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Buy BC relaunched Official debut comes after months of teasers
by PETER MITHAM VICTORIA – The
momentum behind the local food movement was just starting to grow during the final days of the BC NDP at the end of the 1990s. Biotech was all the rage, and consumer scepticism was starting to push organic food sales higher and renewed interest in fresh, local food. But then the tech bubble burst, the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington threw the economy into a tailspin and cocooning became all the rage. The world was a scary place, but the local farmer could be trusted. Lana Popham was one of those farmers, selling produce from her farm on the Saanich Peninsula, where she also grew organic grapes. When she relaunched the Buy BC program last month, 17 years since the BC Liberals terminated it, she chose Victoria’s Moss Street market
as the venue. “The goal is to connect
more British Columbians and visitors with the great food and drinks made right here in BC,” she said, and in her opinion farmers markets are the perfect venue for that. “You’re not only cheerleaders for agriculture, but the connection for the consumer,” she told delegates to the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets annual conference in Victoria earlier this year. Program funding through
what’s formally known as the Buy BC Partnership Program will see $6 million provided over the next three years to producers, processors and co- operatives as well as relevant industry associations, agricultural fairs and farmers’ markets to support marketing efforts using the refreshed Buy BC logo. That works out to $2 million a year, or about twice the budget it had in 1999- 2000.
Buy BC may be a blast from the past, but it fulfils a long- standing ambition of the BC NDP and groups including the BC Agriculture Council, which wanted a marketing program promoting the BC brand as a whole rather than individual companies. The new Buy BC program
will provide cost-shared funding to individual applicants as well as license the logo to those who don’t need funding but want to be recognized as local producers.
Reviving the program was such a high priority for Popham that she initially relaunched the program last fall with what remained of funding for the Buy Local program the BC Liberals developed to support market development by individual producers.
She pledged to link its
relaunch to wildfire recovery efforts in the Cariboo, beginning with the Eat Drink Local program in May.
BC AND YUKON REGION
2019 OUTSTANDING YOUNG FARMER
Do you know an OUTSTANDING young farmer between the ages of 19 and 39 who derives two- thirds of his or her income from their farming operation? We want to know about them!
Nominate them NOW to be eligible to compete as one of BC’s OUTSTANDING YOUNG FARMERS in 2019.
2018 REGIONAL SPONSORS: SIGNATURE Farm Credit Canada
GOLD Clearbrook Grain & Milling Co. Ltd. Insurewealth Denbow BC Chicken Marketing Board United Agri Mutual Fire Ritchie-Smith Feeds Trouw Nutrition
2018 OYF Winners, Tyler McNaughton & Sasha Bentall, Cutter Ranch. BC AND YUKON REGION YOUNG FARMER PROGRAM
Nominee’s Name: Nominee’s Phone Number: Nominated by: Phone Number:
MAIL your nomination to HEATHER CARRIERE, 36376 STEPHEN LEACOCK DR., ABBOTSFORD, B.C. V3G 0C2 or Email:
zamacaconsulting@gmail.com
BRONZE BC Egg Marketing Board BC Turkey Marketing Board
NATIONAL SPONSORS
Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada Annex Business Media Bayer Crop Science BDO CIBC Farm Management Canada John Deere
MEDIA AdFarm Country Life in BC
www.oyfbc.com
BC agriculture minister Lana Popham made the Buy BC launch official in Victoria on June 23. BC MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE PHOTO
Farm camps for kids
by RONDA PAYNE LANGLEY – Now entering
its third year, Langley Environmental Partners Society’s (LEPS) kids farm camps are set to coincide with summer break. Ready. Set. Grow! camps encourage kids to learn about farming and take that knowledge home with them after contributing in small ways to the farm they visit. Meg Jordan, education and
outreach co-ordinator with LEPS, notes this year both camps will be hosted at Glorious Organics Farm in Langley. Camps will run from July 16 to 20 and August 20 to 24 for ages five to 12. “It links the next
generation of eaters with the farm,” notes Jordan. “It gives them experiences they take back to their families immediately.” Camps are designed to
give kids exposure to all aspects of farming from the connections to the forests and streams to the animals,
plants and trees on the farm. From that larger holistic view, the LEPS team then guides day-campers through exploring the soil, digging in compost, understanding seeds and getting to know pollinators. “We do a lot of walking and
tromping around and also include opportunities for the kids to have running games in a big field,” Jordan says. “We play predator-and-prey tag. We have some kids that are quite shy and do they ever let it rip when they become coyotes.” This year, kids will also be
introduced to edible weeds and flowers – with the caution, of course, that they should only ever eat plants when they are with an adult who knows the plant life. Jordan hopes the camp experience will encourage families to shop and eat more locally-grown food. “It forms relationships,” she
says. “Especially with the small farmer who depends on relationships.”
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JULY 2018
Use Farmwest calculators to: • Watch heat units • Monitor growing degree days • Plan your irrigation
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