social enterprise

Making change her business

Elisa Birnbaum, centre, with Laura Zumdahl of Bright Endeavors, left, and Maria Kim of Cara Chicago. (photo from Elisa Birnbaum)

Toronto-based Elisa Birnbaum, editor-in-chief of SEE Change magazine, aims to inspire and give hope in many ways. Her book In the Business of Change: How Social Entrepreneurs are Disrupting Business (New Society Publishers, 2018) is but one of those ways.

“I’m a lawyer by training, but was always a writer on the side, enjoying writing and storytelling,” said Birnbaum, who was born and raised in Montreal in an Orthodox Jewish family. “I decided to try writing out for a little bit and to go back to law after. That was 15 years ago. I never went back to it.

“I was writing a lot about the nonprofit and charitable sector in Canada, as well as in the U.S., and I was also writing a lot about business, a strong interest of mine, too. I noticed how there was a melding of the two – how a lot of challenges in the nonprofit and charitable sector … how they could be helped through business and through business savvy…. So, when I saw what social enterprise was all about and how it was using business to solve social challenges, I realized the importance of that. I became really intrigued and interested. It was an area that, I thought, ‘Hey, this is something I really want to explore further.’”

Birnbaum started pitching stories about social enterprises to any editor who would listen. While some of her work went out via mainstream media, Birnbaum felt more was needed, so she co-founded SEE Change, which is devoted to telling the stories of social and environmental enterprises.

“I thought they symbolized a new way at looking at business,” she told the Independent. “I really felt this was the future, with how we work with business and how communities can tackle social challenges through business, and these types of savvy-ness and skills.”

After years of publishing the magazine, Birnbaum wanted to put together a book of such stories, both to delve more deeply into the phenomenon and, hopefully, to inspire and teach readers how to take on the task of starting a social enterprise.

“A lot of times, I’d get some young people or even older people who were interested in social entrepreneurship themselves, and they’d like advice and tips, and were constantly looking for more information from anyone who’d done it before,” she said. “So, I thought, I could also provide lessons learned, tips, advice and resources … so, a bit of storytelling, as well as a resource for those who are starting up or looking to start their own.”

As far as the response to the book so far, Birnbaum said she has been asked by schools and organizations to speak about the topic. “There were people who had never heard about it before and are now really inspired by the storytelling, which is great,” she said. “There are other people…. I was at a couple of universities recently, and some students there said they picked up the book and were now interested in starting their own social enterprise.”

According to Birnbaum, a very broad definition of a social enterprise is a business, whether nonprofit or for-profit, that has a social or environmental mission at its core, as opposed to a business that has profitability and sustainability at its core. The unique aspect of social entrepreneurship, she said, is that it approaches business in a new way.

In her book, Birnbaum makes a point of highlighting a large array of social enterprises from around the world, including a few in British Columbia. For example, Saul Brown’s Saul Good Gift Co. (itsaulgood.com) creates gift boxes filled with locally made artisan food that people can give their loved ones across Canada, and Reena Lazar’s Willow (willoweol.com) helps with end-of-life planning.

photo - Fresh Roots offers students experiential learning opportunities. — Fresh Roots offers students experiential learning opportunities. *(photo from Fresh Roots)*

Marc Schutzbank, director of Fresh Roots (freshroots.ca), grew up in the United States and moved to Vancouver to finish his education at the University of British Columbia 10 years ago on a Fulbright scholarship, looking at the economic viability of urban farming. This line of study led him to an organization called Plant to Plate, in Pittsburgh, Penn., where he attended University of Pittsburgh.

“As part of my research, I was looking at urban farms in Vancouver – if they were growing, how much food they grow, who they’re sharing it with,” Schutzbank told the Independent. “I have a finance degree, so I was looking at if they were making any money. As I was doing that, there were a couple of people who were doing work in the social space. So the goal wasn’t to grow and sell food; the goal was to share it or to reduce barriers to employment. And so, as I was getting to know them, Fresh Roots was moving from backyards into school grounds.”

One particular backyard caught Schutzbank’s attention. He wanted to know how much food was being grown in such a small space. He discovered, to his amazement, that this one backyard could feed three families. As they expanded to eight backyards, they could feed 35 families.

One of those backyards was adjacent to an inner-city elementary school with a rundown garden plot. The school invited Fresh Roots to develop the plot. As they did, the students, teachers and parents became increasingly interested. The teachers began using the garden as part of their curriculum, as a place to build learning capacity.

“It turns out that, when kids are outside growing food, their academic confidence increases,” said Schutzbank. “They are able to find some success, and this is often in places with kids that are having a hard time finding success inside the classroom [in straight rows]…. Learning like that doesn’t work for everyone.”

photo - Marc Schutzbank, director of Fresh Roots — Marc Schutzbank, director of Fresh Roots. *(photo from Fresh Roots)*

Another benefit of this was that bullying decreased at the school, as kids had a positive physical outlet. As well, Schutzbank found that, as the saying goes, “If you grow it, you eat it.”

Other schools picked up on what was happening and asked Fresh Roots to do the same at their schools. Fresh Roots is now at four high schools and one elementary school.

Fresh Roots also started a salad bar program for students – twice a week, all of the students get to eat the produce from the garden.

“In Canada, we are the only G7 nation that doesn’t have a federal meal program,” explained Schutzbank. “It’s a bit crazy that Canada doesn’t have that. All those kids without lunches are hungry, regardless of how much food is at home. It’s really critical for learning, to have food…. So, at Fresh Roots, our vision is good food for all – so everybody has access to healthy land, food and community.”

In addition to the food they grow, Fresh Roots supports and encourages teachers to have classes outside in the garden. “They need to touch, taste and feel,” said Schutzbank of the students. “Those are really critical parts of our senses and a really important way of learning.”

As well, Fresh Roots provides employment – especially in the summer – for youth who are struggling.

Schutzbank said you can’t grow food without eating and sharing it, so Fresh Roots’ philosophy is “around sharing all the food back through the programs and everything we are doing.”

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

Whole new Israel experience

Itay Asaf, far left, with a group he led on a tour of Jaffa, where they visited the areas in which his dad grew up. This particular group was in Israel for eight days. (photo from Itay Asaf)

Esperanso is a recently established, socially responsible tourism company based in the United States that offers private tours to Israel. Created by Itay Asaf and his brother, Eyal, who are both are former kibbutzniks, the tours include a volunteering component.

“I led Birthright trips to Israel,” Itay Asaf told the Independent. “And I realized the trips are really nice and very fun for the students, but there was something missing for me, as an educator. I felt like the students are not really getting the true face of Israel, and they’re not really given the chance to give back.

“I wanted them to be very involved socially and to see sites they don’t usually get to see on trips. I found a social justice extension trip where I took the students, and I used tourism as a tool to empower local communities in south Tel Aviv, refugees and LGBTQ [for example]. And then I saw the impact and what it does for the students. Some even came back to Israel, and some are considering making aliyah.”

At that point, Eyal had a tourism company in Israel, so, together, the brothers built the concept for Esperanso. The name of the company reflects their family heritage – coming from Turkey and having a Spanish name – and it is a play on the word esperanza, meaning hope.

“One of the reasons I wanted to combine social work and social justice in everything I did, is my aunt,” said Itay. “She grew up in a village for people with special needs, Kfar Tikva. My brother and I wanted to take the experience we had with tourism and growing up with my aunt, and I saw the potential of the tourists that already come to Israel. We approach [them] and we say, ‘We welcome everyone. We accept groups. We accept youth. We invite people to celebrate bar mitzvahs.’ But, what we add is, ‘When you travel with us, you are actually empowering communities.’

“We took social organizations that we were personally connected to and we combined them into the itineraries with each of our trips,” he explained. “Not only do you support them by the activities during your trip, we also promise the organizations that five percent of the cost of your trip will go to one of them; that we will donate, based on your choice. This way, we ensure those organizations are empowered, socially and economically. We can take any trip you desire to do in Israel and make it into a socially responsible one.”

Esperanso connects with the various organizations ahead of time, with the goal of having participants get an inside view. The Asafs’ hope is that some visitors will make a deeper connection with the organizations and create partnerships, or set up longer-term volunteering with them.

“There are a variety of organizations just waiting for tourists to come and see what they do and support them,” said Itay. “That’s our pleasure – connecting and introducing you to those organizations.

“When I started,” he said, “I had a student who, two months after the trip, came to me and said she is going back to Israel to volunteer for a year. I almost cried I was so happy. This is what I wanted. It’s amazing to see. She was attached to it and she saw what she could do.”

The groups Esperanso leads vary in size, but, most important for Itay is connecting with interesting people and finding ways to create the trip they want together. So far, he has been on all the trips as the guide, but that might change. Depending on volume and availability, his brother might step in and guide some tours. As his brother lives in Israel, Eyal is the one taking care of everything on the ground until Itay lands with the group.

“We are very competitive cost-wise in the market,” said Itay. “We are aware that part of what we are making is going to these organizations, and we are completely, honestly, OK with that, happy with that.

“I’d say, if someone wants to go to Israel and do the journey with the hotels, the bus and everything, I think we are offering a very competitive package. They can just contact us, come to Israel and have everything ready for them in a socially responsible approach.”

The Asafs see Esperanso as something more than just a tourism company. For them, it is part of the future, of the new economy.

“I think we should support companies and organizations that care about the surroundings,” said Itay. “I think that, if everyone would care a little bit more, we could find ways to also profit the communities around us. If we make the right connections, we can change the world…. I urge everyone to look for ways to direct your money just a little bit to help people in need.”

For more information, visit esperanso.com.

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

Farming as social enterprise

In the book Street Farm: Growing Food, Jobs and Hope on the Urban Frontier, Michael Ableman shares the story of how Downtown Eastside residents helped create Sole Food Street Farms. (photo by Michael Ableman; Street Farm [Chelsea Green, 2016])

In his book Street Farm: Growing Food, Jobs and Hope on the Urban Frontier (Chelsea Green, 2016), Michael Ableman shares the inspirational story of how residents in one of the poorest urban areas in North America – Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside – helped create Sole Food Street Farms.

Ableman has been a leading voice in the organic sector for 45 years and is the owner of Foxglove Farm (an organic 120-acre plot of land on Salt Spring Island), an author and a public speaker.

“I became incredibly impassioned by the power of food and farming to heal the world, to change people’s lives, to reconnect them,” Ableman told the Independent. “I came to see farming, not as the industrial activity that it had become since World War Two, but as a community venture to be shared by everyone participating.

“I think that has formed all my endeavours, all the projects I’ve done, all the work I’ve done – not all successfully … but it’s a function of being 63 years old … that you begin to recognize the importance of talking about those areas where you fall short … because, it’s a lot more informative than patting yourself on the back.”

Ableman responded to a call for strategies to help transform the Downtown Eastside, which is the lowest-income community in Canada, “with the highest rates of intravenous drug use perhaps in North America … mental illness, open prostitution,” he said.

“I agreed to come to a meeting with a number of social service agencies on the Downtown Eastside who wanted to come up with some creative ideas. They had access to a half-acre parking lot next to one of the dive hotels. And, you know, one meeting led to the next and, before you know it, I was directing and envisioning the birth of this amazing social enterprise that we started … which became Sole Food Street Farms.”

Now, after seven years in operation, the farm’s four-plus acres on pavement is producing 25 tons of food annually, employing up to 30 people, and is having a profound impact on people’s lives, as well as on how urban agriculture is perceived.

In his book, Ableman tells the story of the people he is working with, how their lives are being affected, and how they work with municipal governments to do what had never been done before on this scale.

“It is my belief that the smaller production units, whether front or back yards, are actually incredibly important for our future,” said Ableman. “And, probably, in the end, my goal has always been to see individuals and families put farmers out of business, by growing for themselves. But, we have a long way to go. My goal is still very much focused on jobs and producing quantities of food.”

Every city has two main challenges if you’re going to attempt to do gardening or agriculture, he said. “Number one, the soils are either too contaminated to grow in or are paved over. And, number two, the value of the land is too high for landowners or municipalities to give up.

“We felt it was incredibly important in the enterprise we created in Vancouver to address those issues. So, we designed a very innovative box system and we had these boxes manufactured. The boxes are isolated from contamination or pavement. They have interconnected drains. They are stackable, nestable, have pockets for hoops, and are indestructible.”

Ableman said Street Farm is a “why-to” book, though they are “producing an actual tool kit, a companion to this book, the nuts and bolts of how we did it.” But, Street Farm, he said, “is a book that says, ‘Look, even under the worst circumstances, the poorest neighbourhoods, here is what individuals in a community can do to improve their lives and here’s how they did it.’ So, if we could do it here, you can do it elsewhere. We’re there to inspire people and make them understand that you have to do it in a way that addresses the particular needs of your community – the culture, economics, ethnicity. All those things have to be considered when setting something like this up – knowing who you are serving and why.”

Since the book came out, the project itself has evolved. In fact, Sole Food had to move their largest farm location a few months ago, which was a huge undertaking.

“When you write a book, the story is the story that existed at the time the manuscript was submitted and accepted by the publisher,” said Ableman. “But, nothing stays the same, especially in the work we do. Certainly, the individuals I write about, their lives have changed. We’ve learned more things … and we shift our systems accordingly. It’s really the wonder and beauty of agriculture, that it requires that each of us approach it with what I call a ‘beginner’s mind’ – never having a preconception, always being open to the moment. It’s a biological system, and requires a day-to-day, moment-to-moment response to that system. That’s the beauty, what we love about it – it always changes.”

He recalled, “For my bar mitzvah, the section of the Torah I read from was about the land of milk and honey. It was essentially about creating a fertile environment, abundance and nutrition from the land. At 13, the last thing I ever thought I’d be involved with was agriculture.

“If you really go back to the roots of our tradition – Judaism – we have strong roots in the land, strong agrarian roots. That doesn’t mean each of us has to be a farmer. What it means though is that we have a responsibility to create relationships and connections with those who are, and trying to do it well.”

It’s so much more than agriculture.

“While we generate $300,000 every year in products grown and sold,” said Ableman, “we still have to raise another $300,000 to support the social component of what we do – the trainings, taking people to the hospital, rain gear, literacy programs, meals. We are recognized as a world-class model. Participate in whatever way you can in your own tradition by supporting local enterprises trying to do the right thing.”

More about Ableman and Sole Food Farms can be found at solefoodfarms.com.

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.