The Vancouver Community Agriculture Network formed in 2006 as a consortium of groups interested in urban agriculture and community development.
Initial funding was provided by Vancouver Coastal Health through its Community Food Action Initiative (CFAI) project to help residents get healthy, affordable food through shared growing projects.
Founding partners were:
- Environmental Youth Alliance - a youth-driven non-profit organization dedicated to a healthy urban environment and the wellbeing of its people.
- Tree City – an ecological engagement group helping Vancouver residents become community stewards of the urban forest.
- UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems – a leader in integrated research and education addressing global issues surrounding health and sustainable land and food systems.
- PHS Community Service Society – a major service provider in Vancouver’s inner city, formerly Portland Hotel Society.
VCAN works with the government, community groups, non-profit agencies and residents to help start and manage community gardens and to promote organic urban agriculture. We work with many partners including:
- The City of Vancouver – Various city departments are working towards the goal to create 2,010 new food-growing plots by the 2010 Winter Olympics
- Vancouver Native Health Society – This non-profit agency delivers free medical, counseling and social services, with an emphasis on providing care to the Aboriginal community, in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
- Heifer International - This international non-profit organization works in more than 120 countries to help end world hunger and poverty through self-reliance and sustainability.
VCAN is here to help you grow. Whether you’ve just started to get your hands dirty or you’re an old gardening hand, VCAN is a hub of urban agriculture community news, workshops and resources.
Want to get involved and help Vancouver grow green? Contact us here.