Our story.
CHEP Good Food was founded 35 years ago as an organization devoted to promoting and providing healthy food options to Saskatoon residents. Since then, CHEP has grown to a team of 40+ staff and volunteers who operate programs across Saskatoon that address three key barriers to choosing healthy food: accessibility, education, and cost.
Our programs include community markets that bring the option of fresh local food to inner-city community centres, free healthy school lunches for kids who would otherwise go hungry, cooking workshops where newcomers and community members come together to share cuisines from around the world and close to home, and unique urban farms where youth can learn about food, nature, and community through hands-on gardening experiences.
At CHEP, we believe that everyone has a right to food and should have access to healthy food choices because healthy food makes happy people.
Our guiding principles.
THE RIGHT TO FOOD
CHEP affirms that all people have the right to affordable, nutritious, and culturally safe food and foodways. We operate with the understanding that inequitable access to food and systems of food production has disproportionately impacted historically disadvantaged communities.
EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY
Through partnerships and programming, CHEP strives to enhance public awareness and understanding of the root causes and impacts of food insecurity, and address these impacts in a meaningful, sustainable manner.
RELATIONSHIP TO THE LAND
Many of the impacts of food insecurity, disconnection from cultural food and foodways, and resulting health inequities are tied to settler colonial and colonial policies that have shaped access to land and resources.
MUTUAL RESPECT
CHEP values the diverse, unique lived experience of its staff, volunteers, and the community it serves. We ensure programs take place in a safe environment and aims to foster dignity and respect.
