Fresh Solutions to Community Hunger: A $15M Campaign to Change What's Possible
For a decade, Growcer has been working alongside communities across Canada to prove that local, year-round food production is not only possible, it is transformative. On March 3rd, 2026, that decade of work became the foundation for something bigger.
The Food Resiliency Foundation officially launched the Fresh Solutions to Community Hunger campaign, a $15 million initiative powered by Growcer to bring proven community food infrastructure to 100 more communities across Canada over the next three years.
The Problem We Are Solving
One in four Canadians struggles to access sufficient, nutritious food. Families are skipping meals. Seniors are choosing between rent and groceries. Children are arriving at school hungry. What was once considered a temporary or regional challenge has become a nationwide emergency affecting virtually every community: urban, rural, and remote.
The traditional response, emergency food relief, cannot solve this alone. Food banks and frontline organizations do critical, essential work. And they are stretched beyond their limits. The demand for emergency food support continues to outpace supply, while food inflation, housing costs, climate disruption, and supply chain instability drive the need even higher.
The Fresh Solutions campaign starts from a different premise. Communities should not have to wait for a donation to eat. They should have the infrastructure, the training, and the support to grow their own food, on their own terms, year-round.
The Model Behind the Campaign
Growcer was founded in 2016 by Corey Ellis and Alida Burke after a trip to Iqaluit, Nunavut, where they experienced firsthand the staggering cost of groceries and the complexity of food insecurity in Canada's North. They came back determined to build something that did not yet exist.
Over the decade that followed, Growcer worked with 150 community partners across the country to develop, test, and refine a model that enables communities to grow fresh produce locally, year-round, in climates as extreme as -40°C. The model provides modular hydroponic farming and food storage infrastructure, funding mobilization support, training, and curriculum, so that organizations can grow, store, and supply food on their own terms. From schools adding agriculture to the classroom to economic development organizations building regional capacity, the ability to provide local food has an impact beyond the plate.
The results are measurable. Across the Foundation's early community partnerships:
5.3 million meals incorporating locally grown produce annually
608,000 servings of vegetables produced each year
111,916 food hampers distributed
5.2 million litres of water conserved annually
Community employment and skills development built into every deployment
This is the model the Fresh Solutions campaign will bring to 100 more communities.
How the Fund Works
The Fresh Solutions Fund is designed to be catalytic. Every dollar raised is matched by additional dollars from government funding, community fundraising, and existing organizational resources, unlocking $45 million in total community food infrastructure investment across Canada.
Of the $15 million raised, $13 million will support the establishment of year-round community farms operated by local organizations. The remaining $2 million will fund agricultural education programming reaching up to 50,000 students, building the next generation of people who understand how food systems work and how to make them stronger.
All funding flows directly to registered charities operating at arm's length from Growcer, with strong governance and conflict of interest policies governing every decision.
The Moment We Are In
The campaign launches at a moment when the federal government has signalled that food sovereignty is a national priority. Recent commitments include the National School Food Program made permanent, reaching up to 400,000 children annually; a $20 million top-up to the Local Food Infrastructure Fund; and the development of a National Food Security Strategy focused on strengthening domestic food production from the ground up.
The policy momentum is there. The proven model is there. The communities are ready: over 100 have already indicated they are primed to build local food infrastructure. The Fresh Solutions campaign is how we close the gap between readiness and reality.
As Corey Ellis said at the campaign launch: this is the end of the beginning.
Get Involved
The Fresh solutions campaign is seeking leadership investment from private and public foundations, Canadian philanthropists, and purpose-driven corporations who believe that food is infrastructure and that every community deserves the ability to grow its own.
To learn more about the campaign and how your organization can get involved, reach out to the Growcer team by filling out the form below.