Cheakamus Centre was awarded this year’s Farm to School BC Pollinator Award – Vancouver Regional Hub. The award was presented during the Spring Celebration event at Van Tech Schoolyard Market Gardens on May 26, 2022.
The Pollinator Award recognizes schools that demonstrate outstanding leadership in farm-to-school initiatives and food literacy activities that include the three elements of healthy, local food, hands-on learning, and school and community connectedness.
Since its creation decades ago, Cheakamus Centre’s farm and garden classroom has brought learning to life for thousands of students. Executive Chef Wade Rowland has been championing revitalization efforts with this much-loved space and boosting healthy, locally produced foods in the school meal program.
Chef Wade has been instrumental in growing the garden beds, greenhouses, and teaching kitchen. He brings a passion for both sharing culinary knowledge in fun and creative ways and putting people of all ages on the path of making healthy food choices.
“We are excited to help contribute to food literacy through sharing resources and knowledge,” said Executive Chef Wade Rowland. “It is a huge team effort.”
The Cheakamus gardens have a way of bringing people together. Visiting school groups, interns, staff, and local and international volunteers are hands-on with planting, harvesting, and preserving. It is a buzzing, interactive learning space for cultivating relationships—among both the plants and the diverse community of people who tend them.
The Pollinator Award is a testament to the collaborative learning community Cheakamus Centre embodies and is shared with the many dedicated people in the local food network.
Farm to School BC is a program of the Public Health Association of BC and is supported by the Province of British Columbia and the Provincial Health Services Authority.
This story has been reproduced with permission from School District 44 (North Vancouver). The original posting can be found here.