Published on
For the 2021 edition of the Schools Take Root fundraising campaigns, Équiterre is bringing back the solidarity basket option, first offered in 2020 as a way for schools and farmers to donate vegetables to local food banks in the event that school deliveries had to be cancelled due to public health measures. Numerous schools, farms and families expressed a desire to participate in this innovative solidarity basket option in 2020.
This year’s participating establishments and farmers will once again benefit from the sale of baskets of local organic vegetables, while also offering families the opportunity to donate baskets of vegetables to those in need.
A win-win-win fundraising campaign
Not only does the Schools Take Root fundraising campaign benefit local farmers through the sale of their vegetables, and benefit the schools, childcare centres and organizations by raising money for their projects, but the solidarity basket option creates a host of new benefits for local families in need.
Providing access to a wider variety of foods
The pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity for some already vulnerable groups, especially in the early days if the pandemic*. For example, Moisson Montreal saw a 40% increase in emergency food supply between 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. The Schools Take Root solidarity option hopes to help relieve a part of this challenge.
"For the vulnerable families who will receive Schools Take Root vegetable baskets, we hope that it will help them to discover and appreciate some Quebec vegetables that are not always available and accessible. It may give them a taste for discovering, cooking and preserving local vegetables, while at the same time, increasing their food security,” explains Murielle Vrins, Food Program Manager at Équiterre.
*Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Pandémie et insécurité alimentaire, june 2020, [On line]
To participate in the Schools Take Root solidarity baskets
Anyone who purchases vegetable baskets from a Schools Take Root participating establishments simply has to check off a box on the order form for the solidarity baskets. It will then be up to that establishment to decide if they wish to give the baskets to a food bank, a neighbourhood organization, or any other food support initiatives.
Learn more about the Schools Take Root funding campaigns.
The Schools Take Root solidarity basket initiative is made possible with the help of Aliments du Québec.
