YOUTH FOOD MARKET
Youth-driven, Accessible produce stalls
The Youth Food Market is a series of youth-focused produce stalls that run each summer in Waterloo Region. These produce stalls are focused on making fresh and locally grown produce more accessible to our community.
This initiative aims to support our local food system and improve access to fresh food, all while empowering youth by fostering hands-on learning, leadership development, and meaningful community engagement.
2026 MARKET DATES & LOCATIONS:
For 2026, the Youth Food Market will be taking place on Wednesday evenings at three locations beginning July 15th and ending August 26th. See below for locations & times!
Eastwood Collegiate Institute
4:00pm – 6:00pm
760 Weber St. W Kitchener, ON. N2H 1H6
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Victoria Hills Community Centre
4:00pm – 6:00pm
10 Chopin Dr. Kitchener, ON. N2M 2G2
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Fiddlesticks Community Centre
3:00pm – 5:30pm
71 Cowan Blvd. Cambridge, ON. N1T 1K7
OUR FARM PARTNERS
Each year, our farm partners collectively provided about 75-80% of the total produce sold and donated at the Markets. Huge thanks to them for offering produce at reduced cost in order to make this project happen! Click on each of their logos below to learn more about them.
2026 PROJECT PARTNERS
THE YOUTH
Market Leaders and Garden Leaders are both important volunteer youth roles that work together to develop and lead the Youth Food Market each year. Both Market and Garden leaders take place in pre-season field trips and pre-season training days designed to prepare youth for the summer. All Leaders participate in these activities throughout the spring season (March to May), and then break off into smaller teams for their summer food leadership activities!
Garden Leaders
Garden Leaders gather to tend to their respective gardens, meeting weekly as a team to collectively care for the space and harvest for the markets. Each garden team collaboratively carries out garden improvement projects using team funds, so the school communities can return to thriving and productive spaces in September. Each garden team has an adult mentor from the community to call on for support, ideas, and expertise as they learn how to grow their own food.
…As food is harvested, it’s delivered to the Market for distribution!
Market Leaders
Market Leaders gather for project development, utilizing a wide range of skills in logistics, finance, marketing, coordination, and leadership. They work together to make sure everything is in place for the markets each week. This includes reaching out to farm partners and placing produce orders, tracking what’s being harvested from the gardens, researching local produce prices, contacting local media outlets for promotions, and creating social media posts.
…And then, of course, the Market days themselves!
2025 MARKET RECAP
In 2025, the Market ran for 7 weeks throughout July and August, for a total of 21 Market days this season across three locations: Eastwood C.I., Victoria Hills Community Centre, and rare Charitable Research Reserve.
Our 15 youth Market Leaders contributed nearly 200 hours to the Market, and more than 125 youth hours were spent training & planning for it throughout spring. In total, approximately 565 pounds of produce was sold to 252 customers using a pay-what-you-choose model. More than 330 additional pounds of produce was donated to 2 community food initiatives throughout the season: Community Healthcaring KW and the Cambridge Food Bank.
The Garden teams spent 8 weeks leading 6 school garden spaces throughout July and August, each equipped with a $200 Garden Improvement Fund to create, innovate, and build within their spaces.
Our 24 youth Garden Leaders contributed at least 400 hours to the gardens, and at least 265 hours in training activities, field trips, and excursions for even more learning and connection!
PAST PROJECT FUNDERS & PARTNERS
rare Charitable Research Reserve
This Project is Made Possible by Outstanding Youth Market Leaders!
Youth in Food Systems has actively engaged over 550 youth volunteers with food systems projects within Ontario since spring 2021.
The Youth Food Market is a youth-created initiative providing fresh, locally grown and affordably priced produce to the community, while giving young people the opportunity to understand and apply business and agricultural concepts.
2023 & 2024 GALLERY
