KAMLOOPS FOUNDATION GRANT

We were successful in receiving a $2500 grant from the Kamloops Foundation back at the end of June. The grant continues to promote Urban Agriculture with a major emphasis on Social Enterprise.  We will be partnering with GAP (Gleaning Abundance Program) and Gardengate, as participants will be exploring what social enterprise can come from the gleaned fruit. (In the photo: Mike Simpson (far left) is Senior Regional Manager with the Fraser Basin Council here in Kamloops.  Dave Whiting (second from left) represents the Fraser Basin Council at the KFPC.  Mike and Dave received the cheque on behalf of the KFPC.)

What’s ‘social enterprise’? KFPC’s Social Enterprise in Urban Agriculture (SEUA) will receive excess harvests from gleaning, public produce, backyard sharing, farmers markets, local farmers, and the food bank and food share and transforms the fresh produce into healthy, and often organic, by-products in the form of baked goods, dried and canned goods as well as prepared soups and meals.

These new products are prepared and cooked by newly trained employees, who before had difficulty finding and keeping meaningful employment. The SEUA both supports urban and local farmer/growers as well as the efforts of citizens to capitalize on urban agriculture opportunities that will benefit those most in need of assistance for affordable, fresh local produce and other food products – the working poor, single parent households and those on fixed and limited incomes including seniors. The SEUA is a marriage of social action and the promotion of healthy lifestyles while at the same time creating good paying sustainable jobs in the not for profit sector.

Partners involved in the plan: First Nations, City of Kamloops, Food Bank and Food Share, Kamloops Farmers Markets, Interior Health Authority, Interior Community Services (community kitchens and community gardens), and the Kamloops Food Policy Council member organizations (like the Gleaning Abundance Program).

Total project budget? $25,000. We are on our way ladies and gentlemen!