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Kelowna food hub getting closer to reality


by KATHY MICHAELS


KELOWNA – The Okanagan may soon have a one-stop shop in the north end where local foodies can shop and farmers will sell their wares. “We formed the Okanagan Food Hub Co-Operative in March,” says Wolf Wesle of Green Croft Gardens and a regular contributer to the Kelowna Farmers and Crafters Market.


“Geographically, the co-op covers the area from Salmon Arm to the border in the South Okanagan, and the centre is in Kelowna. And now we have been approached by a developer that has a building and location and they think a co-op would go well there.”


Wesle is currently staying mum on the address but says it will be in the North End neighbourhood of Kelowna. His cautious approach in sharing a potential location is because the last time Kelowna seemed poised to have a food co-op, chaos ensued. Nearly three years ago, a plan for a Granville Island-type market at the old BC Tree Fruit packinghouse was proposed. As some made a push for the Kelowna Farmers and Crafters market to relocate to the


North End, relationships fractured and volunteer boards rose and fell. In the end, the developer behind the market plan never followed through and the status quo was maintained.


It was upheaval that Wesle was right in the middle of. “The current co-op has grown out of that disastrous ending,” says Wesle. “The mistake we made was we assumed that everybody wants to grow their business and that just isn’t so … but there are a lot of farmers who find that two markets aren’t enough anymore.”


Many of those farmers have already joined the co-op and they will likely continue their relationship with the farmers market.


Wesle stressed this is meant to augment what’s already available and there’s more than enough opportunities for both ventures to exist. Studies suggest farmers markets only account for one-and-a-half per cent of all grocery dollars spent in a community. And on the developer side of the equation, Wesle says the new proposal is more realistic.


“It’s smaller. The building at this point is a large building


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Chef Trevor Randle and Delta Secondary School student were dishing up pancakes made better with fresh, local blueberries from the Agriculture in the Classroom exhibit at the 11th annual Day at the Farm on Westham Island, September 10. The popular event, designed to spread the word about the importance of local agriculture and to raise awareness about its relationship to wildlife conservation, set a new attendance record this year with over 4,250 guests getting acquainted with agriculture at the Ellis family farm. (Photo courtesy of AITC)


with a large outdoor portion that goes with it,” he explains. “We will not be using all of the building and we will be looking for other interested parties to move in.”


Some examples that have been discussed are a fish store, or coffee roasters and bakery.


To get to that point,


though, the co op needs to raise enough support and money to gain access to federal grant funds.


The co-op board is working with a consultancy group who has done farmers market work with Kamloops and Vancouver farmers markets and has a plan in place.


Once everything is up and


running, the board will hire a manager to run the store. At a meeting held in September, 30 people attended and expressed a desire to be shareholder. Another meeting is scheduled for mid December.


Kathy Michaels writes for the Kelowna Capital News


Country Life in BC • October 2016 Breakfast on the farm


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