16 Snow days at Islands


Agriculture Show Weather puts chill on attendance


by TAMARA LEIGH PORT ALBERNI – The


Alberni Valley left its mark on the fifth annual Islands Agriculture Show at the beginning of February, weaving together farming and fisheries, commercial and community-scale production. While the weather resulted in lower attendance, those who made it to the show discovered a community that is working hard to showcase and support their food producers. “Right from the get-go when the Alberni Valley approached us, that was one of our concerns. What if the weather happens, what are the roads going to do, but like any farmer we have to adapt to the weather,” says Cory Vanderhorst, president of the Islands Agriculture Show Society. “In talking to some of the exhibitors, they were still having some good conversations and there are still people coming through and connections being made, and that’s the important part.” The snow started early


Friday morning and by Saturday three significant snowfalls had hit the area. Some speakers were unable to get to the show and many in the farming community opted to stay home rather than brave the roads. Despite the weather set-back, organizers were pleased with


the event, and those who made the trip got a warm welcome. Vanderhorst is full of


gratitude and praise for the host community’s efforts and leadership in developing the conference program and showcasing agriculture in the Alberni Valley. “What blew us away was the community – the Alberni- Clayoquot Regional District, the city of Port Alberni, the farm development committee, the economic development – all working together. There’s so much effort here moving in the same direction and the support they gave us was fantastic.”


Local spotlight Heather Shobe is one of


two part-time agricultural support workers with the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District who helped organize some of the local aspects of the show. “Bringing the Island


Agriculture Show here, we really felt it was important to include small-scale agriculture and highlight all of the assets that that brings to agriculture and the importance of that in our community,” she explains. “The Alberni Valley only has


one remaining dairy and a few larger operations, but a lot of the energy and movement that we’re seeing with people coming into agriculture here


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Islands Agriculture Show vice-president Pat Deakin braves the snow. CATHY GLOVER PHOTO


is at the smaller scale. A lot of what’s happening with our initiatives is at the community level, looking at how we can build on that and then scale up,” adds Shobe. There was quite a buzz at


the show as the Alberni- Clayoquot Regional District celebrated the announcement of a $25,000 grant through the provincial government’s Grow Local program. The “What’s On Your Fork?” project will increase horticultural knowledge and food production within the


regional district by offering Alberni Valley residents and students garden tours, consultation sessions and hands-on learning opportunities at the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Healthy Harvest Farm and elsewhere. “The Grow Local piece


really ties together the production pieces and the grassroots urban levels. We have our agricultural support workers supporting the bigger agricultural producers, and the local food hub and


PRESSURE on farmland


breakfast presentation to Delta mayor and councillors. To the east, Chilliwack announced a new Molson brewery last summer with nary a word of opposition. Growth of Deltaport and


replacement of the Massey tunnel with a bridge – as well as associated reconfiguration


of local interchanges – will add to development pressures south of the Fraser. This promises to send smaller users who want to be near the centre of the region to areas further north and east, spurring the kinds of development pressures Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are


Alberni Valley Transition Towns supporting the more urban distribution systems and anti-poverty work,” says Shobe. “Bridging those together is what builds comprehensive food security. You have to have both of those pieces working together to make a strong community system.” Next year the Islands


Agriculture Show will return to the Cowichan Exhibition Grounds. It will hit the road again in 2019, when it will be held in Saanich.


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seeing. Kleo Landucci, general manager of Ashcroft Terminal, an inland port near Nepa where the CN and CP rail lines diverge, thinks facilities such as hers could alleviate some of the development pressure facing Lower Mainland growers. “You look at the proposed ALR land in Delta that Ron Emerson, Joe Segal are looking to take out. That facility is going to be truck-in, truck-out,” she says. “Why would you do that there?” With a significant


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proportion of goods put on rail for destinations across the continent, she thinks it makes sense for some of the activity to take place inland, as currently happens with container shipments entering via Prince Rupert. Those that aren’t loaded on unit trains heading to Chicago are often processed at inland intermodal facilities in Terrace and Prince George. Similarly, she believes goods destined for export could be containerized at inland ports and sent to water via rail for loading onto ships. “We have to look


throughout the supply chain in BC and into Alberta,” she said. “If we can do it more cost-effectively somewhere else, let’s work together.”


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