What started out as a personal initiative amongst a group of Scouts, soon became a program. In 2019 a group of young Scouts decided to help out and partake in the Apple harvesting in North of Lebanon.

They wanted to expand the initiative by partnering with an NGO. RMF was able to help them and develop a program called “Back to Our Roots”. The idea behind it was to invite and bring in children and their families, along with groups of young women and men to take part in the harvesting of produce, with 3 main objectives:

1. Installing the attachment to the land in families and young people, by having them join the harvesting, learning about the region, the land, the community, the economic importance of the/this produce to this community and the impact participants have on these communities.
2. Develop Socially Responsible Ecotourism, and boost local economy, especially during the off season for the targeted mountain villages, by having the influx of people stay in their hotels, eat in their restaurants, enjoy local activities, buy souvenirs, and purchase the produce they actually harvested with their own hands.
3. Assist Farmers by having the harvesting done for free, bringing consumers to purchase their produce directly and as such omitting/minimizing costs of cold storage and distribution.

In 2019 it was a mere personal initiative, today in 2020 – “Back to Our Roots” program has sold 20 tons of apples and boosted local economy. Despite all the hardships we are proud to see this program growing and bringing in young people and their families to contribute and be part of this mission.