Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society

Fresh Roots envisions a world where everyone has access to healthy food, soil, and community. They work towards this by cultivating engaging gardens and programs that catalyze healthy eating, ecological stewardship, and community celebration.

Fresh Roots stewards three ½ acre schoolyard farms on school grounds in the heart of East and Southeast Vancouver. The fields are hands-on learning classrooms, engaging school communities and residents of Vancouver to address food security and community health, as well as develop vocational skills. These schoolyard farms are the first of their kind in Canada – commercially producing farms that host alternative educational spaces while providing healthy, local cafeteria meals for students. Fresh Roots also builds food literacy for youth through field trips, workshops, volunteering, and their summer internship program.

SVP Partners are currently working with Fresh Roots on a non-financial basis to develop a summer program for at-risk youth and become a registered Canadian charity.

SVP grant commitment: $55,000 in 2016 which includes generous co-funding from the BPS Wealth Management Group at CIBC Wood Gundy (represented by SVP Partners Geoff Bertram, Tom Porteous and Eric Southam) in the amount of $16,500. Subsequent funding of $45,000 was approved for 2017, and $65,000 for 2018.

Executive Director: Marc Schutzbank
SVP Lead Partner: Eric Cormier