In November, Syngenta celebrated its 20th anniversary with additional donations of $20,000 to Agriculture in the Classroom Canada and Food Bank Canada’s Rural Support Program.
As the founding sponsor of the Food Bank Canada Rural Support Program, this announcement along with the donation made earlier this year to help with the surge in demand related to COVID-19 brings the company’s total donation to more than $900,000 since Syngenta was inaugurated in 2000.
“It’s fitting to continue our partnership with Food Banks Canada, because 20 years ago in November we launched Syngenta with the rural initiative. For the past 20 years, we have been passionately focused on our customers, and part of that means we support the communities where they live and farm,” shares Syngenta Canada President Trevor Heck.
Syngenta is a founding partner of the Rural Support Program with Food Bank Canada.
“We are grateful for long-term partners who help us work towards our vision of a Canada where no one goes Hungry,” says Chief Food Banks Canada Executive Officer Chris H. Hatch.
About Food Banks Canada and the Rural Support Program:
- 49% of Food Banks Canada affiliates are in rural areas*
- In 2019, 15% of individuals served (or 14 % of total visits to food banks) were in rural areas (population of 10,000 or less)*
- Food Banks visits, to this date, remain unacceptably high, with children making up around 34% of these visits*
- Food Banks Canada is implementing a new national program, Link2Feed. With a cloud-based software, Link2Feed will allow food banks to collect real time food bank use data. With Syngenta’s funding, Food Banks Canada will be better able to implement this program in Canadian rural communities.
- Read about how the Edson, Alberta, foodbank location has benefited from Link2Feed in this Food Banks Canada article.
*2019 HungerCount Report
Agriculture in the Classroom Canada
The additional funding to Agriculture in the Classroom Canada (AITC-C) will support thinkAG, a Canada-wide career exploration initiative that provides resources and learning tools to help students envision fulfilling future careers for themselves in agriculture and food.
“Syngenta Canada is pleased to continue to support the important work Agriculture in the Classroom Canada is doing to engage youth in agriculture. Our future agriculture workforce will come from many career and educational backgrounds, and the more people who see the opportunities to work in an industry that is innovative and sustainable; the better we will be,” adds Heck.
Syngenta is a legacy partner of AITC-Canada.
“Agriculture in the Classroom Canada is proud of its long-standing partnership with Syngenta. By supporting AITC-C's efforts since its formation over five years ago, Syngenta has been helping deliver interactive agriculture education to classrooms across Canada - connecting farming and food to students,” adds Agriculture in the Classroom Canada Executive Director Johanne Ross. “This additional donation will help more youth to “thinkAG”; to get curious and explore the myriad of opportunities that a career in agriculture and food offers! Bringing accurate, balanced, and current agriculture information to youth helps create a dynamic, educated, and critical-thinking next generation of consumers and leaders.”
About thinkAG:
- In the coming year, there will be a new, highly interactive website dedicated to agriculture and food career exploration tailored to the interests and personalities of students. The thinkAG website will highlight the diverse array of careers, provide easy access to career guidance resources for classroom and at-home educators, and equip members of the agriculture industry with tools to spread the word about the many careers along the agri-food chain.
- thinkAG’s current suite of offerings consist of inquiry-based learning resources, including Planet X and the Career Exploration Activity Toolkit, as well as interactive events and programs, such as engAGe and genAG, which provide students the opportunity to dig deeper into the world of agriculture careers, experiencing first-hand the exciting careers across our food supply system.
