© Farm to Cafeteria Canada
We will be hosting three individual field trips on Wednesday, May 17th, 2023 as part of our goal to highlight and celebrate the work of local food organizations. These field trips will showcase outstanding initiatives across Greater Vancouver and Squamish areas and will provide a fantastic opportunity for hands-on learning and engagement. These field trips are an optional add-on to the conference and registration is based on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Each field trip will include multiple location visits, a lunch, and transportation via chartered school buses in the ticket cost. Each field trip will take between five to seven hours to complete, with buses leaving in the morning between 8:00 am and 10:00 am from within the Metro Vancouver Area, and returning to the same location for drop off that afternoon between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm.
Each field trip requires a minimum number of attendees. In the event that a trip does not meet the minimum requirement, it will be cancelled. Registrants of a cancelled trip will be notified by May 10, 2023, and given the option to receive a refund or to attend their second-choice trip.
Please register early to avoid disappointment!
© Farm to Cafeteria Canada
Choose your adventure!
Native Plants and Indigenous Pedagogies
This field trip will feature locations that focus on engagement with native plants and Indigenous pedagogies. To start the day, the Environmental Youth Alliance will host a guided plant walk and a hands-on, land-based learning activity at Strathcona Gardens. In the afternoon, attendees will head to Suwa’lkh School, hosted by Fresh Roots, where attendees can learn how Indigenous ways of knowing are integrated into their school curriculum, including student-led forest restoration work and land reciprocity. More details on a third location to follow soon.
Please note, attendees of this field trip should come prepared to traverse the uneven ground and narrow pathways throughout the day. If accessibility is an issue, please feel free to contact events.coordinator@farmtoschoolbc.ca.
School Farms
This field trip will highlight the emergence of school farms, focusing on food production best practices and school engagement with local farmers. Attendees will start by visiting Vancouver Technical Secondary’s Schoolyard Market Garden, a commercially producing educational farm on school land utilized as an outdoor learning classroom, hosted by Fresh Roots.
Next, attendees will head to Loutet Farm, hosted by the Edible Garden Project, where attendees will learn how previously underutilized, difficult space is now maximized for student-led growing and teaching.
That afternoon, attendees will head up to Squamish, where Squamish Climate Action Network will showcase a farm situated between two schools that serves the needs of both the community and students through sustainable food production, increasing food literacy, and fostering environmental awareness.
School Gardens and Urban Food
This field trip will showcase two highly innovative and educational school garden projects. Attendees will spend their morning at Richmond Secondary, hosted by Eugene Harris, learning about their life skills course which includes gardening, harvesting, and selling to local farmers' markets, as well as visiting their outdoor classroom and pocket forest.
Attendees will then head to Homma Elementary, hosted by our keynote speaker Megan Zeni, where they will learn the important pieces of developing a school garden as well as the importance of land reciprocity overproduction and how this approach is integrated into the curriculum.
