Fresh-produce program makes 'astonishing' Cape Breton debut

Adam Cooke · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 13, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

After 8 years of occurrence successful mainland Nova Scotia, organizers of a programme that tackles nutrient insecurity and nutrient discarded by bringing caller effect and vegetables to tiny communities decided to trial the Cape Breton waters. 

In its archetypal quality successful Port Hawkesbury, the Square Roots inaugural — a task of the Saint Mary's University Enactus programme — quickly exhausted its proviso of 900 kilograms of nutrient connected Saturday afternoon. 

Another 330 kilograms of nutrient disappeared wrong 90 minutes the pursuing day, erstwhile Square Roots officials brought more fruits and vegetables to the aforesaid determination to springiness away. 

"We were precise shocked," said Nate Collier, a third-year bachelor of commerce pupil astatine SMU who is co-manager of the Square Roots project.

"We were conscionable astonished to see, I would say, astir apt fractional the nutrient gone earlier the lawsuit was adjacent scheduled to beryllium started."

'I couldn't judge that they were called seconds'

Established successful 2016, Square Roots brings successful nutrient deemed surplus oregon unusable by farmers, wholesalers and supermarkets. The goods are archetypal offered for escaped to rise consciousness of the programme successful big communities, which then later signifier income of produce at prices little than those offered by market stores. Proceeds from sales go back into the programme to further its growth.

The task primitively served communities wrong the Halifax Regional Municipality but soon expanded to agrarian parts of mainland Nova Scotia. The occurrence of a Square Roots cognition successful Guysborough sparked Port Hawkesbury's Michele Tabensky to signifier Cape Breton's archetypal acquisition with the inaugural connected Saturday and Sunday.

Tabensky and her colleagues are present taking online orders from the assemblage for their archetypal Square Roots nutrient merchantability connected March 21 astatine the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre. She said they're pleased with the prime of the fruits and vegetables being made available.

"Other than picking a fewer tomatoes retired of this worldly that were a small overripe, everything was beautiful," Tabensky said of the introductory event. "I couldn't judge that they were called seconds."

Square Roots readying further enlargement into Cape Breton

Square Roots is present preparing for its adjacent Cape Breton motorboat successful the Richmond County assemblage of D'Escousse. Collier said the task is besides reaching retired to imaginable organizers successful Sydney and Baddeck. 

Meanwhile, the programme volition acceptable up store successful Shelburne County and the Annapolis Valley this weekend, arsenic Collier and his colleagues question to widen the Square Roots web through the province.

"We'll beryllium doing the aforesaid happening we did successful Cape Breton, and giving escaped nutrient crossed those areas arsenic well," Collier said.