Posts about our activities, people, and values.
Fresh Food Prescriptions – Increasing Access to Nutritious Food in Health Care Settings
“We can access fresh fruit and vegetables and not have to stress about the financial aspect of it,” said Crocker, “Money is tight, certainly for seniors, money is tight. Everything’s gone up, gas has gone up, food at the stores have gone up, we might have been able to eat the way we should be…
October 2023 SEED Champion: Tesfay Okubahans
Every month we highlight someone who makes the SEED the do-it-together movement that it is. It takes a community to feed a community, and we’ve got an incredible community. This month we want to introduce Tesfay Okubahans! Tesfay has been a community gardener since May 2021 when Shelldale Farm Park was established. Since then, he…
Continue Reading October 2023 SEED Champion: Tesfay Okubahans
September 2023 SEED Champion: Jennifer Maddock
Every month we highlight someone who makes the SEED the do-it-together movement that it is. It takes a community to feed a community, and we’ve got an incredible community. This month we want to introduce Jennifer Maddock! Jennifer has been a volunteer at The SEED for several years now, and has shared her many talents…
Continue Reading September 2023 SEED Champion: Jennifer Maddock
The Development of the Upcycle Kitchen
The Upcycle Kitchen is a volunteer-led initiative that takes food that would have otherwise gone to waste and is instead cooked to make frozen meals or baked to make fresh and frozen muffins for sale. When we began the project in 2018 it had different outcomes in mind. At the time The SEED had a…
August 2023 SEED Champion: Evan Graham
Every month we highlight someone who makes the SEED the do-it-together movement that it is. It takes a community to feed a community, and we’ve got an incredible community! This month we want to introduce Evan Graham! Evan has been a SEED volunteer since the early days of our sliding scale markets, helping with set…
Applying Social Enterprise to Food Access Programming – The SEED MarketsÂ
In the previous post I spoke about the origins of The SEED, the reports that encouraged collective action, and the first steps we took in centralizing cold storage and distribution of nutritious food in our community. In this post I touched just briefly on the fact that we began our wholesale distribution program Good Food…
Continue Reading Applying Social Enterprise to Food Access Programming – The SEED MarketsÂ
The SEED’s History: Establishing Centralized Storage and Distribution
The food system has been broken for decades. Food banks were created as a short-term intervention to provide access to food among people facing poverty during hard economic times. The Canadian Association of Food Banks was established in 1987 and Guelph has had a food bank and community food pantries for over 30 years. Food banks…
Continue Reading The SEED’s History: Establishing Centralized Storage and Distribution
July 2023 SEED Champion: Tristan Henderson
Every month we highlight someone who makes the SEED the do-it-together movement that it is. It takes a community to feed a community, and we’ve got an incredible community! This month we want to introduce Tristan Henderson! Right from the start, Tristan has blown us away with his rock-solid reliability and commitment to The SEED’s…
Program Spotlight: Good Food Distribution
Food insecurity is an income-based issue. Since incomes exist on a spectrum so too does food insecurity. There are many people in our community who are marginally food insecure, that means their household incomes are such that they worry about running out of food and/or they limit food selection due to a lack of money…
April 2023 SEED Champion: James Ball
James has been volunteering with us for over a year, and he comes every single week always ready to take on a new role! He is super flexible and dependable. James is patient, kind and could not be a better volunteer. We are so grateful to have him on our pack line! Here is a…
Guelph Farmers’ Market: We are back!
We are back at the Guelph Farmers’ Market for 2023! In 2022, 10C assumed direction of operating the Guelph Farmers’ Market, with a goal of revitalizing the space. We hope to help in their mission of improving Farmers’ Market access for everyone. We loved hosting a booth at the Market last year and are so…
March 2023 SEED Champion: Ingrid von Cube
Every month we highlight someone who makes the SEED the do-it-together movement that it is. It takes a community to feed a community, and we’ve got an incredible community! This month we want to introduce Ingrid von Cube, who has continuously been a dedicated volunteer with the SEED, shown incredible fundraising efforts, and helps make…
February 2023 SEED Champion: Ken Pilgrim
Every month, we highlight someone who makes The SEED the do-it-together food movement that it is. This month we meet Ken, a regular volunteer in the Upcycle Kitchen. Ken brings many things to his role including positivity, flexibility, humour, patience and lots of enthusiasm. He comes in every week, ready to take on whatever it…
Program Spotlight: Creative Conversations
Creative Conversations provides opportunities to cook and learn and grow food together, while forming community connections, for older adults (ages 55+). Creative Conversations is a drop-in program. The SEED has been running it for the past several months, two days per week, at two different community kitchen locations- Shelldale and Downtown. Each session has had…
January 2023 SEED Champion: Tracey Gowan
Every month, we highlight someone who makes The SEED the do-it-together food movement that it is. This month we meet Tracey, one of our regular Groceries from The SEED customers. Tracey has been a customer since we opened in November 2020, and she has ordered from our online store every month since! She is great…
Shelldale Farm Park Community Harvest Celebration
This post was co-written by Omelnisaa Giddam. The SEED is a proud partner in Shelldale Farm Park. In 2021, we embarked on this multi- year project, starting with the rehabilitation of the community garden and kitchen at 20 Shelldale Cres. With lots of activity in both garden and kitchen over the past two growing seasons,…
Continue Reading Shelldale Farm Park Community Harvest Celebration
November 2022 SEED Champion: Customer ‘X’
Every month, we highlight someone who makes The SEED the do-it-together food movement that it is. This month, one of our regular Groceries from The SEED customers tells her story. She prefers to remain anonymous. This customer has been with us since the beginning of Groceries from The SEED. She has been an amazing champion,…
Fresh Food Rx Phase 2 Update
The SEED’s Fresh Food Prescription (FFRx) program has been running since 2019 and has now wrapped up its second phase! We last wrote about FFRx in this blog post in the spring. Read on for our latest findings and updates! Why Food Prescriptions? Food prescription programs are intended to improve participants’ food environments by altering…
Souper Heroes Update
It’s soup season! You can now find our famous soup starters at markets, stores and pop-up events. All proceeds directly support our programs- help us get to $30,000 in sales this year! A Souper track record Now in its seventh year, The SEED’s Souper Heroes fundraiser is a volunteer-led initiative. Volunteers package, cook, and sell…
October 2022 SEED Champion: Steven Esson
Every month, we highlight someone who makes The SEED the do-it-together food movement that it is. This month we highlight Steven, a volunteer who packs groceries every week for Groceries from The SEED! Steven has volunteered for over 100 hours since starting in 2021. He’s an extremely hard worker! He is always the last volunteer…
Community FEWD: a tasty SEED partnership!
This article was co-written by Yasi Zorlutuna. The SEED partners with many local organizations to make good things happen. Community FEWD is one of these. Our work together has been growing strong since May 2022! Food Equity with Dignity Community FEWD (Food Equity With Dignity) is a mobile meal service (and future food truck), supported…
September 2022 SEED Champion: Caleb Sanders
Every month, we highlight someone who makes The SEED the do-it-together food movement that it is. This month we highlight Caleb, a staff member who joined our team in July through our Good Food Work Experience program! From day one, Caleb showed up eager to learn and with a great attitude, and instantly became a…
Continue Reading September 2022 SEED Champion: Caleb Sanders
Large food donations from Second Harvest enter our community
For the last few weeks, The SEED has been receiving large food donations and getting the free food out to our community. Starting on July 22 and thanks to funding from United Way, we now are receiving a truckload of donated food weekly from Second Harvest. The first truckload we received was valued at over…
Continue Reading Large food donations from Second Harvest enter our community
August 2022 SEED Champion: Eleah Stringer
Every month, we highlight someone who makes The SEED the do-it-together food movement that it is. This month we highlight Eleah, a student who has made a big impact on our work from far away in Victoria, BC! As a Research & Program Assistant with Fresh Food Rx, Eleah was integral in creating structure and…
Sourcing local food at The SEED
This July, The SEED rebooted our relationship with the Elmira Produce Auction Cooperative through an amazing partnership with Two Rivers Neighbourhood Group, allowing us to get more local food to our community. Auction Day! At 9am every Wednesday, Nat and Leks hop into our SEED van and hit the road. Windows down, they drive down…
July 2022 SEED Champion: Sherry Holder
Every month, we highlight someone who makes The SEED the do-it-together food movement that it is. This month we chatted with Sherry, a Groceries from The SEED delivery volunteer. Sherry is a kind-hearted, hard-working, and incredibly passionate team member who has been volunteering with the Groceries From The SEED delivery team since September of 2021,…
June 2022 SEED Champion: Chris Merchant
Every month, we highlight someone who makes The SEED the do-it-together food movement that it is. This month we are talking about Chris Merchant CHC board member. Chris is a passionate, thoughtful and articulate Guelph CHC board member who also chairs the Finance Committee. Chris brings enthusiasm, great questions, and exciting ideas to the table.…
May 2022 SEED Champion: Jacob Goldfarb
Every month we feature someone who helps make The SEED what it is. Meet Jacob- a regular donor and microgreens farmer! Since 2020, Jacob has been an ongoing champion for The SEED. He regularly donates various microgreens from Goldfarm Canada, his vertical farm here in Guelph. These generous donations now total over $12,500.00. The microgreens…
Fresh Food Prescription Spotlight
The SEED’s Fresh Food Prescription (FFRx) program is a research project that is currently coming to the end of its second phase. What we are researching, and how Doctors and health care providers from the Guelph Community Health Centre write prescriptions for free fruits and vegetables to people with diet-related diseases (like diabetes). Participants redeem…
April 2022 SEED Champion: Kim Muniram
Every month we celebrate someone who helps make The SEED what it is. Kim joined The SEED team in September as a part time placement student, but is leaving behind a full time impact! During her two semesters with Groceries from The SEED, Kim has managed to do it all- from checking in and assisting…
Shelldale Farm Park Update
The SEED is a proud partner in Shelldale Farm Park. In 2021, we embarked on this multi- year project, starting with the rehabilitation of the community garden and kitchen at 20 Shelldale Cres. With lots of activity in both garden and kitchen, and tons of community engagement, the impact in just one year was enormous!…
Groceries from The SEED Evaluation Fall 2021
We received our first Groceries from The SEED evaluation back from Taylor Newberry Consulting, our third party evaluator, in September 2021. We are having a big impact on food insecurity in Guelph. Click here to read the report
Continue Reading Groceries from The SEED Evaluation Fall 2021
Groceries from The SEED Expansion to Centre Wellington and Guelph-Eramosa
Groceries from The SEED is growing. We’re so excited to let you know that we now deliver every Tuesday to these two townships in Wellington County! Sign up today and order by Fridays at 2:00pm to have high-quality groceries delivered to your door on Tuesday afternoons in Fergus, Elora, Belwood, Rockwood, Eden Mills, Ariss and…
Continue Reading Groceries from The SEED Expansion to Centre Wellington and Guelph-Eramosa
Important changes to Groceries from The SEED Memberships
Starting on September 21 2021, each Groceries from The SEED Membership category has a new name and discount range: Old Membership Name/ Discount New Membership Name New Discount Range Retail Retail Weekly Specials starting soon 25% Off Discount 10-17% off 50% Off Deep Discount 17-33% off 75% Off Deepest Discount 33-50% off Why we made these changes After the first 6 months of testing Groceries from The SEED, changes to discount levels are necessary to…
Continue Reading Important changes to Groceries from The SEED Memberships