Square Roots, a Nova Scotia social enterprise founded at Saint Mary’s University, celebrates major milestone.
Students sorting donated food
Square Roots, founded by Saint Mary’s University students in 2016, buys imperfect yet perfectly edible food from local farmers and sells it directly to customers at a price that is 50% less than the grocery store. Nova Scotians benefit from getting healthy food at a more affordable price and farmers benefit because they get revenue from the food that would otherwise go to waste. This month, Square Roots celebrates the major milestone of delivering one million pounds of food since its beginning in 2016.
“We could not have done it without the student teams, the community champions and the farmers. ”
“Square Roots is delighted to reach this one million pounds of food milestone. We could not have done it without the student teams, the community champions and the farmers. We believe this is just the beginning of what’s possible. We are currently in 16 communities and want to be in every county in Nova Scotia by April 2025 and we have a vision to take this model nationally.” says Courtney Dingle, Square Roots president and SMU business student.
Square Roots was developed by students at SMU who participate in an international student program called Enactus. Enactus marries entrepreneurial-minded students with social action. Square Roots addresses the twin issues of food waste and food insecurity. At the farm level, 30% of harvested produce is dumped into landfills due to cosmetic imperfections despite being perfectly healthy. Square Roots rescues this "less attractive" produce that would otherwise be discarded, offering it at affordable prices to those with limited access to healthy food. Working with local contacts, Square Roots is currently bringing food to over 25 communities across Nova Scotia – the newest being Port Hawkesbury, D’Escousse, Sydney, Baddeck, Cornwallis Park, Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne, Mill Village and Lunenburg. Cape Breton and Shelburne. The team intends to be in all Nova Scotia counties by May 2025 and bigger picture, has plans to expand across Canada by 2026.
The SMU Enactus team is well recognized in Canada and around the world. They have place top 4 in the Canadian Enactus championships 11 of the last 13 years and won the national Canadian champion in 2024. With this recognition, the team represented Canada at the global Enactus championship in Kazakhstan in 2025. The SMU Enactus team recently earned first place in the 2025 Enactus regional competition and heads to the national competition in May 2025.