SEPTEMBER 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Land commission orders Gleaners off ALR


Non-farm use application rejected as group given two years to move by RONDA PAYNE ABBOTSFORD—The


significant volume of farmland in Abbotsford makes it an ideal location for numerous agriculture operations from food recovery to seed production. But all is not rosy in the city in the country. Stops on the annual Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce farm tour highlighted the diversity of local agriculture, but also the challenges.


The first stop was the


Fraser Valley Gleaners Society, founded in 1999. Its plant near the US border makes dried vegetable soup mixes to feed the underprivileged. Volunteers at the society’s facility, located a few steps from the US border, clean, chop, dry, combine and package produce that would otherwise be composted or sent to landfills. The registered charity is


run by manager Carl Goosen and his wife Elaine, who serves as office administrator. Elaine says the operation processes about 30,000 pounds of peppers, 15,000 pounds of carrots and 15,000 pounds of potatoes each week during the growing season. Approximately 80 volunteers mix these and other vegetables with beans, lentils and peas to provide protein. The operation recovers more than 900 tonnes of food annually. “We made 15 million soup


servings last year,” says Elaine. “The soup mix is our mainstay.” By partnering with other faith-based organizations, the society’s soup mixes are shipped internationally to hungry and displaced people. “It goes into places where


it is often the only meal of people there that day,” she says. “We have a lot of accountability with written reports and photos to show this doesn’t sit on a shelf.” The society’s 10.5-acre site is also home to the Abbotsford Women’s Centre program run by Adult and Teen Challenge BC. This rehab program houses up to 10 residents in the pastoral setting, which falls within the Agricultural Land Reserve.


Application rejected


This detail became an issue this summer when the Agricultural Land Commission turned down a non-farm use application to keep the program running on site. In July, the organization was given two years to find a new home. “We have submitted our


request for another review,” says Carl. “We don’t know how long that will take. We’ve talked with a number of MLAs. We’re still waiting for answers.”


The application to continue operating the rehab program was filed alongside an application to expand the processing plant to provide more room for volunteers. The plant expansion is also on hold because the ALC claims the original processing facility wasn’t approved. “They gave us permission to build that original building in 2001,” claims Elaine. “They got their numbers


crossed and they thought that it was built illegally and it’s not.” Now, instead of expanding, the society is fighting to save its processing plant. “They’re taking away something that’s been


100 YEARS YOUNG! Andy Brandt has been volunteering at Fraser Valley Gleaners since he was 80. At 100, he shows no signs of stopping. The operation, which is facing challenges with the ALC over long-existing buildings, saves 900 tonnes of produce from composts and landfills by making a dried soup mix to feed people in other countries. RONDA PAYNE PHOTO


established here for 18 years already,” says Elaine. “And they said we need to grow something on here because


it’s agricultural land. We’re taking calls from farmers that would actually throw [vegetables] in the landfill, so


we’re saving food and we’re doing a humanitarian aid project and they didn’t even consider any of that.”


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