Show Notes
In 2019 BC's Ministry of Agriculture & Food launched the BC Food Hub Network, a major component of which was significant funding for new food hubs in the province. This episode, a couple of conversations with people for whom Life Is Food Hubs; the rest being Just Details. Sarah-Patricia Breen is the BC Regional Innovation Chair in Rural Economic Development at Selkirk Innovates, the applied research department of Selkirk College. Lindsay Harris and Kent Fawcett work for the Kamloops Food Policy Council; Lindsay is their Food Policy Implementation Lead and Kent Manages a food hub called The Stir. With these guests, I'll explore how the BC Food Hub Network came to be and whether it's currently living up to its promises and potential. Other links: farminginbc.ca/submit if you'd like to contribute your thoughts for a future episode of the show. You're also welcome to send an audio recording to Jordan via text/whatsapp/signal Jordan at 250 767 6636 or via [email protected] farminginbc.ca/sponsorship to learn more about buying ads on the podcast or other forms of sponsorship.
More from Farming in British Columbia
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Belatedly. Herein: a hodge podge. It's fun. LISTEN TO IT.
This episode: my interview with Chris Bodnar, a University of the Fraser Valley professor and long time Abbotsford-based farmer. Chris is the primary author of a recently published report titled Farming at the Edge, commissioned by the BC Agriculture Council and BC Dairy. In it, Chris presents a financial analysis of our sector that tells a different story than the one that Statistics Canada has told in its most recent report on BC’s Farm Economy. This analysis led Chris to a bold set of policy recommendations for our sector that he shares in the report. Chris joined me on the phone in mid-September to talk about his findings. Here’s that conversation. Also featured: a visit to the Farming in BC tradeshow to learn about a conference Holistic Management Canada is hosting in Kamloops November 20-22.
Today on the show, a conversation with Richard Hebda about seed security and seed conservation. Richard is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Victoria and an expert in botany and paleontology, and a curator of botany and earth history at the Royal BC Museum. Richard has published research for decades on many topics, but what’s worth noting here is that much of his research has focused on the impacts of climate change on natural and human-influenced ecosystems. Richard joined me to talk about a project aimed at preserving and adapting heritage seeds in the context of a changing climate, although mostly we talk about what's going well, and what's lacking, in our collective efforts to slow down the loss of our seed diversity. You can learn more at heritagepotato.ca, although the URL will soon change to cropclimate.ca
The BC Ministry of Ag has proposed rule changes for food processing in the ALR that would make it much easier to build food processing facilities on classes 4-7 land, with a much lower requirement for the use of BC-produced food. I've already produced two episodes about this; in this one I'll share some listener feedback about this topic. ******* The proposed rule is as follows: On class 5-7 soil (and class 4 if the parcel is serviced by the date this rule is implemented), ALC approval is not necessary to build food processing plants in the ALR, so long as 5 percent of the primary product used in the processing is grown or raised in the province. Read the Ministry of Ag's proposal and discussion paper here. You can tell the government what you think of this proposal by emailing Ag Minister Popham at [email protected]
The BC Ministry of Ag has proposed rule changes for food processing in the ALR that would make it much easier to build food processing facilities on classes 4-7 land, with a much lower requirement for the use of BC-produced food. This is part two of my coverage. Part one dropped Aug 17th, 2026. Herein: four more perspectives on the proposal. The proposed rule is as follows: On class 5-7 soil (and class 4 if the parcel is serviced by the date this rule is implemented), ALC approval is not necessary to build food processing plants in the ALR, so long as 5 percent of the primary product used in the processing is grown or raised in the province. Read the Ministry of Ag's proposal and discussion paper here. You can tell the government what you think of this proposal by emailing Ag Minister Popham at [email protected]