 One driver behind the formation of Équiterre was the consolidation and industrialization of agriculture in Quebec, which over the course of the twentieth century had reduced the number of farms from two hundred thousand down to twenty-eight thousand, resulting in rural depopulation and economic depression.In 2002, Équiterre started a program to connect its production network to daycare centers in Quebec to introduce locally grown food into the diets of young children.Along the same lines, the organization has piloted programs to provide hospitals and schools with organic produce produced by its CSA network as well.