F2S Network: Fresh Roots Needs Help! A Cooler for our Veggies
Camille Flanjak
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Hello to Fresh Roots' wonderful friends & community partners in the Farm to School Network,
I'm reaching out today to ask for help.
We have had to vacate our cooler space and need a solution ASAP so that we can operate our Schoolyard Farm Market and CSAs this season starting May 15th, 2024. Without a cooler, we may have to cancel and refund our commitments.
Since the options on our growing sites are limited, we are reaching out to our community to see if there are any other opportunities.
There are two directions we can explore:
1) A temporary solution: this season starting in mid-May to Oct. 31 to hold us over until we arrive at a permanent solution.
2) A permanent solution: ongoing, multi-year agreement or set-up for a cooler space that fits our list of needs.
Our Needs
-4-6 pallets worth of refrigerated space
-flexible access with our own set of keys
-located in East Van - ideally within 2 km north of Vancouver Technical Secondary (2600 East Broadway) and 2km south of David Thompson Secondary (1755 East 55th Ave) but we are welcoming suggestions beyond that area.
We are open to:
-sharing/renting space
-retrofitting a container with a coolbot system or hiring someone to invent a mobile cooler
This option requires a place to park our unit and;
Electricity / Solar Panels (are you or do you know an electrician with experience with this kind of thing?)
Possibly also a water hookup, even just with a long hose to an indoor area
If you have resources that fit any of these parameters, we are eager to connect. My contact is listed in my signature below. We can pay, trade, share, promote -- anything -- we just need somewhere to house our veggies through the summer!
Camille Flanjak
(she/they)
Director of Farming & Operations
ph: 778-764-0DIG (0344), ext. 111
I am a settler, farmer, and educator on the ancestral homelands of the sc̓əwaθən məsteyəxʷ (Tsawwassen), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie), stó:lō (Sto:lo), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh), qiqéyt (Qayqayt), and sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) peoples. I acknowledge the harm that farming and schooling have done to Indigenous Peoples and the land across this region. I am humbled and grateful to sow seeds in soil that has been tended by these peoples since time immemorial and commit to working towards ongoing reconciliation.