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Équiterre, Farm to Cafeteria Canada, the Whole Kids Foundation and Québec en Forme are launching a call for projects for Quebec schools that want to make healthy, local and sustainable food a priority. Thanks to the new pan-Canadian Farm to School Canada Grant program (Farm to School Canada : Digs in!) lead by Farm to Cafeteria Canada, up to eleven $10,000 grants will be awarded to public or private elementary or high schools to establish and enhance initiatives to bring more healthy, local food into schools.
Salad bars: A great way to encourage students to eat fruits and vegetables
“It has been proven that having a salad bar increases the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables young people eat each day,” explains Murielle Vrins, Équiterre’s Local Food Procurement Project Manager. “Why not provide locally grown, synthetic pesticide-free produce and organize educational activities on healthy, sustainable food?”
“While a salad bar salad bar service must be a central feature in proposals, we know that the more students are engaged in growing, procurement, and preparing foods, the more likely they are to eat those foods”, says Joanne Bays, National Manager of Farm to Cafeteria Canada. “This is why we encourage schools to include food literacy activities in their proposals - from the establishment of school gardens and cooking workshops - to fundraising campaigns involving local vegetables”.
Schools that already have salad bars can also apply and submit projects to develop educational activities with a focus on healthy, local sustainable food: a school garden, cooking workshops or fundraising campaigns involving local vegetables, for instance.
The application deadline is March 31, 2018: http://www.farmtocafeteriacanada.ca/our-work/farm-to-school-canada-grants/
For more information, applying schools can watch the online seminar (in French only) and the information toolkit on Equiterre's website (soon translated to English).
Source : Nourishing School Communities - Impact Report 2013-2016
The Farm to School Canada Grant program was created as a partnership between the Whole Kids Foundation (WFK) and Farm to Cafeteria Canada (F2CC). To date, the WKF has contributed over $1 million. F2CC is the lead national agency championing the pan-Canadian Farm to School movement and the Farm to School Canada Grant program. F2CC works closely with Équiterre, the lead agency spearheading Farm to School efforts in Quebec.
Québec en Forme, through its initiative 100 degrees, is proud to contribute financially to this call for proposals, allowing Québec schools to make their ideas become reality.
