Tag Archive: social enterprise

  1. Food for Thought: How social enterprise supports student nutrition

    Comments Off on Food for Thought: How social enterprise supports student nutrition

    Food for Thought: A social enterprise support for student nutrition

    In our Food for Thought series, individuals within North York Harvest Food Bank will share their experience in matters pertaining to food insecurity and poverty. This series will share ideas, perspectives, and lessons learned as we work toward our vision of a community where all members are able to meet their food needs.

    Written by Lianne Holland, Manager of FoodReach

    Last week I got an email from a North York school that said: “we only have $1900 of funding left for our snack program, which will last about a week. Can FoodReach help?” 

    Sadly, this is a common problem for schools. Student Nutrition Programs (SNPs) are struggling to provide adequate food with their current funding. 

    In a recent CBC article, the Ontario Student Nutrition Program Southwest Region shared that “their portion of the $5 million in funding meant $4.29 for each participating student for the entire school year. One healthy snack costs $1.50 on average. Right now, steep increases in food inflation are putting added pressure on already extremely tight budgets.” 

    SNPs play a critical role in a student’s learning and development, as well as food security. It’s estimated that the National School Food Policy will save families with two children up to $800 a year on food costs, and families need it.  

    In July of 2024, North York Harvest saw nearly 30,000 visits to our food banks sites – a 130% increase from the same time in 2019. 

    And 27% of this year’s visits were children and youth, that’s more than 1 in 4 people visiting our food banks. 

    To put it simply, an unprecedented number of kids in Toronto are hungry. 

    Child and youth hunger has a profound impact on learning outcomes, which has a domino effect on the rest of their lives.

    NYH is addressing this hunger crisis through a wrap-around strategy that includes emergency food access, advocacy efforts, and our FoodReach program.

    FoodReach, North York Harvest’s social enterprise, is a non-profit food supplier and logistics service that specializes in selling food to the emergency food access sector and public institutions. We leverage the collective purchasing volume of these sectors to lower food costs, generate a long-term food solution, and strengthen community wealth building. 

    In 2023, FoodReach serviced 197 customers across the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area and 65%  were child and youth programs.

    By leveraging the collective purchasing power of these programs, FoodReach has continuously lowered the cost of food for student nutrition programs across Toronto. On average, we have lowered the cost of snacks by 15% compared to prices from standard retailers. 

    Whether student nutrition programs have stretched budgets, or are fully funded, FoodReach will continue to work on lowering food costs and stretching SNP dollars further so students can focus on learning at school, and so families can trust that their kids are eating nourishing food.

  2. Soup’s On!

    Comments Off on Soup’s On!

    Isn’t it amazing what can happen when a community comes together to complete a project and make a difference?

    With your generous support, North York Harvest has become the primary food bank in northern Toronto.  Thanks to you we are able to give nutritious food to over 77 food programs in the city.

    But what if we could take it another step further?  What if we could produce a food product to even out the supply and quality of food received through donations?

    The vision of North York Harvest is a community where all members are able to meet their food needs.  Our mission is to engage our community in meeting the food needs of northern Toronto by providing dignified food assistance, education and long-term food solutions.

    Each day we strive to meet that vision and mission.

    As a community, we have succeeded in kickstarting a new social enterprise thanks to partnerships right here in Toronto.

    Through the generous support of the Metcalf Foundation’s Inclusive Local Economies program, we were able to forge important partnerships with other local organizations working to improve food security in unique ways.  Through these partnerships, we launched three incredible initiatives – we began delivering food to local child care centres, we launched the Leadership In Logistics skills development program, and we piloted community-oriented food production system.  Through the last project, we successfully brought an affordable, nutritious dry soup mix to our local community. 

    With funding secured we were able to team up with FoodShare and Food Starter, to create a dry soup mix that promotes access to affordable, delicious and nutritious food for all.

    To get started, North York Harvest asked our agencies what types of food were most needed and hardest to supply for the clients.

    Within the agencies, there was a need for a hearty, vegetarian soup made with beans and rice that was nutritious but also easy to prepare. For certain dietary needs, it was also important that the soup was low in sodium but still flavourful without being spicy.

    Together through our partnerships, we made a unique Moroccan Lentil Soup. It was sold in FoodShare’s Good Food Boxes and the Grab Some Good pop-up markets operating on various TTC subway platforms. And what is even better is for every soup sold… another soup goes on the shelf for someone using the food bank! 

    It was a hit!

    To prepare the soup mix, we teamed up with the Experiential Learning program at York Humber High School.  The students in this program have special needs and are encouraged to learn life skills through hands on training and real life experience. Each week the students would join Vanessa Yu from caterToronto at Food Starter to prepare several bags of soup that would be given to our community.

    When I met the kids I asked what their favourite part of making the soup was and they seemed to all enjoy sealing up the soup packages the most! They even took soup home to cook and enjoy with their families.

     

    The kids’ teacher, Carmi, says ‘We were so fortunate to have had the opportunity for some of our students to participate in a meaningful real work experience with the NYHFB.  Students really enjoyed the experience and gained valuable employability skills while increasing their self-esteem.  It was wonderful to watch them learn new skills and progress each week. We all look forward to continuing our partnership with the NYHFB and thank them for all their support over the last few months.’

    We are so excited to move forward with this project and to be able to share this soup with you!

    Thank you to all of you that made this happen:

    The Product – Moroccan-Style Red Lentil Soup

    Combination of red lentils, brown rice and five different spices

    Low in calories, high in fibre and a source of protein

    No added sugar, salt, flavours, colours or preservatives

    Easy to prepare – just add water and simmer for 40 minutes

    Delicious on its own, or scalable to individual dietary needs – a great base for added meats, vegetables, salt or spices to taste

    Sold by FoodShare and distributed to food banks by North York Harvest Food Bank — promotes access to affordable, delicious and nutritious food for all

    		  

    Subscribe to Our E-Newsletter

    * indicates required



    View previous campaigns.

     



    Join the conversation – we’d love to know your thoughts!  Leave a comment below.