THE SOPHIASBURGH OPPORTUNITY
A Food Sustainability and Service Hub in an Active K-8 Rural School
PROJECT VISION
Provide Ontario with a model approach to strengthening rural education that makes use of surplus school space to provide educational opportunities for students and social and economic opportunities for local communities. PROJECT MISSION
This Vision will be accomplished by creating a food sustainability and service hub in a rural K-8 school that will:
Develop an innovative curriculum to encourage a life-time commitment to healthy eating, food sustainability and a keen appreciation of the opportunities present in the local food industry;
Provide multiple healthy food product development opportunities so that local entrepreneurs can learn how to take their ideas to market, improving local economic development;
Provide support for healthy food distribution so that more and more under-served low income families have access to healthy food at reasonable cost;
Provide space and resources for food service training to support the fast-growing culinary industry in the region.
To reach out to, and learn from, local Indigenous leaders regarding food culture and sustainability to identify opportunities for partnership, support and sharing.
Provide other social supports for the local community and the region on the whole. Based on strong grassroots support for this innovative idea the Trustees for the Hastings Prince Edward District School Board voted on June 19, 2017 to keep Sophiasburgh Central School open for the 2017/2018 school year to provide the local project group an opportunity to work with the school board and develop a viable business plan for the unused space that enhances the educational, social and economic environment for the students and the community.
