Local farm vegetables supplied directly to college, hospital, and seniors’ homes 1 June, 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MR15-033 Comox Valley, B.C.   Last Friday, as Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee, joined California in declaring a statewide drought emergency, St Joseph’s General Hospital in Comox, B.C. joined a pilot program to source vegetables locally. “For the...Read More

Halifax hospitals will soon replace their flower beds with vegetable gardens. The edible plants will be brought to replace the flowers, shrubs and even the lawn outside ten different medical centres. Health authority staff say they’re rethinking the way they use their outdoor space. The plan is to plant everything from beets to tomatoes right...Read More

In the US, there are 80,000 American Indian farm/ranch operators with an average age of 58. These producers are selling 3.4 billion dollars worth of raw agriculture product per year and own in excess of 96 million acres, second only to the US Government. Often overlooked is the tremendous potential of this land to create...Read More

Some parents may struggle to get kids to eat their greens, but at St. Bonaventure’s College in St. John’s students are excited about a new salad bar featuring local seasonal vegetables. Students lobbied for a wider variety of healthy options in the school’s cafeteria and applied for the Farm to Cafeteria Canada program — which they got....Read More

Thirteen year-old Sarah Lewis never liked the chicken burgers and pizza at her school’s cafeteria. Although they were cheap, they were far from nutritious and anything but local. One day, when the healthiest thing she could find was a preservative-packed Caesar salad, she realized something needed to change. “Everything I saw was unhealthy. I didn’t...Read More

Photo: Yun Leong Something shifted in 2010.  Two cities that had been overcoming barriers to school gardens and getting local foods in classrooms now found themselves starting farms on school grounds. These farms added one more educational and food production tool to the complicated puzzle of Farm to School. Some wondered if school farms would be...Read More

Photo: Oliver Elementary School is turning some of its students into “young farmers” as part of the Salad Bar Program. In top photo are students getting ready to grow their gardens. In top photo from left are Matthew Hodge, Dustin Cachola, and Justin Vala. In back row are Nicholas Lang, Jasneet Sidhu, Avnit Sidhu, and Eisha...Read More

For the volunteers who came out April 12 to prepare the garden beds at David Thompson secondary school, it was about supporting environmental causes in any way they could. Volunteer Barbara Bradbury said there’s a huge need for individuals to help out. “The Vancouver Park Board doesn’t have enough money,” she said. “They can’t hire...Read More

Therapeutic gardens boost mental and physical health Tucked away on the campus of B.C. Children’s Hospital is an oasis of sorts. It’s a therapeutic food garden frequented by young inpatients and outpatients in programs run by B.C. Mental Health and Substance Use Services. Julia Thiessen, executive director of the Environmental Youth Alliance, gave the Georgia...Read More

Last week, while spring flurries flew around us, we built a new school food garden. Dundas Public School and First Nations School of Toronto now have a shared school garden! The process has been in the works for over a year, but last week the physical garden build finally happened! I work at Dundas and...Read More