8
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • NOVEMBER 2018
Farmers’ institutes set to meet in Vancouver Province is hosting conference aimed at getting people talking about possibilities
by BARBARA JOHNSTONE GRIMMER
SMITHERS – Farmers’ institutes in BC
are getting a much-needed boost in their networking abilities, thanks to the hard work of members throughout the province and BC agriculture minister Lana Popham. A full-day event on November 30 in
Vancouver will bring together farmers’ institutes from across BC where Popham and her staff will provide a high-level overview of the Farmers and Womens Institutes Act and discuss relevant ministry programs. The agenda includes a group session addressing challenges and opportunities facing farmers’ institutes, as well as networking opportunities. Each farmers’ institute is welcome to send one representative. The ministry will reimburse travel, accommodation and meal costs. The event has been in the planning stages since it was announced in July at a meeting with District A Farmers’ Institute. The minister has also met with Smithers Farmers’ Institute, McBride Farmers’ Institute and Salt Spring Island Farmers’ Institute. District A Farmers’ Institute
president and Coombs Farmers’ Institute president Janet Thony says, “We are elated and hopeful that this signals an awareness of the importance of support by government for small-scale diversified and
community agriculture.” Thony has worked
tirelessly for several years to bring farmers’ institutes together. District A represents all 16 farmers’ institutes on Vancouver Island, Powell River and the Gulf Islands. While institutes across the province have lacked representation to government with the demise of FARM (Food and Agriculture Responsibility Members Community Council) in 2017 and the resulting loss of representation on the BC Agriculture Council, Thony believes the solution lies in the Farmers and Womens Institute Act itself. The act establishes an avenue for
president Megan D’Arcy has reached out to all farmers’ institutes to gauge interest in a network that could distribute and share information. She would like to see the idea fleshed out in a group setting.
She wants to see MEGAN D’ARCY
broader representation for the institutes than when she sat on the BC Agriculture Council as the shared
direct communication with the agriculture minister, something District A has highlighted to the ministry over the last four years of delegations to Victoria. “The act is 120 years old and still meets the needs of today’s farmers and communities,” says Thony. “The objectives of agricultural education, co-operative practices and promotion of healthy communities are still relevant today.” Thony is not alone in her efforts to bring the voices of community agriculture together. Smithers Farmers’ Institute
representative for Community Agriculture and Organic sectors. D’Arcy represented FARM on BCAC the year before FARM disbanded in 2017, leaving no voice for community agriculture on BCAC. She wants to know what other groups are doing and wants to find the common ground that they can work on together. D’Arcy recognizes that each institute manages effectively as an independent body. “They reflect their membership and
their own type of agriculture, with their regional opportunities and challenges,” says D’Arcy. “ I don’t want to put that in jeopardy. A communication framework for all farmers’ institutes to link would be a good accomplishment and a good first step. First, let’s establish a community
relationship and then determine some common ground.” D’Arcy also sees the diversity in
farmers’ institutes representing all agricultural commodities in a local community, and activities including fall fairs, farmers’ markets, educational programs and advocacy. D’Arcy runs a diverse sheep and
poultry operation, for which she has a permit from the BC Chicken Marketing Board. She is a wildlife biologist and an Environmental Farm Plan advisor. She is also president of Bulkley Valley Farmers’ Market. “Agriculture on the whole is still such a small part of the overall population in BC,” says D’Arcy. “It is a waste of energy to fight small versus large, conventional versus organic. The regulations affect us all. This doesn’t change based on scale.” D’Arcy agrees that working with the
act will strengthen the farmers’ institute model, and she also believes that a group representation model with a good communication framework and mutual support will be important. “If this new farmers’ institute day encourages all institutes, whether active, struggling or dormant, to recognize the incredible strength and breadth of our act, and then put these objectives to work within our communities, there will be more good come about than simply the growing of one’s own food,” adds Thony.
$30,700 LIMITED STOCK
BLOWOUT 2706E
WITH LOADER
ABBOTSFORD 1521 Sumas Way
1-888-283-3276 VERNON
7155 Meadowlark Road 1-800-551-6411
www.avenuemachinery.ca GIVE YOURSELF THE AVENUE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
