found she had to go to them. “A lot of tourists come to buy fruit.” She even sells apple pies, and notes, “You have to be creative nowadays.” While her husband held down a full- time job off-farm until a few years ago, while she helped him looking after the farm and raised their three children, he has now retired from the off-farm job and works on their 36 acres. However, she has found she had to beginworking full-time as a seamstress in order to make ends meet.
And, none of the children work on the farm.
“Our kids would like to work all week and get a paycheque at the end of it,” she comments wryly. While they do help out, Grazziano says they had hoped the children would one day take over the farm from them. “That’s looking less and less likely.”
There have been few years when it has been possible to make a living off the farm. Most years they couldn’t.
he’d like to see resources put into selling various sizes. Grower associations should support farmers’ markets, he believes. “They really helped us get our message out this spring,” he commented. They’re also ideal venues at which to get the message out to consumers about the good value they receive for their money by supporting local farmers; and about the good nutritional benefits of feeding fresh, local produce to their families.
“Agriculture is about the
“Instead of depending on government for our survival we should be looking beyond survival.We need to prosper and become a part of the community.”
After 30 years as orchardists, she admits, “It’s discouraging.”
There are 165 vendors at the Saturday morning market, with about 125 at the Wednesday morning version, and more than 6,000 people often attend the weekend edition. For three weeks at the height of the season vendors have to be turned away, but farmers are never turned away, says Callioux. That policy is the same at the Penticton market, where manager Cindy Nelson says they have 67 vendors and attract upwards of 3,000 customers on market days.
“Farmers are always welcome,” she says, although only those growing on fewer than 15 acres may apply, so the market doesn’t become a dumping- ground for surplus produce. She says 80 per cent of their vendors are farmers, with some crafters and some prepared foods being sold as well. There are more farmers each year with lots of vegetables, but also tree fruits, grapes and berries.
OTHER ALTERNATIVES Steele would also like to see an expansion of sales of packinghouse co- operative members’ fruit at the packinghouse stores in Oliver, Kelowna and Lake Country.
Although the industry only wants extra fancy grade apples, he believes smaller fruit is also marketable, particularly as lunch box apples, and
environment, education, and health. We can’t operate in isolation,” he adds.
“We pay a terrible price for
consuming too many processed foods. As more people face health issues such as
diabetes, heart disease, vision problems and other health issues, we’re beginning to realize how important our health is.” In addition, Steele said, people must realize that food entering the marketplace from outside the region often meets a lower standard than local food does.
The government’s promise to revive something like the Buy B.C. program, to educate consumers about why they
should buy locally, is something the industry shouldn’t wait any longer for, says Steele.
“We need to depend less on government and more on ourselves. “Instead of depending on government for our survival we should be looking beyond survival. We need to prosper and become a part of the community.” Although the industry has gone
through a lot of change over the past few decades, to more efficient use of land with high-density planting and new varieties of fruit; to efficient, modern irrigation methods and high- tech packing facilities, there hasn’t been much promotion of that.
Steele believes the industry has to promote itself and the changes it’s achieved so consumers will support local agriculture by buying local products.
He has been meeting with all political parties to assess their policies on agriculture and let farmers know where each stands.
As part of the move to increase Western Canadian markets for B.C. tree fruits, the industry has been attending exhibitions such as those in Regina and Vancouver and promoting Okanagan tree fruits.
It’s a move that fits well with efforts by B.C. Tree Fruits to expand Western Canadian markets, even though it puts the industry head-to-head in competition with growers from the U.S. It’s a contest the local industry has to
win.
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British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2010
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