Sole Food Street Farms

[5] Grants from a variety of sources including the city of Vancouver, banks, as well as philanthropists enable Sole Food to continue expanding their operations.

Being a non-profit social initiative, priority is placed upon improving the community: employees, many of whom are current or recovering drug addicts receive paid training, and 10% of the produce harvested is donated to neighbourhood agencies.

As such, the food grown does not go toward feeding impoverished residents of the Downtown Eastside, but rather to a number of upscale restaurants that specialize in locally sourced ingredients.

These sites, established on un-used land are leased to Sole Food by the city or Landowners on a temporary year-to-year basis.

In order to grow food in these circumstances, crops are planted in specially designed boxes which keep them separate from the soil or concrete below.

[7] These portable planters enable Sole Food to relocate without having to replant their crops, which is important because the land they use is only temporarily leased.

In July 2013 Sole Food opened the largest urban orchard in North America at the corner of Main St. and Terminal Ave. in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.