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What is this project about?
AgScape is collaborating with the City of St. Catharines to offer field trips to the St. Catharines Farmers Market with engaging, hands-on, curriculum-based workshops guided by certified educational professionals from September to November and April to June on Thursdays. Through energetic discussions and hands-on exercises, students will learn about various aspects of our food system, including a career component exploring the range of interesting opportunities to building a rewarding career. Workshops include:
I Spy! Local Food (Kindergarten to Grade 2)- Through stories, games and sharing ideas, students explore the wide variety of foods available in Ontario. Through a visit to the Farmer’s Market students use their senses to play an exciting game of ‘I Spy!’ together.
Taking Charge of Your Food Choices (Grades 3-6) - Through hands-on activities and sharing ideas, students learn more about how to make confident food decisions. Through a visit to the Farmers Market, they go on an exciting scavenger hunt that invites them to ask questions to the vendors and work together to solve the Ultimate Market Mystery.
Local Food and You (Grades 7-12) - What does the word “local” really mean when it comes to our food systems here in Ontario? Depending on things like location, season and which foods are readily available, that definition can shift. Learning how to navigate making food decisions includes understanding where your food comes from and identifying what factors are most important to each person.
Through our partnership with the City of St. Catharines, the Farmers Market, and by leveraging hands-on, curriculum-linked activities, this project aims to:
Enhance food systems literacy among youth
Expose students to diverse career paths in agriculture, food, and entrepreneurship
Strengthen school-community connections
Supporting small, local food businesses
Reduce equity barriers to food education programming
Developing a scalable model to be replicated
Why is this project important to the community?
This project is an important initiative because by offering curriculum-linked, hands-on learning experiences at the St. Catharines Farmers Market, AgScape and the City are addressing a critical need for greater food literacy and stronger community connections to local agriculture.
Our program provides students with meaningful opportunities to explore where their food comes from, understand the importance of sustainable choices, and discover the wide range of careers connected to food and farming.
Food literacy is a vital skill for young people because it equips them with the knowledge to make informed choices about nutrition, health, and sustainability, while also cultivating an awareness of how their decisions impact the environment and local economy. Many students have limited exposure to agriculture and food systems beyond what they see in the grocery store, and this creates a knowledge gap between consumers and producers. This program directly addresses that gap by immersing students in the sights, sounds, and experiences of the farmers market and gives them the opportunity to engage directly with producers and farmers.
The field trip model enhances classroom learning and strengthens connections between schools, farmers, small businesses, and the community. Students engage directly with local vendors, learning about entrepreneurship, food production, and the challenges and opportunities of running a small business. For vendors, the program provides an opportunity to share their expertise, inspire future generations, and foster loyalty to local food systems. For the community, this program supports a stronger, more resilient local economy by encouraging youth and their families to value and support regional food producers.
Our program also prioritizes financial accessibility by offering the field trips for free, ensuring students from all backgrounds and schools can participate, breaking down barriers to high-quality experiential education.
Target Completion Date
December 17, 2027
Location
91 King Street
St. Catharines
L2R 3H6