SEPTEMBER 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Salt Spring facility gets big boost


from local donor Construction begins this fall on long-awaited centre


by SEAN MCINTYRE SALT SPRING – A $100,000


grant announced earlier this summer has brought a decade-long vision for improved local agriculture and food security in BC’s Gulf Islands one step closer to reality. “Ten years ago, it was very much just an idea and it has often felt a little like a pie-in- the-sky kind of idea but thanks to some determination, here we are,” says Patricia Reichert, president of the Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust. Reichert and other


volunteers at the non-profit organization are getting set for the final stage of their quest to build a multi-use storage and kitchen facility geared to help farmers and food producers increase production and share knowledge. They say the project stands to become a model for the province and act as a catalyst for similar sustainability-inspired initiatives elsewhere. Though the former mill site


remains somewhat rough around the edges, work on the 3,000-square-foot facility dubbed The Root will begin this fall. Once it’s complete, Reichert says the community stands to gain a valuable and unique amenity, where growers can store their produce in a temperature controlled locker, properly wash salad greens, flash freeze harvests and label and package finished products. Reichert encourages community members to visit the site in its current state so they can behold the full extent of changes set to occur. “It was an operational site but, at the same time, a sight to behold,” she says. Workers have busily beaten back blackberry brambles, hauled away containers loaded with wood and metal debris and even discovered a few rusting cars beneath the undergrowth. They've also dug a well, run power to the site and renovated an existing barn that will serve as an education centre and host a seed vault. Further plans for the site include space for a permaculture demonstration garden with fruit and nut trees, berries, walking trails, rainwater catchment systems


and a solar array. “We're just trying to get all those pieces together and show how a small community can take some greater control and responsibility over the food it consumes. If there's some place to do it, it's much more likely to happen; that's the philosophy that we're going on,” she says. “Millions of dollars are spent on food on this island and most of it is just flying away.” When work is complete, users will be able to access The Root for a set fee to cover ongoing operating costs. The move is intended to help Salt Spring's growing number of small-scale farmers market their products without needing to invest in costly equipment of their own. “There are a lot of new food


processors on the island who want to use local stuff and local ingredients,” Reichert says. “This will let them come in and do their production in the facility while others can come here to test new ideas and incubate new products. We are trying to cover all seasons and, in order to do that, farmers need to have proper storage so they can gear up production.”


Roots run deep The grant of $100,000 for


the project came via the Salt


17


Patricia Reichert, of Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust, shows off plans for a multi-use agriculture centre that will help local farmers add value to their crops. SEAN MCINTYRE PHOTO


Spring Island Foundation and marks the farmland trust’s latest coup on the road to fulfilling its vision for The Root. The grant comes from a bequest provided by members of the Shaw family, whose roots in local agriculture run deep on the island. “This exciting and


innovative project will benefit all islanders by making more local food available, improving our food security and also boosting Salt Spring's economy,” said Kees Ruurs, chair of the Salt Spring Island Foundation's board of directors. “The Shaws were south end farmers, part of our island's agricultural heritage, so this is a very appropriate use of their legacy.” Trust volunteers are


grateful for the contribution, given that efforts to secure government funding fell short. Despite the project's


potential benefits for Salt Spring's economic development and the environment, Reichert says fundraisers uncovered serious gaps in funding for such programs at all levels of government. “We've been doing our


homework and knocked on all the doors for assistance with this type of infrastructure, and there is no federal or provincial government program to help build this. You have to be doing roads,


bridges or other kinds of things,” she says. “It's not that we are missing out, it's that we've beat the bushes, and there's nothing more we can do.” Trust members plan to launch a donor campaign and host several community events through the fall in order to raise an additional $750,000 to complete the project. “It's huge for us but, in the scheme of the world, it's very small,” she says.


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