Here are the Top 10 reasons to support Nourish Your Roots

Each Nourish Your Roots box contains an assortment of 8-10 fresh Nova Scotian grown items including a variety of root vegetables, fruit and/or herbs. Box contents vary across the province and by year, depending on who your school's farm partners are and what they have available. All of your produce will be grown with care, with recipes available to help your school families enjoy every bite!

Here are the top 10 reasons to support Nourish Your Roots (NYR):

Reason 1) Money raised from NYR goes back into school healthy eating programs. Would you like to expand your Breakfast Program or start a school food garden? Perhaps you can with this fundraiser! Last year over $112,000 went into schools around the province. 

Reason 2) Nourish Your Roots gets kids excited about seeing and tasting new veggies and fruits. That’s important because Good food=Good thinking! “I think it encourages our kids and their families to be excited about fresh produce, and perhaps try something new that they might not otherwise purchase. It also exposes our kids to what we are able to grow in our own communities.” -Principal 

Reason 3) Last year over 13,000 boxes of veggies and fruit went into Nova Scotia homes! With good food having such an impact on health and learning, getting more veggies into the communities is a great reason to sign up for this fundraiser. 

Reason 4) Nourish Your Roots supports local farmers and helps to put food on the table for farming families. When you buy local, your money stays in your community, local jobs are created, and you make someone’s day!

Reason 5) Nourish has done all the leg work for you to make this your most successful fundraiser! Communication and promotional materials like PA announcements, social media content, and information sheets for parents are all available online - ready to go, hassle free!

Reason 6) Nourish Your Roots is an eco-friendly fundraiser- a chance for schools to role model sustainable environmental practices. Eating locally produced food reduces food miles and packaging destined for landfills.

Reason 7) NYR gets kids involved in getting their food from the farm to their table. Give your students the opportunity to learn more about Nova Scotia farms, what can be grown locally, and get interested in agriculture. You may even be able to visit the farm the produce came from!

Reason 8) Nourish Your Roots could help you achieve your school Wellness goal, by contributing to healthier food environments. A principal from last year’s program noted - “It turned a small profit but more importantly it was a better alignment of the direction of our school toward modeling a healthy, active lifestyle for our kids and families.” 

Reason 9) You could bring your school community together over a shared meal with produce from the Nourish Your Roots boxes. Eating together is good for our health, and can create a sense of community and belonging in your school.

Reason 10) There are many curriculum connects! Not only is a Nourish Your Roots box a fundraising tool but it could also be a teaching tool. A box could be exactly what you need to make your lessons about global studies (food miles), health, and climate change come to life! Here are a few activities to get you started! - NYR in the classroom

Want to learn more about the Nourish Your Roots program? Head over to the Nourish Your Roots page to find out more, or sign up here.