OCTOBER 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
Remote market supports growth
of local growers Census farms went from zero to eight as market expanded
by PETER MITHAM
PORT MCNEILL—When an online gardening group began wondering why no farmers markets existed at the northern end of Vancouver Island, Neva Perrott saw an opportunity. It was 2012, and the
previous year’s federal census of agriculture reported zero farms in the region. But the discussion group proved there was demand, and plenty of small-lot growers willing to share what they were growing. “How hard could it be?”
she recalls thinking. “There’s a place where we could hold it; there’s people interested in vending. All I have to do is pick a date.” During a presentation at
this year’s conference of the BC Association of Farmers Markets in Kimberley, Perrott shared the story of how what has come to be known as the North Island Farmers and Artisans Market expanded from three vendors in Hyde Creek to the Port McNeill waterfront and now a second location in Port Hardy managed by Leslie Dyck. Supported by Port McNeill
town council and the local tourist information centre, which provides electrical hook-ups and washrooms, the market now takes place every two weeks. “This was a restarting of our market,” says Dyck. “There used to be really thriving markets in both Port McNeill and Port Hardy. We found the old signage for them – there were banners, there were sandwich boards.” But when an over-zealous health inspector came to town, rules were enforced in such a way that the market quickly dissolved. This changed as popular demand – and Perrott’s willingness to work with vendors – began to re-establish relationships. “She’s really built trust with the community again, and a key relationship with our new environmental health officer,” says Dyck, noting that the new officer will provide guidance, not health orders. “He’ll offer us suggestions. … That’s been really great in developing the trust again.” The latest census of
agriculture recorded eight farms in the region in 2016,
showing that agriculture is also on the upswing. Dyck is one of the largest vendors, supplying microgreens from a farm she began after moving to Port Hardy from Kamloops in 2014.
The same year, she launched the area’s first Seedy Saturday seed-sharing event to get others growing, too. “It was a way for us to bring in growers, and also bust that myth that happens in our region that you can’t grow food in the North Island,” she explains. “It’s so not true. You can grow everything there, and there’s a lot of wild foods there as well.” It’s the sort of connection
that Perrott says can build bridges and help get new markets growing. “This was one way to reach out to potential growers in our region, even just backyard growing, because that’s a super-successful part of farmers markets also,” she says. “The people in our region are really starting respond and recognize that they could actually have a profitable business in a farmers market.”
Changing a mindset The approach is something
growers in the Kootenays say is needed in their area. “There’s a mindset that you cannot grow produce in this climate. I’m shocked how many customers come in and … everyone thinks it’s from elsewhere,” Jessica Tichenor of Sunpower Farm in Skookumchuck told the workshop. “I think it would be incumbent on markets to sponsor community workshops for people who are wannabes.” Having a critical mass of
vendors can raise the profile of what’s possible locally, especially in areas that are off the beaten track. “My community wants the
market to grow with more produce vendors, but we can’t bring the Hutterites from [Alberta],” noted Dawn Deydey, cofounder of the Mountain Market in Fernie. “For us to get produce, it’s got to get from Creston or Cranbrook-Kimberley.” And when growers do sign
up, Perrott says they need to be cultivated, too.
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Neva Perrott was instrumental in bringing a farmers market back to the northern end of Vancouver Island, at Port McNeill. SUBMITTED PHOTO
“[It’s] giving them lots of
information and support, and inviting them to come back,” she says. “It’s part of how not just to recruit vendors, but retain them as well so they want to continue.”
Relationships can also raise
the profile of the market, so the vendors can count on sales. Perrott is part of her local chamber of commerce, and in
2016 the market required insurance so it became a registered society and joined the BC Association of Farmers Markets, which put it on the map alongside other markets. It also participates in the province’s nutrition coupon program. It’s also opened doors to
small vendors through a co-op stand that allows
people to pay $2 to sell their produce alongside others. This shows that everyone has a place at the market, and that no grower is too small. “Spend time cultivating
partnership with the people in your community,” concludes Perrott. “Spend time getting to know your customers and cultivating relationship with them and making connection.”
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