Hidden Harvest Ottawa seeks to create a food-tree friendly city by picking and sharing fruit, then planting more trees. A social enterprise launching this harvest season, HHO will support Ottawa's urban orchard through services including selling edible trees, tree maintenance, and organizing harvest events.

Right now in Ottawa there are more than 20,000 fruit and nut trees on city property alone, which could mean 200,000 lbs of food in one season. Meanwhile, the Ottawa Food Bank aids more than 43,000 people every month, with a limited fresh food budget.

Connecting tree owners and volunteer harvesters, Hidden Harvest Ottawa will rescue fruit or nuts that would otherwise go to waste, delivering 1/4 the nearest food agency, leaving ¼ with the home owner and sharing ¼ amongst the harvesters.

Over time we will ensure that no food goes to waste when it is needed. We will also improve at growing food-bearing trees, and remove the barriers to those that don't plant edible trees due to the harvest 'burden', evolving our culture to be a food-tree friendly city.

Together we will increase our City’s food security, address climate change with our forks, and have a great time.

Sign up to be the first to hear when we are accepting applications for volunteers and harvest locations, at www.hiddenharvestottawa.ca.