Growing Together
The Challenge
With nutritious food becoming less available and less affordable, the health of the community has been declining. When processed foods are cheaper and more readily available than fresh produce, people have fewer healthy choices. The result? An increasing prevalence of diabetes and related health issues across the community.
A Solution
New innovations in hydroponic farming will help the community grow fresh, healthy produce year-round, creating a future where nutritious food is both accessible and affordable. This availability will help the community make important lifestyle changes and healthy eating habit throughout the year.
Make an even greater impact
A gift of $30+ monthly will help support Fisher River Cree Nation’s vision for year-round, community-led food production. As a sincere thank-you for your generosity, every person who donates $30 or more monthly will receive an exclusive limited-edition T-shirt*.
*Offer available until October 31, 2026
How We’re Helping Bring it to Life
Together with the Fisher River Cree Nation and your support, ADRA Canada is helping bring farming back to the community. Hydroponic farm pods create a controlled environment where fresh produce can be grown throughout the year, using less water and typically ready to harvest within six weeks.
Lettuce, spinach, kale and other leafy greens
Bok choy and other Asian greens
Nutrient-rich microgreens
Herbs, including basil, mint, cilantro and dill
Growing Together Takes All of Us
The benefits of the program are planned impact all 3,800 residents of the Fisher River Cree Nation. With your support, the project goals are to:
Grow a minimum of 8,500 pounds of fresh produce each year
Educate approximately 1,000 people about the importance and uses of fresh healthy produce
Train approximately 20 community members in hydroponic farm management and operations
Introduce approximately 300 students to hydroponic farming
Your gift can help grow something that lasts
A donation to Growing Together isn’t simply helping provide food today. It’s helping build a community asset that can continue producing fresh food, developing local skills and creating opportunities year after year. Your gift can help Fisher River Cree Nation grow a healthier, more resilient future one harvest at a time.
Program Benefits for the Community
Grown in the community. By the community. For the community.
Fisher River Cree Nation is about 2.5 hours north of Winnipeg, but for the many community members without access to a vehicle or reliable transportation, that distance can make accessing fresh food difficult. A hydroponic farm ensures access to fresh food directly within the community.
Healthier families
Greater access to fresh, nutritious produce can help make healthy eating more accessible and support overall well-being, while significantly lowering the rate of diabetes in the community.
Self-Sustaining
The ability to generate revenue by selling excess produce to other grocery stores in the region will help manage the hard costs required to manage and harvest the pod produce.
Fresh Produce Year Round
Northern growing seasons are short, but produce grown in the pod can be grown throughout the year, ensuring ongoing access to fresh leafy greens and healthier meals.
Local skills and employment
Community members will have opportunities to learn about hydroponic farm management and operations, strengthening knowledge that can be sustained locally.
Youth learning and education
Students will be introduced to hydroponic farming through updated school curriculums, developed to educate on this new innovative farming approach and the agricultural connection to their heritage.
Greater food sovereignty and self-determination
When communities have the ability to grow and manage their own food supply, they have greater control over what feeds their families and their future.
Reconnecting with an agricultural heritage
Agriculture has deep roots in Fisher River Cree Nation. The community moved from its previous northern location in part because of the opportunities that farming could provide.
But over time, flooding and changes to the surrounding environment have made agriculture increasingly difficult. Much of the land has become unusable, and farming has gradually fallen away from daily community life.
For many community members, growing food again represents more than a practical solution to food access.
It is an opportunity to reconnect with a part of their heritage.
Hydroponic farming offers a way to carry that agricultural tradition forward, even when traditional growing conditions have become more challenging.