Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society

Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society is a Canadian nonprofit organization committed to cultivating educational farms and place-based programs that foster healthy relationships between youth, food, land, and community. Established in 2011 by passionate farmers and food advocates, Fresh Roots operates sustainable urban farms primarily within Vancouver, British Columbia, with a focus on empowering youth through hands-on experiential learning and leadership development.

Vision and Mission

Fresh Roots envisions resilient, sustainable, and equitable food systems that support human growth and connection. The organization’s mission is to cultivate educational farms and programs where youth develop meaningful connections with food, land, and community by growing and sharing food that nourishes themselves, their communities, and the planet.

Core Values and Beliefs

At the heart of Fresh Roots' work are core values including joy, community, inclusivity, empowerment, and lifelong learning. The organization believes in collective action as essential for food system change, that food is a right for all people, and views food as a powerful mobilizing force for good. They emphasize relationship-building through education as a critical step toward both personal empowerment and systemic transformation. Fresh Roots also recognizes the interdependence of healthy food systems, environmental care, and community empowerment.

Committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and decolonization, Fresh Roots actively engages in ongoing learning and reflection to apply an anti-oppression and anti-racist lens in its work. It acknowledges the historical harms of farming and education on Indigenous Peoples and lands in their region and strives to support reconciliation through listening, food sharing, and responsible land stewardship.

Programs and Operations

Fresh Roots manages sustainable schoolyard farms that grow vegetables, flowers, and other crops on approximately half an acre of market gardens located in school grounds across Vancouver. Key sites include Queen Alexandra Elementary, Vancouver Technical Secondary, and David Thompson Secondary Schools. These farms serve as productive agricultural fields that provide both educational opportunities and food production.

Produce from these neighborhood market gardens is sold back to the community, including school cafeterias and weekly community food markets. In addition, Fresh Roots runs Farm-to-School salad bar programs, supplying fresh, local produce to schools and restaurants in the Lower Mainland.

The farms operate as outdoor, hands-on learning classrooms engaging over 5,000 students annually. Students gain vocational skills, food literacy, and leadership development through direct involvement in sustainable farming practices.

Community Engagement and Impact

Fresh Roots invites community involvement through volunteering, participating in community food markets, and supporting their initiatives as donors. The organization is actively working on expanding and improving its farming infrastructure to better sustain its operations and impact.

Their approach embodies the integration of food production with education and community health, aiming to transform food literacy and food sovereignty, particularly among youth, in urban Canadian contexts.

Business Registration Number: 844249680RR0001
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

This article synthesizes publicly available information about Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society and its work to foster sustainable urban agriculture and youth empowerment through hands-on educational programs.[1][2][3][4][5]

[1] https://freshroots.ca [2] https://freshroots.ca/about-us/ [3] http://urbanfarmers.ca/urban-farms/fresh-roots-urban-farm-society/ [4] https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/16bddd0e84d74b22aaa2c82db8f600b5-fresh-roots-urban-farm-society-vancouver [5] https://www.volunteerconnector.org/vancouver/fresh-roots-urban-farm-society