Farming in British Columbia

This episode: when my guest was an urban farmer in Vancouver in the 2010s, she co-founded a marketing co-operative with her colleagues to streamline her produce sales. Intrigued by the problem-solving potential of cooperative business structures, she went on to obtain her Masters degree--and then her PhD--studying farming cooperatives in Japan. Emi Do currently works for Young Agrarians as its co-op coordinator. She joined me for a conversation about growing produce in Vancouver backyards, her studies of Japan's food system, and why co-ops are much less common in BC's food system.

This episode, a couple of conversations inspired by an invitation I received to moderate a panel on Farmland Accessibility at the Columbia Basin Food & Buyers Expo in Nakusp later this week. In this episode, you’re going to hear from two of the three panelists who’ll be joining me in Nakusp to talk about innovative strategies for accessing farmland. Much of BC’s farmland is the most expensive in Canada by a longshot, and thus the outright purchase of land for farming is prohibitive for many people with aspirations to start a farm or expand the one they already have.

Guest #1: Colin Dring, Researcher, Royal Rhodes University

Guest #2: Darcy Smith, BC Program Manager with Young AgrariansI

If you’re going to be at the Columbia Basin Food and Buyers Summit October 24-26th and plan to attend this panel discussion, there will be a lengthy Q&A, so please bring any questions with you that the interviews you’re about to hear might inspire.

This ep: FARMERS VOTE 2024! I invited the three major parties to provide a 2024 BC Election candidate to talk to me about agricultural policy; herein, a conversation with the BC Green Party's candidate for Courtenay-Comox, Arzeena Hamir, about the party's vision for Agriculture in BC. Teaser: they'd manage water differently and consider a Basic Income Guarantee for qualified farmers.

After that, a quick rebuttal from the conservatives and ndp.

This ep: A long-ranging coversation with four owners of two farms that sit side-by-side in Mara: Louise Bruns and her husband, Hermann, own Wild Flight Veggie Farm. Across the road is Hamberlin Holsteins, owned by Daniela Bruns and her husband, Quentin.

Daniela, Louise, Quentin and Hermann sat down with me to talk about how each operation came to be, how their upbringings influenced the farms they would eventually run, intergenerational conflict over competing farming philosophies, and a lot more.

Got something to tell me? Are you a farmer or non-profit that wants to post something on the community bulliten board? Send a voice memo (preferred!) or written words to Jordan:

250 767 6636

[email protected]

In this bonus episode of the podcast, farmer, co-op expert and newly minted University of the Fraser Valley faculty member Chris Bodnar describes a BC Tree Fruits Cooperative that was beset with internal problems in the years leading up to BCTF's recent, sudden closure in late July.

Chris published a piece on Linkedin that delves deeper than we do. It's good. Read it here.

In which I cold-call a bunch of farmers to learn how everyone's doing this year.

Got something to tell me? Are you a farmer or non-profit that wants to post something on the community bulliten board? Send a voice memo (preferred!) or written words to Jordan:

250 767 6636

[email protected]

As promised last episodes, here are snippets of a few interviews I conducted a couple of years ago that provide some extra insight into the BC Tree Fruits Closure that has just thrown a wrenth into the gears of this year's apple harvest.

The BC Tree Fruits Co-Op announced it's immediate closure on July 25th. This shocked the apple sector, and hit the co-op's 300+ members pretty hard. Herein: a summary of the story so far, and an interview with a co-op member who's super pissed about this. She explains why the closure is such a big deal in terms of the impact it will have on apple growers for this year's harvest.

Got something to tell me? Are you a farmer or non-profit that wants to post something on the community bulliten board? Send a voice memo (preferred!) or written words to Jordan:

250 767 6636

[email protected]

This time on the podcast, a conversation with Vincent and Lewis Burkholder, a pair of brothers who worked summers for the local sweet corn baron as teenagers and ended up taking over his operation, sort of. I'm referring, of course, to The Burkholder Bros Corn Farm, a business that thwarted my effort to nab the URL I wanted in order to promote a new sport I invented where contestants race to try to catch an ear of corn dangled on a stick mounted to a 2009 Honda Fit.

I was interested to talk to Vincent and Lewis because of their reputation for innovative approaches to the planting, cultivation, and harvesting of sweet corn. We talk about that, how they were forced to pivot from a tried and true sales model in their first year of production because of a crown-shaped virus, why they’re okay with a grizzly bear taking up residence in the corn patch, and a bunch more.

Got something to tell me? Are you a farmer or non-profit that wants to post something on the community bulliten board? Send a voice memo (preferred!) or written words to Jordan:

250 767 6636

[email protected]

In episode 13, which focused on how agrologists are regulated in BC, I teased the possibility of sharing an interview with someone who has been affected by the regulation that grants exclusivity over the practice of agrology in BC to registered agrologists. Here's that interiew, but you'll get a lot more out of it by first listening to episode 13.

My guest for this episode is Leanne Smith of Fencefast.