Capital Region

School Districts
61, 62, 63, 64

Community Animator
Amber Rowse-Robinson
amber.rowserobinson@nullfarmtoschoolbc.ca

About the Hub
For many years, a hub of school food activity has been developing in the Capital Region on Vancouver Island. With local non-profit organizations in the region working hard to support schools to engage in Farm to School related activities alongside the Capital Region Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable (CRFAIR) working to convene a network of school food activity for a number of years, the region was primed and ready to build a Farm to School Regional Hub and join together under a united movement.

In the 2014-2015 school year, the Public Health Association of BC, Farm to School BC and the CRFAIR entered into a partnership to embed Farm to School work within the CRFAIR’s Collective Impact Strategy and provide support to the region in the form of funding for Farm to School grants and Community Animator capacity to develop a Farm to School Hub for the region.

Between 2014-2016, the Capital Region Farm to School Community Animator has worked to develop a Farm to School Steering Committee composed of key local stakeholders who give direction and guidance to the Animator for the further development of Farm to School in the region.

CRFAIR has for many years used a roundtable format to bring together communities of practice. Within the work of the Capital Region Farm to School Hub, roundtables are scheduled throughout the school year bringing together school and community stakeholders engaged or interested in Farm to School. The Farm to School Roundtables allow schools to share successes and challenges, explore collaboration, and work to contribute to the priorities of the Hub network.

To learn more about CRFAIR’s work visit www.crfair.ca

About the Community Animator

Amber has been an islander all of her life, and has resided in the traditional territory of the T’Sou-ke nation for the past 14 years. Here, Amber has stewarded many acres of land as a farmer and food producer, and is a proponent for local food systems as a key determinant of community health and resilience.

Amber’s lifelong passion for food stems from her rural upbringing where fishing, farming and foraging were common practice. Her love for food not only inspired her to farm, but also to attend culinary school and hold several positions in the food industry before completing a BA in Child & Youth Care.

Connecting children and youth to food through land-based learning and hands-on education is not only a great joy for Amber, but she believes it to be a critical piece of strengthening local food systems for the future.

When Amber is not working, she is most likely in the kitchen, on the farm, or herding sheep with her border collie, Kip.