From Seed to Plate: How Community Collaboration Rescued 270 lbs of Squash

Just as seeds grow into a harvest, or a simple hello can blossom into friendship, thoughtful acts of kindness and care can ripple into big impacts for the community.

Food rescue often means getting creative to make sure good food doesn’t go to waste. In January, a local seed farmer, community partners and Second Harvest staff came together in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley to do just that, using their time and resources to ensure hundreds of meals were made possible for local individuals and families.

Their goal was simple: recover every edible piece of produce while saving the seeds for next season.  

Steph Warr from Twisted Brook Farm and Mel Jacques, Second Harvest’s foodraising manager for Atlantic Canada, first met at a conference in 2025. They began talking about ways to rescue food during Twisted Brook’s seed harvest, and over the months that followed, came up with a plan to make it happen.

When it came time to organize the rescue, Mel reached out to Sarah MacDonald from the Farm to Feast Cafe Association to see if they knew of a kitchen that could be used to process the squash in a food safe environment. Sarah helped secure Middelton Curling Club, a welcoming space that would be perfect for the task.

Large bins of Black Futsu, spaghetti squash and a few other specialty varieties lined the counters, and the team quickly set up an assembly line: Sarah and Austin washed each squash, while Steph and Mel sliced, scooped and carefully extracted the seeds.  

As they worked, care and precision mattered just as much as speed. Each squash variety was kept separate to ensure seed integrity for future planting, a small but important detail in the process. The team also checked seed viability along the way, setting aside any that were not viable for compost so that nothing went to waste.

In just three hours, 270 lbs of squash were rescued and bagged for Farm to Feast Cafe to freeze for future soups and stews, which would later be distributed to local community organizations.

As these squash seeds are planted this spring, the harvest comes full circle. From the fields to the kitchen to the plates of local families, small acts of care and collaboration grow into something bigger: nourishing meals and stronger community connections.