History

In 1989, Sustainable Food Edmonton started as the Personal Community Support Association, a non-profit charitable organization registered with the Province of Alberta and the Canada Revenue Agency.  By the mid-1990's, the organization began to focus on the growing food movement, reaching out to communities throughout Edmonton and focusing efforts on education, enrichment, outreach and engagement.

In 2005, operating as Cityfarm, the organization was able to launch a program that supported child development, leadership, education, and mentorship in an urban agricultural environment.  By understanding our connections to food; where it comes from; how it's produced and harvested; and what it means to have a local food source, children, youth and adults were able to engage in adventure play that offered valuable lessons in environmental sustainability and community development.  It was around this time that Little Green Thumbs was also established: a program for indoor garden classrooms where students were offered the opportunity to plant the seeds, tend the garden and eat the food that their efforts produced.

By 2008, Cityfarm and Little Green Thumbs were thriving programs, strongly supported by communities and stakeholders.  However, limited resources and a lack of long term funding saw Cityfarm close its gates in the fall of that year. The organization remains committed to opening another Cityfarm site and continues to seek funding partners and committed stakeholders to advocate on the program's behalf.  Little Green Thumbs continues to thrive and thanks to donors and various sponsors, offers indoor classroom gardens to educational facilities and agencies throughout the Edmonton region.

In 2009, the organization welcomed the Community Garden Network within their fold.  CGN dissolved and the Community Gardens Program replaced the work that CGN had been doing in supporting new and established community gardens throughout the Capital region. This program continues to act as a resource to over 70 community gardens and works to assist the over 30 potential community gardens wanting to start up.

In 2011, the organization changed its name to better reflect both its programs and its work in the areas of food security, food policy and food literacy.  As Sustainable Food Edmonton, the Board remains committed to working on developing and offering programs that offer rich experiential opportunities to children, youth and adults surrounding food, community and the planet that sustains us.