrainable, surprises created by our SOYL youth program participants, and more.
We will have a limited number of experiences for groups of two, four or six guests and are excited to offer incentives for folks who’d like to share the experience with others by hosting a larger (safe) gathering or sponsoring a company-wide dinner. Please contact Caroline Manuel, Communications and Engagement Manager at 778-764-0344 ext. 108 or caroline@freshroots.ca with any questions or for more information.
HOW WILL IT WORK?
1. Purchase ticket(s)!
2. Choose a pick-up day! Packages will be ready for pick up in Vancouver Wednesday, August 12th where you will have an opportunity to meet our SOYL youth team who will have been working hard to create some special products to share with you! We will reach out to confirm which day works best for you, provide pick up location address, and any other helpful details! (If you would like to host a group we will be happy to arrange for the delivery of Dinners of 8 or more!)
3. On Thursday, August 13th you’ll set your table, lay out your picnic blanket, or find a lovely spot to enjoy your four-course meal. Make sure to chill the beverages in your package! (minimal cooking required for non-vegetarian dinners)
4. You’ll log on (with a link we will provide) at 6:00 pm to connect with your fellow guests and our Fresh Roots team and SOYL youth. Our talented chef partners will walk you through the simple preparation of the contents of your experience package providing some easy insider tips on how to prep and plate like a pro!
5. Once your meal is ready we’ll pause for a quick reset and give you a chance to sip a beverage and sample your first course!
6. We’ll continue with our celebration program and wrap up the festivities around 7:00 pm.
Pluck, Crush, Press, and Ingest!
It’s the 8th annual East Van Apple Press Fest!
We request of you to be our guests,
And make this fest a great success.
Come one, come all to this FREE event whose only purpose is to bring people together to make apple cider. This is a BYOJ event, so please bring your own jar and cup for hot cider, so you can take some home.
We’ll help you learn about the full process of making apple cider (that’s the same as apple juice, but unfiltered and no sugar added), and give you the skills to make your own apple cider.
Enjoy cider, local music, socializing, and the Champion Press Fest Off!
Where: Vancouver Technical Secondary School (at the farm near the tennis courts) at Slocan and Broadway. Here’s a map.
When: Saturday, October 26, 2016 from 11-3
Who: All are invited. Bring your family, bring your friends and BYOJ Bring your own jar to help take home the cider.
Neal McLennan, Food Editor for Vancouver Magazine, writes, “It’s tough to know where to start the gushing thread with Vancouver’s Fresh Roots,” and then proceeds to gush all about Fresh Roots programs and our upcoming dinner in the world’s sweetest article, titled, “The Most Worthy Longtable Dinner of the Summer” (spoiler alert: it’s ours). Check out the full piece and get your tickets to the Most Worthy Longtable Dinner of the Summer today! Join us for our third annual Schoolyard Harvest Dinner. Proceeds support Good Food at school. You will receive a tax receipt for the charitable portion of your ticket purchase. If you’d like to buy group tickets, are interested in a children’s ticket, or have any other questions, please reach out to Sarah Maitland, our Community Engagement Manager, at sarah@freshroots.ca. The dinner will be served family style, with tables sharing platters of food, so unfortunately, we can’t accommodate special diets. Photo Credit: Andrea Fernandez Come one, come all to this FREE event whose only purpose is to bring people together to make apple cider. This is a BYOJ event, so please bring your own jar and cup for hot cider, so you can take some home. Where: Vantech Secondary Schoolyard Market Garden (Map) When: Sunday October 14, 12 – 4pm RSVP: Facebook We’ll help you learn about the full process of apple cider (that’s the same as apple juice, but unfiltered and no sugar added), and for you to help make your own apple cider. Enjoy cider, local music, socializing, and did we mention cider!
Schoolyard Harvest Dinner Named “The Most Worthy Longtable Dinner of the Summer” by Vancouver Magazine
Join Us for Our Schoolyard Harvest Dinner!
We’ll celebrate with an elegant dinner of local ingredients sourced from our schoolyard farms and farmer friends, paired with an open bar of amazing wine from Marquis Wine Cellars, brews from 33 Acres, and kombucha from Brew Dr. Kombucha.Enjoy an inspired multi-course meal created by chefs Karima Chellouf and Kym Nguyen.
Karima Chellouf is a chef, nutritionist, and educator who has been cooking and baking through elevated dining establishments and patisseries in Vancouver for the past 10 years. Karima’s food is bold, flavourful, influenced by lineage, and is often made to promote discussions of health, self-care, and social issues. Follow @gloryandgutsnutrition on Instagram for pop-up events, workshops, recipes, and more.
Kym Nguyen is a self-taught chef from London, England. Over the last 12 years, they’ve developed a huge passion in cooking farm to table across Canada, inspired by using fresh and local ingredients from whole animals to the produce from the ground, recognizing the amazing flavours of food that can be grown locally and responsibly. Kym hopes to keep continue working closely with local farmers and foragers to create new and exciting dishes.
We are so lucky that Karima and Kym are returning to cook for us again this year, as many of last year’s attendees said the meal they created last year was the best they’ve ever had!
Support experiential learning by sharing delicious conversations, the best of this season’s harvest, and your own generosity—in addition to ticket sales, our goal is to raise $45,000 at this event to support children and youth in Fresh Roots programs, so please bring your chequebook or credit card along with your appetite!
Special thanks to our friends at the Italian Cultural Centre for the use of their kitchen space to prep this amazing meal.
BC kids take on the Great Big Crunch for healthy foods in school
On March 8, kids across the BC took part in the “Great Big Crunch for Healthy School Food Day,” as proclaimed by Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart. Global News was there to record the crunch heard across BC!
6th Annual East Van Press Fest
