Danielle Prapavessis and Mischa Hamara took place in the IMPACT! Sustainability Champions Training program in Ottawa in 2013 and are the creators of Seed by Seed.

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Seed by Seed started as an idea and turned into a reality thanks to many hours, mentorship, funding and guidance from the IMPACT! Sustainability Champions Training program. Passionate about food, social justice, the environment, and adventure, my partner Mischa Hamara and I co-founded Seed by Seed, a non-profit organization and educational partner that aims to reconnect communities with their food.

This past summer, with financial support in part from The Co-operators Foundation IMPACT! Fund, we coordinated a national speaking tour. We gave presentations and facilitated interactive workshops with youth across Canada to bring awareness to our current food system, the challenges we face, and how youth can have a positive impact on the world by eating with purpose. And best of all, we did it on bikes. Besides the conversation starter, cycling across the entire country enabled us to reduce our environmental footprint, reveal to youth that you are able to do the seemingly unachievable, and really kick-start our story as a non-profit.

Highlights included spending four months outside on the road, connecting with 31 schools, over 10,000 youth, and being constantly bewildered by our big and beautiful country. We learned a lot about Canada’s stance on food security and were welcomed with open arms by countless individuals who made our experience meaningful.

With the recent support of yet another IMPACT! Fund grant, we are planning to work with 5 schools in the Toronto and Ottawa areas, and will partner with other food organizations to offer leadership workshops for students. We plan to provide ongoing support and funding to these schools to empower and enable the students to implement action plans and improve food security in their communities. We are also working with a post-doctorate partner in New Zealand who is trying to address Maori youth obesity through empowerment, by providing leadership training to her team. It will not be biking, but hopefully someday another cycling tour will be in the cards.

Thanks to all who have made this possible!

Written by Danielle Prapavessis and Mischa Hamara

Learn more about the IMPACT! Sustainability Champions Training program, or contact us at jsnider(at)naturalstep.ca or 613.748.3001 x5230 to get involved.