YWCA Vancouver Rooftop Food Garden

About the Garden

YWCA Vancouver’s Rooftop Food Garden is an urban treasure that provides healthy, nutritious food to women at YWCA Crabtree Corner, a family resource centre in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

This innovative project began in the summer of 2006 when YWCA Vancouver staffers decided to experiment with growing produce on the roof. Staff gradually transformed the rooftop garden from an ornamental location into a fruitful community garden that yielded over 150 kilograms of produce in its first summer. In 2007, the YWCA harvested more than 450 kilograms of food.

The production of the garden relies entirely on volunteers. No one is paid to take care of it; staff and volunteers dig in the dirt on their own time.

Providing exceptional food to the Downtown Eastside

The Rooftop Food Garden grows high-quality, organic fruits and vegetables, which are then harvested and taken to Crabtree Corner, where they are used in the Community Kitchen. While Crabtree Corner often receives donations of canned goods and other non-perishables, it is less common to be offered fresh produce. The Rooftop Food Garden provides much-needed nutrition to supplement the diets of women and children on the Downtown Eastside.

A Model of Sustainability

As the YWCA increases its focus on environment, the Rooftop Food Garden promotes awareness about sustainability and community health while helping to reduce our ecological footprint. This month, the YWCA began taking the food to Crabtree Corner by bike, using a specially-designed bicycle and cart donated by PEDAL, a non-profit that develops and promotes the use of pedal-powered technology.

Learn more about YWCA sustainability.