sfn member organizations
5N2 was founded by Seema David in 2013. Seema immigrated to Canada in 2007 and while commuting to work downtown each day, she was shocked by the homelessness that was evident on the streets of Toronto. At the same time, she was meeting other new immigrants in Scarborough who were struggling to feed their families. Determined to help her community, Seema began to serve soup three days a week. 5N2 Kitchens was birthed, operating out of a shared space at the Global Kingdom Ministries church kitchen.
In early 2023, 5N2 moved into a new space. Over the last few years, the demand for food support and the number of families facing food insecurity has risen dramatically and 5N2 is working hard to make sure that no one goes hungry in the Scarborough and GTA area.
Access Alliance provides services and addresses systemic inequities to improve health outcomes for marginalized people including immigrants, refugees, and their communities. They provide accessible, community-governed, inter-professional primary health care services, including health promotion, illness prevention and treatment, chronic disease management, and individual and community capacity building. They also offer a range of community health and wellness programming. Access Alliance uses a social determinants of health approach and recognizes food security as a key determinant of health.
Access Alliance’s Sustainable Living initiative includes Green Access, Food Security and relevant environmental programs. The Green Access Program is a community development initiative that promotes community engagement and capacity building through community gardening and green access programming. The Green Access Program (G.A.P) utilizes the Green Roof Garden at Access Point on Danforth in a variety of programs that involve advocacy – to improve access to healthy food; outreach- to get local communities involved; and education- to contribute building awareness about health and environmental stewardship among the communities we serve. In addition to the flag ship G.A.P program Access Alliance also supports community gardens and advocacy initiatives at both the Access Point on Jane location and the Access Point on Danforth location.
AGATA means “Virtuous Good” and was founded by Philestena McLeod. AGATA Resource Centre (ARC) is a non-profit organization providing mental health and wellness services to the Black and racialized communities in Scarborough and the GTA. With their culturally responsive mental health services, they seek to address stigmas, meet communities at the intersections, and empower those on their wellness journey. AGATA provides support, information, resources, programs, services, and workshops to youth, adults, and seniors experience mental health challenges.
Agincourt Community Services Association
ACSA is a nonprofit, multi service agency at the heart of Agincourt addressing needs and empowering children, youth, newcomers, homeless, and otherwise underserved communities. Our core programs include housing and outreach programs, food security programs, newcomer services, youth outreach and therapy programs, child and family programs, early years’ programs, computer access programs, and community engagement.
ACSA’s Food Security department offers year-round programming to help increase access to good, healthy food. With community gardens, cooking programs, and nutritional education, ACSA takes a holistic approach to challenging food insecurity.
Boys and Girls Club East Scarborough
To be a trusted partner building successful families in our community by providing a safe, supportive place where children and youth and families experience new opportunities, overcome barriers, develop positive relationships and life skills. We speak out on behalf of children, youth and their families to address injustices and the barriers that will enhance their lives and empower their voices and ideas to be heard.
Centennial College: Social Innovation Research Centre
Social innovation research is about developing and testing effective solutions to social and environmental problems. Formed in July of 2020, Centennial College’s Social Innovation Research Center leverages faculty expertise, student talent, and strong community partnerships to develop innovative solutions to complex social problems through leading-edge applied research projects and initiatives. SIRC is committed to partnering with the community and sharing the outcomes, findings, and learnings of its projects.
SIRC expands and informs Centennial’s social innovation research capacity, and plays a critical role in the College’s work to improve social conditions. One of the core functions of SIRC is to increase research literacy through ongoing trainings and workshops, enhancing ability to better understand and improve social conditions, and contribute to the learning goals of the College.
Centre for Immigrant & Community Services
Our mission is to empower newcomers in settling and integrating as contributing members of Canadian society through diverse, professional, and innovative services. We are committed to providing our clients with equal access to services that meet their individual needs. With a vision of fully integrated newcomers who participate in and contribute to all spheres of Canadian Society.
Church of St. Andrew Scarborough
The Church of St. Andrew is a community made up of many people with many differing gifts and personalities. Our wonderful cultural diversity has brought great riches into our lives together. We have served the communities of North York and Scarborough since the fall of 1956, and we’re still going strong. Canon Donald Butler has been a priest in the Diocese of Toronto since 1989 and is an active member of the Scarborough Food Network.
Culinaria Research Centre at the University of Toronto Scarborough
The Culinaria Research Centre, the hub for food studies at the University of Toronto, is a multidisciplinary centre that blends research excellence with community engagement and student (graduate and undergraduate) research experience. Our projects provide new insights into some of the major questions of the field of food studies: The place of food in cultural identity and expression; the relationship between food, diaspora, and inter-ethnic/inter-cultural contact in Canada and beyond; commodity production and labours, from slavery to the age of empire to the present-day; the links between food systems, health, gender, and family.
Food is a source of identity – we define ourselves in what we eat. This is particularly true in the diverse foodscape of Toronto and its Scarborough neighbourhoods. In conjunction with the larger project of City Food, our collaboration begins a long-term and longitudinal study of the foodways of our neighbourhoods, combining GIS mapping, archival development, digital presentation, and culinary ethnography. We host seminar series, conferences, postdocs, visiting scholars, and speakers. We encourage engagement between the University of Toronto and the community as well as collaboration between scholars. We support research projects and classroom innovation.
Daily Bread Food Bank works towards long-term solutions to end hunger and poverty and runs innovative programs to support individuals living on low income and experiencing food insecurity. Daily Bread distributes fresh and shelf-stable food, and fresh-cooked meals to 126 member agencies and 189 food programs across Toronto. Daily Bread also publishes the influential Who’s Hungry report – an annual survey measuring trends in food insecurity and poverty in Toronto to educate the public and spark policy change.
Our mission is to facilitate collaboration, build community and support people to learn and create together, to live healthy lives, to find meaningful work, play and thrive.Our work is focused on the Kingston Galloway Orton Park Community.
At The Storefront we value people and relationships, celebrating their diversity and strengths. Together with our partners and residents we build community and support people to increase their knowledge, freedom and opportunities. Storefront is a safe space where our doors and hearts are open to all.
Feeding City is a lab comprised of scholars, educators, advocates, and students dedicated to tracking and sharing information about how food growers, buyers, workers, and providers are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic locally and globally. This is achieved by engaging with community organizations, municipalities, and academic partners through cross-sectoral, qualitative research to foster ways to build back a more resilient and sustainable food future.
We are the only Canadian Black woman-founded and led nonprofit with a fierce national mandate to advance racial and gender equity by levelling the playing field for Canadian entrepreneurs in the food ecosystem. Why is this important? Food is a natural extension of our identities. Historically, the are many barriers to entry that exist in the food ecosystem keep some communities from fully participating in the ecosystem. In order to address these barriers, Foodpreneur Lab, creates access and opens doors for foodpreneurs.
As a Black woman and an entrepreneur in her own right, Janice Bartley’s, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Foodpreneur Lab, personal mission is to level the playing field and open doors in underserved communities for ‘would be’ and established food entrepreneurs. Founded in January 2019, Foodpreneur Lab was created to tackle systemic barriers head-on and pioneer new approaches to creating access for those historically prevented from fully participating in the food sector.
We are a family owned and operated business with head office Honey Guru in Toronto, ON and The Hunni Gurus Apiary located in Westmoreland, Jamaica. Our main goal is to provide top quality all-natural bee products; therefore we only use natural raw organic ingredients in all our products.
At Honey Guru we believe in supporting and buying local hence why 70% of the honey used is purchased from Canadian bee farmers. 30% will be from our Apiary in Jamaica these two honey are separate in flavor texture colour which I no will be embrace by all Honey lovers.
Malvern Family Resource Centre
Malvern Family Resource Centre is an essential and trusted Community Hub. We connect, engage, and take collaborative action in supporting our communities to thrive. We use our public spaces, and our deep and authentic connections, to bring people together with a focus on those that need us the most. Each year, MFRC provides impactful, holistic, and highly accessible programs and services to several thousand children, youth, families, women, newcomers, and seniors.
Our children’s program supports young and school-aged children to get a great start. Malvern Urban Farm promoting food access and food justice in the area, with our Youth Hub providing a safe and welcoming space for young people to connect. Our newcomer programs engage and support new community members, and our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility team delivers targeted programming that focuses on building more equitable and just communities. We offer counseling and resources for survivors of gender-based violence and our older adult members engage in social, educational, physical and mental wellness programs. Finally, we use the agency that we gain from engaging in these, and other frontline programs, to elevate the voices of Malvern and Scarborough community members as we know that system and policy change are the ultimate levers to promote equity.
Not Far From The Tree is Toronto’s fruit tree harvesting program, founded in 2008. They pick fruit in people’s yards – what they call Toronto’s urban orchard – and share the bounty with organizations that feed fellow Torontonians. When a tree owner can’t keep up with their harvest, they mobilize a volunteer team to pick the fruit, and then split it ways: 1⁄3 to the tree registrant, 1⁄3 split amongst the volunteers, and 1⁄3 donated to one of their social service agency partners. This simple act brings Torontonians together, empowering communities to reduce food waste, increases access to fresh fruit, and to helping us live more sustainably in the city.
Rising Sun Food Drive Foundation
Rising Sun Food Drive Foundation collaborates with local food banks to address food insecurity in Toronto. With the growing problem of hunger in our communities, the demand for food programs has never been greater. We strengthen access to food by providing resources that food banks need to serve families and individuals.
From rescuing cooked meals to purchasing food at wholesale prices, we source food to support the thousands of clients that depend on food programs. With our door-to-door food drive, we bring the opportunity to donate right to residents’ front doors. We also work with schools, businesses, places of worship, community organizations and other like-minded institutions to promote and host in-house food drives. Additionally, our team sorts, packages and weighs donations to streamline food banks’ preparation and distribution process. Our charitable operations are run entirely by volunteers, who are committed to alleviating poverty. We rely on our generous donors, sponsors and supporters like you to make our mission possible. Donate now, volunteer now, host a food drive now.
We are part of an international family providing health and social services as a living expression of the compassionate mission of the Misericordia Sisters. The Misericordia Sisters believe that all young mothers deserve a safe, supportive, and welcoming home – and Rosalie Hall provides just that. Our Vision is to help young women and men, their children and families leading healthy, meaningful and productive lives. Rosalie Hall, with compassion and respect, assists young parents in need and their children to realize their potential through the provision of a wide range of community, residential, educational and child development services. Rosalie Hall provides a comprehensive range of early intervention, prevention and treatment services meeting the needs of young families from Toronto and the surrounding areas.
SACHAYS mission is to serve Toronto’s multicultural and diverse communities, by delivering programs that promote mental and physical well-being of our Seniors, Youth and Families. Our focus is on the isolated, marginalized, and underprivileged pre and post pandemic. SACHAYS’ purpose is to make the invisible feel visible, bringing hope, dignity, and value in a practical and tangible way. SACHAYS strives to deliver programs that are inclusive, sustainable, and accessible for everyone across GTA / Ontario / Canada.
The Scarborough Farmers’ Market evolved from the Malvern Farmers’ Market in 2018. Our mission then, as it is now, is to bring nutrient-dense, fairly priced, culturally appropriate, fresh fruits, vegetables, and lifestyle products to the people of Scarborough. Our vendor team consists of family-owned farms, women-led enterprises, and ethno-cultural businesses that represent the true diversity and richness of Toronto, the most multicultural city in the world. In keeping with the Toronto Food Strategy, the Scarborough Farmers’ Market aims to make fresh local food, and nutrition information accessible to all.
No waste. No hunger. Second Harvest’s mission is to grow an efficient food recovery network to fuel people and reduce the environmental impact of avoidable food waste. Second Harvest is Canada’s largest food rescue organization and is a global thought leader on perishable food redistribution. Second Harvest works with thousands of food businesses from across the supply chain utilizing logistics and technology to reduce the amount of edible food going to waste, thereby diverting unnecessary greenhouse gases from entering the environment. Second Harvest’s inclusive model ensures that healthy surplus food is redirected to thousands of charities and non-profits across the country, providing millions of Canadians experiencing food insecurity access to the nourishment they need.
Scarborough Centre For Healthy Communities
Scarborough Centre For Healthy Communities is dedicated to meeting the diverse, holistic health needs of the communities of Scarborough by addressing the physical, mental, social, financial and environmental aspects of their health. Through the promotion of healthy lifestyles and the delivery of a comprehensive range of culturally competent health and social services, they cultivate vital and connected communities.
Scarborough Food Security Initiative
Feed Scarborough is a registered charity that provides choice-based food bank service that is available to clients for four days per week. We also have a mobile community meal program. Our food banks have the capacity to receive the maximum amount of food allotted to us for distribution and more food and clients if required. We are a “Visionary” Member and provide information and referral and/or other services for clients, assistance with fundraising efforts and enhanced advocacy work in partnership with Daily Bread. Mentorship and support is given to grassroots organizations to increase their capacity and ensure that they will stay open during times of crisis. Feed Scarborough has two community gardens which create a space where Feed Scarborough clients and Scarborough residents can connect with the land, their culture, each other, celebrate, learn and grow diverse and culturally appropriate food.
We offer a program called Start-Up Scarborough which is a FREE service that helps entrepreneurs grow their small business over a six-month period. This program offers solid business training, confidence building webinars and guidance from people who know small business. Finally, we believe that food is a human right and as such, offer clients in person and online grocery store shopping experiences in which they can choose what food to bring home to their families.
Scarborough Rosewood Food Drive Inc.
Scarborough Rosewood Food Drive Inc. is an all-volunteer, non-partisan, non-profit, antipoverty conviction based in Scarborough, Ontario. The vision of Scarborough Rosewood Food Drive Inc. is for all people to live in a world that’s free from poverty and hunger. The mission of Scarborough Rosewood Food Drive Inc. is to help eliminate poverty and hunger through provision, education and action–PEA.
Scarborough Tees was established in 2021 by Scarborough native and small business owner, Leighanne Woodstock. Leighanne has a passion for building strong communities and engaging with the community, as made evident by her work and dedication towards collection active with Scarborough Food Network. Leighanne is also dedicated to providing high-quality products that celebrate the culture, history and people of Scarborough. Scarborough Tees is built on a passion and commitment to creating apparel for the awesome people of Scarborough to wear their community pride!
Toronto Urban Growers (TUG) is a member-based network of home and community gardeners, urban farming businesses, organizations and institutions that aims to increase availability of healthy, organic and sustainable food produced and sold in Toronto. Since 2009, TUG has promoted knowledge exchange through gatherings, webinars and tours, increased urban growing capacity throughout the city, contributed to policy and research. The network also collaborated on organizing events such as Seedy Saturdays and Toronto Urban Agriculture Week.
