Roots To Harvest: Punks Growing Food

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Author: Hayley Green

Posted: February 5, 2018

Roots to Harvest (R2H) provides transformative educational and employment opportunities for youth to engage with local agriculture and cultivate healthy communities. Based in Thunder Bay, they have a vision of a future where youth are leaders, connecting a diverse community and cultivating food that’s healthy and accessible

All about Roots to Harvest

Good Work

Roots to Harvest focuses on young people and giving them the opportunity to engage in meaningful work in our food system as growers, market gardeners, and learners. The youth are able to develop skills that will guide them to obtain a sustainable livelihood in the future and a more vibrant healthy community. Roots to Harvest focuses on the role of health, resilience, and independence of individuals and communities.

Approach

Roots to Harvest offers opportunities to young people who face barriers in regards to employment and experiential education. They work to build strong connections between youth and community leading to youth that feel valued, connected and will make healthy choices in the long term.

Community:

All year round, Roots to HArvest works with young people and the community in the city, farms or schools. People can engage with sustainable food production and Roots to HArvest will ensure that it is both a learning and meaningful experience for all. They ensure to hire staff who are compassionate and work to build and an inclusive, instructive and empowering environment in programming.

Store!?

Roots to Harvest has gifts available all year round. Not sure what to get that somebody special for the holiday season? Perhaps one of these items will catch your eye and it will support Roots to Harvest programming. They have a 2018 Eat your Veggies, Drink your beer calendar, Honey products, Granola and 2L Bay City Apple Cider available.

Services?

In the classroom? You can bring in Roots to Harvest to your class for a workshop! Speakers? Hosting an event and lost for a speaker? Contact Roots to Harvest for a speaker for your next event, AGM or gathering. Workshops and tours? R2H holds workshop courses with local experts from the region. Products? R2H has delicious and innovative products to sell!

Employment!

Urban Farm Program

Began in 2016
Hires youth aged 18-30
5 months contract for Seasonal Horticultural Outdoor Worker
Broader-based employment skills and agricultural training

Youth Garden Program:

Core of R2H
Partners with Lakehead District School Board
10 students 15-18 years old are hired for 6 weeks in July and August
Build skills, gain co-op credits
Run urban garden sites and work with local farmers

Academic Year Program

Y.P
Year-round engagement
Interns with Youth Garden Program
Selected interns carry over skills and work with R2H throughout school!
Click here to read some wonderful stories from R2H interns.

Outreach!

Community Grower

Growing Food, cultivating soil
Empower Thunder Bay residents to build and maintain garden spaces
Partners with Thunder Bay Public Library
Instructional resources have been developed and lending tools purchased
Library Members can see the tools at 2 locations!

Cooking

Building on experience and knowledge of healthy eating
A weekly cooking program at K.K.E.T.S and L.A.E.C.
R2H buys, plans, teaches and cooks with students to make a lunch once a week with staff and students at both schools
Made from Scratch

Superior Seed Producers

Local farmers and seed producers dedicated to breeding and developing regional adapted seed varities to encourage resiliency within the North Western Food system
Seeds sold online through Superior See Producers site
Partnered with Seeds of Diversity Canada and Bauta Foundation
Invests in key training and infrastructure