Growing food. Growing communities. Growing community through growing food in Vancouver, BC
01/24/2025
On this International Day of Education, we celebrate the incredible power of experiential learning!
At Fresh Roots, we know that some of the most meaningful lessons happen outside the classroom — on the land, under the open sky, and with hands in the soil. Our team of passionate outdoor educators works every day to inspire youth through place-based learning, connecting them to the land, food, and each other.
Experiential learning transforms education into something tangible and unforgettable — from planting seeds to harvesting food, exploring ecosystems, and understanding how we can create a more sustainable future together.
A huge thank you to all the educators who, rain or shine, create opportunities for young people to learn, grow, and thrive through hands-on experiences !
Keep an eye out for our next educational programs - Summer camps registration will open on February 14th at 9:00 am !
01/21/2025
Farewell to the Norquay Field House !
For over eight years, the Norquay Field House has been our vibrant home – a space of warmth, creativity, and connection. As we reflect on our past and look forward to the new year, it’s time to say goodbye and embark on a new chapter.
The teal door at Norquay welcomed so many moments that shaped Fresh Roots: SOYL celebrations, recipe trials, team meetings, first aid courses, and even a virtual fundraiser that brought us together from afar. It’s where the Sharing Garden was planted, offering fresh veggies and herbs for park visitors, and where we hosted Art in the Park, inspiring learners of all ages.
Rowan, our Experiential Learning Director, shared a few fond memories of Norquay that you can discover here https://buff.ly/4gVtKt7
A huge thank you to the Vancouver Park Board for allowing us to call this place our home for the last 8 years. We’re thrilled to pass the torch to the next grantees, who will continue to take care of this beloved Fieldhouse.
Our new office is coming together, and we’re excited to make new memories on Commercial Drive. Bright green walls, sunset views, and only 5 min away from our farm on Vancouver Technical Secondary School —what’s not to love?
Thank you, Norquay, for being a place of sharing and inspiration. Here’s to new beginnings !
💚 Share your favorite Norquay memory with us below! ⬇️
01/16/2025
Looking for a job? Check out our website to apply for our Fresh Roots 2025 seasonal positions! https://buff.ly/3P6TIxK
Applications for seasonal positions on our Farm, Day Camp, and SOYL teams are open now, as well as extended season positions at Millside Centre in Coquitlam!
01/15/2025
While the fields may be resting, winter is a busy season on the farm! At Millside Centre in Coquitlam, our team has been hard at work pruning fruit trees in the orchard and tackling a big challenge: removing invasive blackberries.
With gloves on and pruners in hand, we cleared a tangled mess of blackberries, freeing up benches and “Carrie’s Corner” to be enjoyed again by youth in the Spring. Swipe to check out the before and after pictures to see the transformation—it’s amazing what a little elbow grease (and teamwork!) can do! 💪
Winter may be cold, but the work keeps us warm—and so does the vision of a thriving farm ready for spring!
🌟 What’s your favorite winter farm activity? Let us know in the comments!
01/10/2025
Are you a school food program coordinator or teacher in B.C.? An exciting cooking contest is heating up this winter for B.C. students to sink their teeth into. Create a recipe with your class made with local B.C. foods, get featured in a new digital cookbook, and win some great prizes along the way! 🍎
This curriculum-connected contest runs from December 12, 2024, to March 1, 2025. Join in on the fun together as Farm To School BC create an inspiring new cookbook that showcases the diverse ways B.C. foods can be used in schools.
Have we tickled your taste buds? Sign up today and get cooking!
As we look back on 2024, we are overwhelmed with gratitude for your incredible support during our "It’s Thyme" Year-End Fundraiser. Thanks to you, we raised $38,926 to grow food, empower youth, and strengthen our community!
Here’s what your generosity made possible this year:
💚 Empowering youth in the SOYL program with hands-on skills in farming, leadership, and sustainability.
🍎 Providing fresh, nutritious food to schools, markets, and local organizations, nourishing families and building food security.
🤝 Bringing our community together through events like the Harvest Celebration and volunteer days, where we celebrated, learned, and worked side by side.
Thank you for being part of the Fresh Roots community—we can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve together this year!
12/31/2024
As we say goodbye to 2024, there’s still Thyme to create lasting change ! Your support today can shape the future of food security, youth education, and community strength.
Every dollar you give empowers Fresh Roots programs, from nourishing families with fresh food to providing hands-on learning opportunities that connect youth to the land.
Here’s a insightful testimonial from a teacher:
"This was a wonderful workshop for my students. For many they do not have access to a garden and so this was the first time they touched the earth in a long long time. It was also wonderful for students to go around and see and learn about the different types of plants on the farm and taste as many as they could"
Don’t wait—this is your last chance to make a tax-deductible gift for 2024!
It’s Thyme to cultivate creativity and create lasting change!
Thanks to your incredible support this year, we’ve grown fresh food, empowered youth, and strengthened our community. But the clock is ticking—our “It’s Thyme” Year-End Fundraiser is almost over, and we’re so close to reaching our $40,000 goal!
Your gift this holiday season helps us:
🎨 Buy watercolor paints for art projects on the farm ($25).
📓 Print Observation Journals for our Year on the Farm program ($150).
💐 Fund a flower bouquet workshop for SOYL youth to explore art and nature ($250).
Together, we can cultivate creativity, curiosity, and connection for the next generation.
💚Link in Bio
Let’s end 2024 with impact—thank you for growing with us! 🌱
12/27/2024
At Fresh Roots, kids don’t just learn—they experience. From tasting freshly picked carrots to discovering the magic of worms and ladybugs, they engage with the natural world in ways that build connection, curiosity, and confidence.
This holiday season, your gift plants seeds for lasting change:
🩹 $50 keeps us stocked with band-aids and cold packs for active kids at play.
📘 $150 prints Observation Journals for our Year on the Farm program.
💼 $350 gives a child the chance to attend Fresh Roots camp.
Unwrapping our Holiday gift ! A heartfelt thank you to West Coast Seeds for their generous donation. Their support will help our schoolyard farms flourish with fresh, vibrant produce for our community and educational initiatives.
Want to see these seeds in action? Stay tuned as our youth programs bring them to life in the coming seasons.
12/20/2024
We are excited to announced that for the 2nd year in a row, Fresh Roots has been awarded Best Nonprofit Employer – Youth Advancement under 20 staff by CharityVillage !!
This recognizes our progressive leadership development program that engages diverse middle grades youth in leadership development, high-school-aged youth in employment readiness, and post-secondary and early career-aged youth in growth-focused seasonal employment and volunteer opportunities.
By providing youth with the opportunities to gain skills and experience, and then to apply those learnings through increasing levels of responsibility, we champion youth to become food citizens and land stewards.
Looking for a job? Check out our website to apply for our Fresh Roots 2025 seasonal positions! https://buff.ly/4gLxFbq
12/19/2024
This year, SOYL youth grew more than flowers—they grew confidence and skills. Through our 10-week Flower Bouquet CSA, one youth blossomed from a tentative weeder to a passionate florist, creating stunning bouquets and gaining valuable experience to add to her resume.
Your support makes this growth possible. Here’s how you can help:
🌿 $35 from 10 people buys all the carrot seeds for next season.
🍅 $50 provides fresh produce for a family in need.
💐 $250 funds a flower bouquet workshop for SOYL youth.
Your generosity grows food, empowers youth, and strengthens our community. Thank you for planting seeds for a brighter future!
12/18/2024
We’re thrilled to share that Ilana Labow and Marc Schutzbank, the founders of Fresh Roots, have been awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal!
This prestigious honor, presented by MP Jenny Kwan , recognizes their visionary leadership and celebrates Fresh Roots' commitment to local food systems, advocacy for a National School Meal Program, and the lasting impact on East Vancouver’s hearts, minds, and plates.
“Winning this award is East Vancouver’s way of saying ‘we see you Fresh Roots! We are grateful and we celebrate you!’ It truly takes a whole community to grow a schoolyard farm, and I hope everyone that is engaged in this work can feel proud of their role towards Good Food for All." Ilana Labow
More from our founders https://buff.ly/3BpPwG7
Join us in congratulating them on this incredible achievement! 🌱💚
The founders of Fresh Roots have been recognized with one of Canada’s most prestigious honors — the King Charles III Coronation Medal. Presented by Member of Parliament Jenny Kwan at the Chinatown Storytelling Centre, this award celebrates the dedication and contributions of community leaders wh...
12/10/2024
Your support is paving the way for high-quality summer leadership experiences for youth like Lynden, whose father, Michael, shared this powerful story:
“Lynden not only benefited academically, but she also developed leadership and social skills while working within a team. The knowledge she gained about sustainability, healthy eating, and local food has benefited our entire family. After just one week, we even started our own small vegetable garden at her request that we’ve all enjoyed.”
Will you help us reach our goal? Every gift, big or small, moves us closer to a future where more youth can grow, lead, and thrive.
Did you know that accurate soil data and information can enable sustainable soil management and support soils in sequestering up to 2 gigatons of CO2 per year? That’s a powerful way to combat climate change while nurturing the earth beneath our feet!
At Fresh Roots, we see soil as more than dirt—it's a living ecosystem that grows food, supports biodiversity, and stores carbon.
This World Soil Day, let’s dig into the importance of soil and commit to protecting it for future generations.
Discover Vancouver Soil Map here https://buff.ly/41kVP8r The interactive soil map of Vancouver can help you learn about our city’s unique soils.
12/05/2024
Today, we celebrate the incredible individuals who roll up their sleeves and make a difference in their communities. At Fresh Roots, our volunteers definitely bring their time and energy on the farms—planting seeds, harvesting crops, clearing weeds, and nurturing the soil that feeds us all.
Thank you to all of amazing volunteers for being part of our Fresh Roots community! 💚
12/03/2024
🌱 It’s Thyme to Make an Impact this Giving Tuesday! 🌱
At Fresh Roots, we believe in the power of giving—helping youth grow into leaders, sharing fresh food with those in need, and creating connections to the land.
This , your gift can :
- 10 people giving 10$ helps purchase all the kale seeds needed for the next growing season.
- $50 provides two weekly food boxes of fresh, locally grown produce for a family in need.
- $350 gives one child the chance to attend a week of Fresh Roots camp, where they’ll grow confidence, skills, and a deeper connection to their food and community.
Every dollar makes a difference! Whether it’s $10, $25, or $100, your support helps us grow food, empower youth, and strengthen our community.
👉 Donate Now - https://buff.ly/3ZkE1rr
Thank you for planting seeds of generosity today! Together, we’re cultivating a brighter future.
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Here’s how our 2024 #GreatBigCrunch went! Stick around for a surprise twist…
Take action and learn more with the Coalition for Healthy School Food: https://buff.ly/4c9SGv9
Fresh Roots’ envisions urban agriculture that fosters safe, inclusive communities where everyone has access to healthy, locally grown foods!
We achieve this by developing and managing community market gardens for a diverse range of partners on their own institutional land while providing education/engagement programming services.
Our community market gardens and programs create:
• Multicultural, intergenerational community spaces
• Good food for our partners and communities
• Green collar jobs and a replicable, innovative model
• Understanding of the connection between environment, culture and our food.
Our market gardens have become community focal points, bringing a variety of multicultural, intergenerational communities together for learning, celebration, or simply experiencing the joy and wonder of growing food.
We work in an inspiring collaboration with the Vancouver School Board. Together we have established two 14,000 sq ft Schoolyard Market Gardens, commercially producing spaces used as outdoor learning classrooms by the school community and for community gatherings and celebrations by the neighbourhood.
Through the gardens we host professional development days for teachers, helping 'train the trainers' how to use gardens to achieve core curricular objectives. We also host workshops, events, farm tours and field trips for elementary, secondary, and university classes. We offer corporate and non-profit team building opportunities as well.
Produce from our Schoolyard Market Gardens is distributed through our weekly Veggie Box program, sold to local school cafeterias, and purchased by the community at Vancouver Farmers Markets.
A big part of our vision is connecting youth with the food they are eating while at school. To reach this goal we partner with a number of school cafeterias to bring fresh schoolyard grown produce onto the plates of students for the entire school year. Through consultation with our cafeteria partners we’ve identified vegetables that best suit each school’s menu and plan our plantings and harvest to ensure we can consistently provide these crops. Through this unique relationship students can create a link between the food they see growing in the garden and menu items featuring Fresh Roots produce available to them at lunch.
To learn more about Fresh Roots, teacher professional development opportunities, and how to purchase school-grown produce from us, find us at:
