F2SBC Webinar Hub

UPCOMING WEBINARS

More webinars coming soon.

 

 


PAST WEBINARS

Flourish! A Community-Rooted Approach to School Food with Matthew Kemshaw

Date: April 3, 2025

Flourish! School Food Society envisions a world where every student has access to nourishing food and opportunities to learn through hands-on experiences (growing, harvesting, preparing, sharing, and composting food). In this webinar, Matthew Kemshaw, Executive Director of Flourish!, offers a behind-the-scenes look at their newly developed Open Source Guide to Building a Community-Rooted School Food Program. Tune in to hear the story behind the founding of Flourish! School Food Society, explore promising practices in school food programming, and get a quick overview of this valuable new resource.

🍏 Watch the recording on YouTube: Click here
🍏 Sign up to receive the Open Source Guide: Click here
🍏 Follow and support Flourish! School Food Society: flourishschoolfood.ca
🍏 Connect with Matthew: matthew@nullflourishschoolfood.ca

 


Growing a Sustainable School Meal Program with Fatima Da Silva

Date: February 20, 2025

Nourish Cowichan began providing school meals in 2016, and now they provide hundreds of nutritious, delicious meals to 33 schools. Join us for an informative F2SBC webinar with Nourish Cowichan’s Executive Director and Executive Chef, Fatima Da Silva. Hear first-hand how Nourish Cowichan develops school meal programs, works closely with schools and school districts, and how they started. If you want to start a school meal program in your district, this webinar will both inspire and outline some tangible first steps.

🍏 Watch the recording on YouTube: Click here
🍏 Follow and support Nourish: www.nourishcowichan.ca
🍏 Connect with Nourish: nourish@nullnourishcowichan.ca

 


Building a Successful School Farm with Krystle tenBrink

Date: January 30, 2025

Watch this webinar with Krystle tenBrink, Executive Director of Squamish Climate Action Network, as she shares insights from over a decade of experience in building educational farms and strengthening community food systems. Gain practical tips on developing a shared vision, assembling strong teams, navigating school district approvals, integrating farm-based curriculum, and exploring sales models for sustainability. Be inspired by Krystle’s journey, including co-leading the Downtown School Farm and advocating for community food assets throughout the Sea-to-Sky region. Whether you’re dreaming of a school farm or ready to dive in, this session will equip you for success!

🍏 Watch the recording on YouTube: Click here
🍏 Explore F2SBC’s Guide to Growing a School Farm: Click here
🍏 Connect with Krystle tenBrink: krystle@nullsquamishcan.net

 


2024 Grants Info Session

Date: October 23, 2024

Looking for guidance on the application process or fresh ideas for your school? Watch the recording of our Grants Information Session webinar hosted by our F2SBC Grants Coordinators, Roanne Whitticase and Megan Viszlai.

We covered:

  • Farm to School BC grant details, application tips, deadlines, and project ideas.
  • Exciting food literacy projects ideas
  • Insights into F2SBC grantee support, resources, and more

Discover how to kickstart or expand your farm to school activities. Bring your questions and ideas to this collaborative presentation!

 


Hydroponics and Indoor Growing with Farm to Cafeteria Canada

Date: January 31 and February 7, 2024

In partnership with Farm to Cafeteria Canada, we hosted a 2-part webinar series aimed at helping schools make the most of hydroponics and other types of indoor growing systems.

  • Part 1: Introduction to Hydroponics
    Speaker: Scott McMillan, W.P. Wagner High School in Edmonton, Alberta
    We explored how hydroponics supports food production and food literacy, shared tips for choosing and maintaining systems, and heard from two teachers who’ve successfully used hydroponics in their classrooms. This engaging session will boost your confidence to bring hydroponics to your school!
    🍏 Watch the recording on YouTube: Click here

 

  • Part 2: Indoor Growing and Microgreens
    Speakers: Paul Denby, Arthur Hatton Elementary and Marcus Lobb, Farm to School BC
    This workshop covered techniques of indoor growing in your classroom, including starting seedlings and best practices for growing microgreens. We also covered how to set up your grow station, grow in a classroom setting, and much more!
    🍏 Watch the recording on YouTube: Click here

 


Farm to School Approach to School Food Programs

Date: June 8, 2023

Learn how to develop nourishing school food programs rooted in local food systems. Presented by Matthew Kemshaw (Farm to School BC, Flourish! School Food Society) and Sam Gambling (BC Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, PHABC).

This webinar will present key considerations for building a school food program that is responsive to your local food system and rooted in evidence-based health promotion practices.

Presenters will share some key overarching Farm to School principles before taking a deeper dive into emerging good practices for producing, procuring, distributing, cooking and sharing nourishing food in BCs K-12 schools.

Resource Links:


Hands on Food: Use Food to Teach the BC Curriculum

Date: April 27th, 2023

We officially launched Hands on Food with an informational webinar hosted by project leads Simone Jennings, Registered Dietitian and Addie de Candole, BC Elementary Teacher.

In this webinar recording, Simone and Addie give an overview of the Hands on Food website, navigate lesson plans, and discuss how to use food-based learning to teach the BC curriculum such as PHE, Science, and ADST.


BC School Eco Clubs: Youth action in environmental sustainability

Date: May 11, 2021

Tune in to meet young environmental activists making a difference in their schools and communities. From school gardens to recycling programs, hear from students about the work of Eco Clubs and Green Teams and learn what motivates these students to be environmental leaders at their schools.

Curious to start an Eco Club at your school? Be inspired by these examples to initiate youth action at your school.


Welcoming Pollinators to your School Garden School Eco Clubs

Date: April 27, 2021 

How can pollinators become part of a school garden? Choosing plants, garden designs, and timing can impact the abundance and diversity of creatures you share your outdoor learning space with. Experienced bee experts Erin Champion and Lori Weidenhammer (author of Victory Gardens for Bees: A DIY Guide to Saving the Bees) will discuss how to create a garden that welcomes these important beneficial insects and can be enjoyed by you and your students. The techniques might surprise you!


Conduct a Waste Audit at your School

Date: April 13, 2021

Get on your rubber gloves and become a waste detective! A waste audit lets students investigate waste diversion practices and identify the gaps and opportunities in their school (and home) to reduce waste. Teachers will learn how to organize a waste audit, as well as helping students brainstorm a waste reduction action plan.


Ready to go! Soil, Seeding, and Care

Date: March 10, 2021

Spring is around the corner in BC and we are rolling up our sleeves eager to get our hands dirty. Healthy soil is a must for healthy crops, and in this webinar, Pablo will explain how to prepare the soil for the season, seed directly, and tackle gardening issues especially with seeds.

Presenters: Pablo Vimos, organic master gardener and founder of Roots2Grow


Starting Seedlings in your School

This presentation highlights the steps needed to establish a fully functional seedling growing operation in your school – with tips on how to grow with your students and the potential for your grow station to become a fully sustainable fundraising learning opportunity!

Date: February 24, 2021

Presenter: Marcus Lobb, Capital Region Animator, Farm to School BC


Reaching Our Potential Together: Evaluation, Impacts, and Partnerships

Enjoy a joint presentation between Farm to School BC and Farm to Cafeteria Canada where you will discover the impact of the farm to school model in British Columbia and throughout Canada, and learn about how these network partners work together to promote local and healthy food.

Date: December 3, 2020

Presenters: Jesse Veenstra, National Director Farm to Cafeteria Canada & Richard Han, Farm to School BC Provincial Manager


6 Steps YOU can do to prevent a global food apocalypse.

Date: June 10, 2020

Presenter: Dr. Tammara Soma, SFU Food Systems Lab


Local Food 2 School program on Haida Gwaii

Date: June 3, 2020

Presenters: Shelly Crack (Northern Health) and Sheri Disney (Local Food 2 School)


Unpacking school lunch

Date: June 17, 2020

Presenters: Jennifer Black and Sinikka Elliott, UBC


Connecting around Food During COVID-19: Nutrition Education Home Learning Opportunities

Date: May 27, 2020

Presenters: Nicole Spencer (Vancouver Coastal Health) and Emilia Moulechkova (Northern Health)


Learn to make ricotta cheese and bannock at home with a professional chef!

Date: May 20, 2020

Presenter: Wade Rowland (Cheakamus Centre)


Food Literacy Resource Database

Date: May 13, 2020

Presenter: Sherry Stade, SD73 (Kamloops area), Health Promoting Schools Coordinator


Small but Mighty: Farm to School in a Rural-Remote Context on Gabriola Island

Date: April 29, 2020

Presenter: Kenda Chang-Swanson, Food Programs Coordinator, People for a Healthy Community (Gabriola Island)


Orchestrating a growing movement in the City of Victoria.

Date: April 22, 2020

Presenters: Aaren Topley (Can You Dig It) and Alex Harned (City of Victoria)


Plant in a square – A way to grow at school!

Date: March 31, 2020:

Presenter: Pablo Vimos (Roots2Grow)


Make the Outdoors your Classroom!

Date: February 19, 2020

Presenters: Jennifer Hegan and Helene Fleury (Groundbreakers Agriculture Association)


Supporting Healthy Eating at School

Date: January 28, 2020

Presenters: Emilia Moulechkova (Northern Health) and Nicole Spencer (Vancouver Coastal Health)


Seed the City Youth Program, Victoria, BC

Date: November 26, 2019

Presenter: Leah Seltzer, Program Manager, Life Cycles


Influencing the Influencers: How to make #foodwaste reduction go viral

Date: October 24, 2019

Presenter: Dr. Tammara Soma, SFU Food Systems Lab