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About the Project
Recreation Nova Scotia, with support from Nova Scotia Health, is undertaking the Food Access in Recreation Assessment Pilot to better understand the role recreation environments play in supporting food access across the province.
Recreation spaces are more than places to play, be active, or connect with others. They are trusted community hubs that can help support health and well-being in many ways, including access to food.
Across Nova Scotia, recreation organizations are finding creative ways to help meet the needs of their communities. From community gardens and food programs to partnerships with local organizations, recreation settings are increasingly helping individuals and families access healthy food. At the same time, food insecurity continues to rise. In 2025, more than one in four Nova Scotians (26.2%) and over one in three children (34.8%) lived in food-insecure households.
While research has explored the food environments within recreation settings, little is known about how recreation programs and facilities are helping improve access to food. Through this assessment, Recreation Nova Scotia aims to better understand the important role recreation already plays, identify promising practices, and explore opportunities to strengthen food access through recreation across Nova Scotia.
Project Purpose
The purpose of this project is to better understand how recreation environments support food access in Nova Scotia.
Through a survey of recreation staff, we will explore how recreation facilities, programs, and community initiatives are helping improve access to food, the challenges they face, and the opportunities that exist to strengthen this work. The project will also examine how recreation can continue to contribute to healthier, more connected, and more equitable communities.
Project Scope
This assessment is a pilot project focused on recreation settings in Central and Northern Nova Scotia, with the goal of expanding province-wide in the future.
The survey is intended for recreation staff and leaders whose day-to-day work provides valuable insight into food access within recreation environments. At this stage, the project focuses on recreation organizations and facilities rather than sport organizations, recognizing that their experiences and roles may differ.
This project explores food access, not food security. While food security is closely connected to issues such as income and affordability, those broader systemic factors are beyond the scope of this assessment.
Project Objectives
This project aims to:
· Better understand how recreation and food access intersect within communities.
· Identify the ways recreation organizations are currently supporting food access through programs, partnerships, facilities, and community initiatives.
· Learn about the experiences, challenges, and opportunities recreation staff encounter when supporting food access.
· Explore the role recreation can play in advancing community health and well-being through improved food access.
· Identify opportunities for collaboration, resources, and future action that strengthen food access through recreation.
Outcomes
The Assessment will provide a snapshot of how recreation organizations in Central and Northern Nova Scotia are contributing to food access within their communities.
The findings will highlight existing practices, innovative approaches, challenges, and opportunities for growth. Recreation Nova Scotia will share the results with the recreation sector to support knowledge sharing, inform future partnerships and programming, and demonstrate the important role recreation plays in creating healthier, more equitable communities.