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2022 Impact Report

Our 2022 Impact Report with you is fresh off the press! Click on the image below to view.

Here’s a sneak peak from Alexa Pitoulis, our Executive Director at Fresh Roots:

“An important reflection that repeatedly emerges in our strategic conversations is how Fresh Roots creates inclusive, diverse and safe spaces for youth to fully express themselves, and empowers them to engage in their identities and values. This is core to who we are, and it is in how we create these spaces that allow kids, youth and staff to learn and grow in incredible way

Please join us for one of our 10th year anniversary celebration events! It’s because of YOU and your support that we have achieved so much.”

Thank you to everyone who was part of the community last year. Tickets to our Annual Schoolyard Longtable Dinner fundraiser are on sale now! As we reflect on 2022 and our 10th anniversary, help us continue to create more impactful opportunities for youth and kids on schoolyard farms for years to come.

If you would like to request a physical copy, please email info@freshroots.ca, otherwise, it is available to view online here: https://freshroots.ca/fresh/uploads/2023/05/Fresh-Roots-22-AR-Complete-Digital-Lowest-Quality.pdf

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It’s Your Turn! Complete the Federal Government’s Questionnaire about a National School Food Policy

By Alexa Pitoulis, Executive Director

If you’re reading this you’ve likely heard the shocking news that Canada is the only G7 without a federally funded universal school food plan and that Canada is ranked 37th of 41 countries on providing healthy food for kids. Fresh Roots, alongside so many other organizations, parents, teachers, grandparents, municipalities have come together through the work of the National Coalition on Healthy School Food and here in British Columbia the BC Chapter of the Coalition. 

Photo credit: Chef TJ Conwi, LunchLAB Lord Roberts

 

Now is the time for you to have your voice heard! The federal government has launched a consultation process for the development of the National School Food Policy. This is the first time in over 60 years that school food policy has been discussed at the federal level. 

 

Everyone can participate by completing the questionnaire by December 16, 2022: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/school-food/consultation-school-food.html

 

Not sure what to say? Or looking for some more info?

  • Check out the Coalition for Healthy School Food’s Guiding Principles.
  • Join the  “Amplifying Our Voices” Workshop to be held on Monday December 12, 2022 between noon and 1pm EST. Hosted by the Coalition for Healthy School Food, this interactive workshop will allow people to complete the form during the session or to complete it by their organization at a later time. Register here.
  • Learn about the evidence and impacts of farm to school. (Reference: Farm to Cafeteria Canada)

For over a decade, Fresh Roots, has been demonstrating through our schoolyard farms and experiential learning programs how a comprehensive, farm to school approach to a national school food policy would have incredible benefits resulting in huge social and economic returns on investment. Thank YOU for being part of this community!

I’m feeling so optimistic about the momentum we currently have towards a federally supported, universal, comprehensive school food policy. Just in the last few weeks I’ve:

  • Participated in 2 National roundtable discussions with the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, and the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
  • Shared with and learned from colleagues across the province in Victoria at the BC School Food Network Gathering.
  • Read the recent report titled A Universal School Food System for BC put out by The Single Mothers’ Alliance. The research brief shares the perspectives of low-income BC parents on the existing school food programs and builds the case for the universal school food system in British Columbia.
  • Spoke to a 3rd year class at Simon Fraser University about our work and the importance of a new approach to school food in Canada.
  • Spoke to at least two Master’s level researchers who are exploring school-food costing and farm to school related topics of study!

Caption: Alexa digging into a discussion topic with provincial colleagues at the Nov 9th BC School Food Network Gathering in Victoria

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Vancouver Magazine September/October 2022

Link to full magazine online: https://issuu.com/canadawidemedia/docs/vanmag-septoct2022_lr?fbclid=IwAR0DZmVjyDtnumPN-m9zsH7Z7y6eXAKQumbibPVMuB5CrYZt_N8w2DFBCsk

Vancouver Magazine September/October 2022

Published on 

Engaging articles, reviews and stories all about Vancouver. Vancouver Magazine informs, guides and entertains people who engage with the city. Mixing quality journalism and service-driven pieces, it chronicles and reflects Vancouver’s emergence as a dynamic international city.

Page 24:

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Schoolyard urban farming (BC Farmers’ Market Trail Stories)

BC Farmers’ Markets | June 2, 2022

Link to YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StEN-ZHDIgM&t=11s

“We get a deeper sense of where our food comes from by being able to grow it.”

A breath of fresh air from life in the big city, urban farming is an important part of local food production. Located in the city of Vancouver, this Story from the BC Farmers’ Market Trail features Fresh Roots Urban Farm founders Gray Oron and Ilana Labow who strive to make sure their communities are provided with fresh food. Since 2009, the members of their urban farm society have been working directly with schools to teach youth about where a career in food production can take them.

Meet more local farmers, makers, and artisans at City of Vancouver Farmers’ Markets: https://bcfarmersmarkettrail.com/regi…

The BC Farmers’ Market Trail proudly showcases 145+ authentic BC Association of Farmers’ Market members across British Columbia. Dedicated to helping local food thrive, the BC Farmers’ Market Trail is your route to fresh, local, in-season food and artisan goods direct from the farmers who produce them.

Follow The BC Farmers’ Market Trail:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bcfarmersmarket
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BCAFM
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bcfarmersmarket
Website: https://bcfarmersmarkettrail.com

#BCFMTStories #BCFarmersMarkets #ExploreBC

Click the image below to check out the segment!

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FARMER’S LOG, SEED DATE OCTOBER 26, 2022

It’s time to wrap things up on the farm. We had our last market of the season on Saturday and final CSA pickup the week before. Even though our plants aren’t melting away like they usually do at this time of the year, they have stopped producing and are ready for their next stage of life and death in the compost. 

While Fresh Roots winterizes the farms, we are also looking for someone to replace me during my parental leave in 2023. This person will be starting early in the year and working all season, overlapping with my return at the end of the summer. I’m hoping to find a person who will want to continue working with Fresh Roots for many years to come after I’m back. So, in an effort to recruit someone awesome, I’ve decided to use this blog entry to give a little breakdown of my position during peak season, and make it easier for folks to imagine themselves here. 

Farm Manager: Season Overview

The FR core team spends the winter strategizing on how to make things smooth, fun, and true to our overall mission. This makes spring feel totally fresh and exciting. The first thing the farm manager does is review the crop plan, count the seeds, and place a seed order. Then, there’s organizing the spaces, figuring out what compost and amendments are needed, and spending more money (provided by early season CSA purchases)  on all the good stuff. Seeds for our long-season crops need to be started either in the ‘grow-op’ in our storage space at the office, or in the prop house in the courtyard of David Thompson. Direct seeding starts at the end of February, so a portion of the farm’s beds need to be prepped and amended in preparation.

Next is hiring the farm team. The team looks a little different every year depending on where we are farming, but for the Vancouver site, I hire the following positions: 1) Market Lead, 2) David Thompson Field Lead, 3) Van Tech Field Lead, and 4) SOYL Jr Market Assistant. There may also be volunteers,  interns and LFS students who need to be onboarded, too. 

By May, all these folks should have their schedules and start a 5-week training program to get familiar with their responsibilities. This means that by the middle of June and the start of the CSA pickup, the staff and volunteers know what’s up and can graduate to beginning their leadership phase. This marks the start of Peak Season when we all need to work together as an oiled machine to meet our goals. By the first week of July, our summer youth internship program starts up, and SOYL youth will be directed by the farm workers in farm and market tasks for 6 weeks. 

A Week in the Boots of a Farm Manager

Here’s what my week looked like in 2022’s peak season, keeping in mind that 2023 may look differently depending on which markets we sign-up for, how we structure our CSA, and who is helping us harvest:

Monday: Admin and Communications 

This work can either be done on the Fresh Roots computers in our office or from home on the farm manager’s personal computer. I usually work from home with my cat on my lap and a steamy mug of tea. 

  • Email, orders, payments, newsletters, blog
  • Data entry of harvest, sales & CSA records from the previous week
  • 15-minute visits to the sites to see what veggies are coming up and making lists of what needs to be done
  • This week’s harvest planning for CSA and Market. Record plans in the Harvest Plan and CSA Plan documents
  • Field work plans for the week plus delegation of seeding & transplanting plans and ensuring data entry has been done
  • Work plan emailed to all the farm team including links to Field Work, CSA & Harvest Plans
  • Communicating in slack with all the other departments in Fresh Roots about what kids can do on the farm, and where we might need help. This means making clear plans with facilitators and managers in: Experiential Learning (EL), Sustainable Opportunities for Youth leadership (SOYL), & our Administrators (ED, Ops, and Comms). 
  • Fresh Sheet for EL so they can plan their farm lunches for day camp (feeds 40 kids)
  • Expense reporting
  • Review & approve the farm team’s hours if it’s the end of a pay period

Tuesday – Harvest Day

  • 730am: meet at David Thompson to harvest tender veggies
  • 1130am: ICC cooler – drop off harvest and eat lunch
  • 1-3pm: Van tech harvest of fruiting veggies / hot crops
  • 3-330pm: drop off harvest at the ICC cooler

Wednesday – Market Day & CSA Pickup #1

  • 730am: harvest flowers & any remaining harvest needed for CSA or Market
  • 1130am: pick up our bread order and maybe mushroom order
  • Lunch!
  • 1-330pm: help set up the market (operates 3-7)  with the Market Lead and whoever is helping out that day; either another farm team member, SOYL Youth, or volunteers

Thursday – Harvest Day

  • 730am: David Thompson
  • 1130am: ICC Cooler
  • Lunch!
  • 1-3pm: Van Tech
  • 3-330pm: ICC cooler

Friday – Field Work, Remaining Harvest & CSA Delivery for Pickup #2

  • 730am: complete any necessary harvest for CSA Pickup / Saturday market. Otherwise field work! 230 CSA Delivery to Collingwood Neighbourhood House for their “Community Care Veggie Box” program
  • 330pm: finished!

Saturday – VFM Market 

OFF!

Sunday – Everybody takes a day of rest!

OFF!

Wrapping Up the Season

Once the farm team’s summer contracts are over – usually at the end of August – one of the workers will stay on through the fall to help wrap up the CSA & markets and to winterize the farm. In 2023, I’ll be back to help the acting FM wrap things up. Together, we’ll write the crop plan for 2024 and work on the end-of-season reporting. We’ll also staff any remaining markets together, likely adjusting our schedules to Tuesday to Saturday. 

There are many other pieces of work that aren’t explicitly outlined in my weekly schedule – like all the planning and training that happens, community outreach events, volunteer events, tours, and workshops I lead. These bits and bobs are usually crammed into Mondays or Fridays, or woven into harvest days. Volunteer and youth training is also delegated to the farm team members during their field work time. Overseeing the schedules of each farm team member can be a jigsaw puzzle, noting that each member has their own domain to manage and it’s up to the Farm Manager to make sure responsibilities are fulfilled and deadlines are being met so we can meet our CSA and Market commitments. It’s also up to the Farm manager to make sure that mentorship is happening across the organization – so that the farm team members are supported and empowered to teach youth the skills they’ve acquired in their first 5 weeks. 

Peak Season is incredibly dense but it’s a lot of fun. All of the folks working on the farm are youth – from the farm team to the 4-year old campers in the EL program. There is so much life and energy to play with in this job, and I hope whoever is looking for that kind of fun will apply!

– Farmer Camille

Do you have what it takes to be our Acting Good Farm Manager in 2023? Apply here: https://freshroots.bamboohr.com/careers/53

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FARMER’S LOG, SEED DATE AUGUST 12, 2022

Here I am, about two weeks late, at 6:30am on a Friday making another attempt at August’s farm blog. It’s not that I don’t enjoy telling a story – those who know me or have sat at a table in one of the restaurants I’ve worked at have their ears coated in my poetic wax. I just haven’t had a minute to catch my breath. It’s peak season! 

If you follow FR on the socials, you may have learned that I have a growing obsession with flowers. Nicole (the David Thompson Field Lead) and I have been churning out about 15 bouquets every Wednesday to bring joy to our market stand. It has been a blast to share these blooms with our marketgoers at the ICC – and see their eyes light up when they land on the bursts of colour by the till. I’m hoping that next year we can get SOYL participants learning about flower arranging – and maybe bring in an expert at the beginning of the season to lead a workshop. If you know an expert florist or are one yourself and would love to lead a workshop with youth next summer, please reach out to me – camille@freshroots.ca! We would also love to install some garden-helper mushrooms in the woodchip & straw paths (I’m thinking King stropharia and oyster) so if you’ve got some spawn, let me know. 

SOYL just wrapped up their last day yesterday! 6 weeks of youthful exuberance filled the beds at Van Tech and now those sweet almost-adults have left us in the dust. To commemorate, our final Community Eats lunch on Wednesday was epic: everyone gorged on handmade tacos with extensive fillings and then two vegetable cakes: one chocolate zucchini; the other beet and oat. We then rounded out the very last SOYL-attended market at the ICC. Fresh Roots feels completely different without the youth buzzing around, so I’m thankful that EL still has camps for another 2.5 weeks. Overhearing the young kids’ hilarious conversations in the shade of the cherry blossom trees at David Thompson is the cherry on top of harvest days. Here’s an example I pulled from our #overheardatcamp channel on slack:

“Chef doodle I want to eat your face off because everything you make is so yummy”

Or, perhaps, about a really big pregnant (?) ant: “she could be moving house or mad”

I especially enjoyed the pregnant comment, as I am housing a sweet little human in my own body, and agree that yes, being pregnant sure has made me mad, especially while harvesting on black plastic in a heat wave. My ankles will never be the same again.

Although our youth programs are trickling to an end, there are lots of things on the horizon. On Wednesday, August 17th, the ICC and Fresh Roots are going to be hosting guest vendors at our market. There will be Mexican food, Egyptian hand pies, local tea, and natural soaps and cleaning products. For more information on these vendors tune into our socials @freshrootsfarms

The farm team is wrapping up their CSJ contracts, which breaks my heart as well. But it means that mid-August is the end of our seeding and the start of putting the beds to sleep for the winter. We will be sowing cover crop, unfolding silage, planting garlic, and mulching with straw. It reminds me of bears building a den for the winter. The prospect of the fall with sweet cool wind on the horizon and mushrooms popping up is a real delight, being a fall baby myself. I’ll also be taking a week off to revitalize in the cedars for my birthday, which I am coveting with my whole heart. 

Working with youth on this farm is inspiring, wonderful and hilarious. That said, being a non-profit that relies so heavily on Canada Summer Jobs grants to employ Fresh Roots’ farm staff is an epic challenge. Especially with this season being so late. The limitations of CSJ end dates mean that we are only half way through our 20-week CSA and haven’t harvested a single red heirloom tomato while our workers’ contracts are wrapping up. In Vancouver, Fresh Roots grows tomatoes in the field, without a cover, so this wretchedly slow start to the season has prevented most of our fruiting veg from ripening. And although our markets have been busy and sell out, we have only half the stock variety we usually do, so our sales remain about 30% lower than last season. So with the implications of the weather and being a non-profit urban farm, I’m anticipating a huge harvest on my hands through the fall while my baby belly waggles between my squat legs. I am crossing my fingers that the rest of the core team isn’t too bogged down with their own work to come and help out in the field while I acknowledge the huge loss of skilled farm labour fading away with the cornucopia of fall harvest on the way. In any case, I am  certainly working hard to earn my maternity leave.

Hopefully I will be able to tune in again sooner than 6 weeks from now, although we all know that a farmer’s hands are more than full during the summer here in the PNW. Until then, relish the joy of sweet summer stone fruit juice trickling down your chin and swimming in our gorgeous waters.

– Farmer Camille

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Grab Tickets for the Before Sunset Outdoors Dinner

By Scout Editors

The Fresh Roots ‘Before Sunset’ schoolyard dinner spreads across the fields of David Thompson Secondary schoolyard Thursday, July 7th.

Besides a bunch of fresh, expertly prepared food and drinks, Before Sunset guests will also be invited to enjoy live music, take tours of the on-site farm gardens, and participate in some fun activities. We think that the real thrill, though, is the idea of piling into the David Thompson Secondary schoolyard after all of the students have cleared out for the summer, to spend a few hours connecting with friends and other members of the food-loving community. Scout got a sneak peek of the evening’s dinner spread, and we’re already sold. Check it out for yourself below:

Fresh Roots Before Sunset Menu

33 Acres of Sunshine French Blanchè, and Ocean West Coast Pale Ale
Wards Hard Apple Cider
Edna’s Paloma, and Mojito Cocktails (non-alc)
~

Spot Prawn Carpaccio
Hokkaido Scallop Ceviche on cedar planks

By chefs Rob Clark and Julian Bond | Organic Ocean Seafood
~

Beet Ceviche
marinated Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) Farm beets, and carrot aguachile

Sirius Veg Burger
Oyster and King Farm mushrooms, mini bun

Rainbow Trout Ceviche
chlorophyll aguachile, KPU farm herbs

Farmcrest Chicken Slider
crisp chicken, pickled KPU farm radish

By chef Brockton Lane | Sirius Eats Food Truck
~

Fresh Roots Grazing Table
squid ink soil, and burnt onion charcoal hummus
textures of Fresh Roots Farm veg, and lacto-fermeted veg
pickled, roasted and raw KPU Farm veg
Oyster and King Farms mushroom conserva
bannock flatbread
wine-macerated figs and fruit
crackers, olives, vegan charcuterie, cheese and spreads
Rainbow Trout Roulade
smoked salmon mousse, Haida Gwaii kelp dust, nori, rhubarb wild-berry jelly, bannock crackers

By chef TJ Conwi | Ono Vancouver
~

Earnest Ice Cream Sandwich
Kafka’s Coffee Roasting Horchata Cold Brew

Early Bird tickets, available until June 20th, are $100 per person. For those who have been saving up to splurge, there’s also a $200 VIP option that comes with special perks and a ‘goodie bag’. Regular ticket sales ($125 per person, $25 for kids) are technically open right up until July 6th, but we seriously doubt they’ll last that long… so don’t risk disappointment by putting off securing your spots! Head over here now. Bonus: all funds from the event go towards continuing Fresh Roots’ awesome hands-on farming programs for youth (find out more).

https://scoutmagazine.ca/2022/06/06/grab-tickets-for-the-before-sunset-outdoors-dinner-now/