Sole Food Street Farms trains the trainers

The Delta School District’s developing partnership with Sole Food Street Farms took a big move forward on Thursday as 30 Principals and senior district staff were taken on a tour of the Sole Food Street Farms Pacific Boulevard site. World renowned urban agriculture expert and co-founder of SFSF described the social enterprise aspect of the venture and the unique infrastructure inherent to the operation that produces thirty to 40 unique artisan quality fruits and vegetables that are available through a CSA program, for sale on the street and a burgeoning wholesale revenue stream to top end hotels and restaurants in the downtown core who can buy unique and ultra high quality produce for the discerning palette. After the tour, an update of the Delta School Districts’ Project Pickle was given by Mike Schneider, founder of the Backyard Cooperative. 16 school neighbourhood farms will be operating 62 raised garden beds. To date hundreds of children have been involved in learning about food, how it is grown, harvested, distributed, marketed and ultimately eaten. In the next two weeks hundred more will be working in the buddy system to plant pickling cucumbers which are the main component of the program. High school and University students will be tending the crops over the summer and will be planting secondary crops during the summer. There are a wide variety of veggies on the grow throughout Delta and curriculum development is ongoing and ramping up for the 2013 / 2014 school year. Superintendent Dianne Turner, Mike Schneider and Sole Food Street Farms proprietors Michael Ableman and Seann Dory will be working closely to develop a template for a Sole Food School Farms education model that will role out concurrently as Sole Food Street Farms evolves.