14. Fresh Roots: Mapping the Landscape of Schoolyard Farms

Organization Information

Organization Name

Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society

Mission and Vision of Organization

VISION

Good Food For All, which is realized when youth have the skills, capacity, and will to act as food citizens and land stewards, to grow and share healthy food for themselves, their families, and the planet!

MISSION

We cultivate educational farms and programs where students dig into meaningful connections with the land, food, and each other, inspiring communities to build just food systems.

WHAT WE DO

We enact our mission through Educational Schoolyard Farms, which we use as pathways to supporting youth self-determination and meaningful employment. We facilitate outdoor experiential learning with teachers and students; mentor youth leaders through garden clubs and summer programming; foster self-confidence, leadership, and employment skills; and provide space for folks in the Lower Mainland of Vancouver to grow food through our volunteer programs. All our food is sold and donated into the community— food-access programs, markets, and to our neighbours. We also work with other schools and organizations to develop their own market gardens and schoolyard farms and associated programming. We are inspired to share our experience working toward evolving the institutional food systems and with outdoor experiential learning.

Guiding Principles + Values

Our core values are at the heart of everything we do here at Fresh Roots. They are joy, community, inclusivity, empowerment, and lifelong learning. Our beliefs drive us towards our vision and direct our activities. We believe that good, healthy food is a right for all people. We believe that food is an inspiring and mobilizing force for good. We believe that education is the first step towards positive personal and systems change. We believe that healthy food systems are dependent upon a healthy environment and empowered communities. We believe that how we work together is as important as the work we do. We believe that collective action is imperative to food systems change.

Contact Information

• Primary Contact Person(s): Andrea Lucy
• Email: andrea@freshroots.ca
• Phone: 778-883-2599
• Address: 5050 Wales Street, Vancouver
• Website: Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society

Preferred Method of Contact

• Best method(s) to contact: Email, Phone
• Best day(s) to contact: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays
• Best time(s) to contact: Mornings, Afternoons

Preferred Platform(s) for Remote Collaboration

• Email
• Google Meet
• Phone
• Zoom

Project Description

Context: What challenge or issue does the project aim to address?

There is so much potential in Schoolyard Farms! Fresh Roots has been operating schoolyard farms in the greater Vancouver area for over 10 years. We need to update our own knowledge about what other organizations are developing and testing models for schoolyard farms. The project would be do conduct a discovery and mapping exercise to update and identify organizations in Canada, North America and beyond who are working on schoolyard farm models. Primary research (short interview) could then be done with a select number of identified organizations.

This project will be part of a larger landscape of current research (one UBC Masters exploring "What is a schoolyard farm?" and an SFU project under Dr. Tammara Soma "Farm to School Food Procurement: Economic Development Planning Potential for Farmers in the Agricultural Land Reserve"). Fresh Roots has participated in both of these projects and is also in close communications with PHABC who are closely involved with these and other projects.

There are some important questions that will help direct the discovery and any follow up interviews. For example, we want to look at how other organizations are potentially (or not) bridging the gap between the growing season and the school year. In Canada, there is limited overlap between the high-harvest growing season and the school year. This becomes problematic when we are aimed at getting food grown on schoolyard farms into school food programs and classes.

Main Project Activities and Deliverables

• Internet search / literature review of organizations involved in Schoolyard Farms (as distinct from school gardens) in Canada, US, other countries / regions (to be determined with the team)
• Filtering or assessment of these findings using questions and criteria to be developed with support from Fresh Roots and other research collaborators
• Conduct short interviews with a select group of organizations (approximately 5-8, tbc)
• Capture findings and create a visual presentation to make it easily shared with research & policy collaborators

Student Assets and Skills (preferred or required)

• Enthusiasm / interest in farming, schoolyard farms, outdoor education
• Research skills
• Ability to clearly present findings visually

Are there any mandatory attendance dates (e.g. special event)?

• No, we can be flexible

Will the project take place online, in person, or a combination?

• Online and in person

Is a criminal record search (CRS) required?

• No

Related Community Service Opportunities for Students

• We can discuss opportunities with students. May be dependent on COVID restrictions.

Required Reading

Project/Partner Orientation Materials

Students should review these materials prior to the first partner meeting:

• Review the Fresh Roots story and watch the short video of how our schoolyard farms came to be: https://freshroots.ca/about/our-story/

Additional Project/Partner Orientation Materials

The following will be provided at the first community partner meeting:

• We will do an online orientation that will provide background on Fresh Roots and schoolyard farming. We will also provide the list of known organizations as a starting point. Depending on student interest, we can provide further background reading.