Originally produced for the 2021 BC Organic Conference

This episode: guest interviewer Tristan Banwell interviews Dr. Charles Massey, Australian farmer, scientist, and author. His most recent book, Call of the Reed Warbler: explores regenerative agriculture and the connection between our soil and our health, and examines the ways our farming systems need to change to make them truly sustainable. 

This episode: a COABC explainer that aims to help you understand the organization's role in BC's organic industry, and the relationship between certified organic operators, the province's certifying bodies, and the COABC (which is now facing the public as Organic BC). That sounds pretty dry, but your podcast host put lots of effort into keeping it sufficiently moist to hold your attention. If you're an organic operator in BC, it's a must-listen!

This is a re-broadcast of an episode originally produced for the 2021 BC Organic Conference. You can learn about and purchase tickets for the 2022 conference at organicbc.org/conference

In November of 2020, we lost someone who made many meaningful contributions to the organic farming movement in British Columbia and Canada, and who played a very important role in the reduction of pesticide use on countless acres of tree fruit in BC and beyond. I'm talking about Linda Edwards, who died suddenly at the age of 77 the day after she contributed to an episode in this podcast series. Linda was many things. A farmer. An entomologist. A teacher. A writer. She is a past president of the Certified Organic Associations of BC, and a recipient of its Brad Reid Award for her contributions to BC's organic sector. And for years, she contributed to the development and evolution of Canada's organic standards. 

In this episode, we remember Linda Edwards.

In 1994 the newly-formed Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia identified the lack of reliable information on organic crop production as an important obstacle to the growth of the organic agricultural industry. From this realization grew a plan to publish a number of organic crop management guides. The organic tree fruit management manual was the first in this series. It was written by Linda Edwards, an orchardist, entomologist, and pioneer in the BC Organic Farming movement. It has been many years since that first edition was published, and over the last year or so, Linda had been planning an update to the manual with her colleague, fellow entomologist Tamara Richardson. So guest host Molly Thurston, herself well-versed on these topics as an orchardist and entomologist in her own right, arranged an interview with Linda and Tamara to talk about the manual's past and future. 

This episode is dedicated to Linda Edwards, who died suddenly the day after she sat down for this interview. Linda was a tireless advocate for organic agriculture who advanced the sector in many ways. We produced a tribute to Linda as part of the 2021 conference podcast. It will be available on the Organic BC Podcast feed shortly.

This episode features an installment on the theme of wholesale buyer perspectives. This time, I talk to Nick Johnston of Nature's Fare Markets. Nick manages the buying for the prepared foods side of Nature's Fare, and he joined me to provide advice for those wishing to sell into grocery stores, as well as talk about recent trends in the marketplace.

This is a re-release of an episode produced for our 2021 conference podcast. We're hard at work on the 2022 conference, which will feature an in-person event in Kamloops, a podcast series, and some live-online sessions.

Every five years, the Canadian Organic Standards are updated to keep the standards current. Each update follows a multi-year process of review, during which anyone can submit requests for revisions. The whole process is overseen by the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) Technical Committee on Organic Agriculture. The committee was required to produce an update by the end of 2020, and they did! Which is why it seemed very appropriate to invite known standards wonk Rochelle Eisen to give us an interview to help us understand the updates. I was not up to this task, but luckily, organic verification officer Gavin Wright offered to conduct the interview.

This is a re-release of an episode from our early-2021 organic conference podcast.

This episode: BC Ministry of Agriculture Organic Industry Specialist Emma Holmes in conversation with Miranda Hart, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UBC Okanagan. A good deal of Miranda's work focuses on the biology of soil, and in this conversation we'll learn about the tricky business of studying soil microbes, the trickier business of trying to inoculate your soil with them, and why creating the right soil ecosystem might be a more effective way to increase the biological activity in your soil.

We also visit the conference trade show booth of Local Line, a Canadian e-commerce platform built for farmers and food suppliers.

This is a re-release from our 2021 BC Organic Conference podcast that initially broadcast in January 2021. We're busy producing a new podcast series that will be included as an option with your 2022 BC Organic Conference ticket.

This episode, I speak with Todd Kabaluk, a research biologist for Agriculture and AgriFood Canada, about his research on the use of entomopathogens as a biological control for wireworms. 

Brian Spencer was trained as a molecular biologist, but he found his way to biological pest control and never left. This episode, a conversation with Brian, who has devoted his career to mastering the control of bad bugs with good ones. This conversation is one of my favourites of this series, and will be of interest to everyone, not just the pest-obsessed. Our conversation was kind of free-range. Brian knows lots and lots about this subject and generously offered to share some of it with all of us.

We will also take a trip to the conference tradeshow. This episode: BC Food Web.

This is a re-release of an episode first issued as part of our 2021 BC Organic Conference. Learn more about the upcoming conference, which will include new podcast episodes, here!

Another chapter in our Research Roundup. This time, Dr. Kelly Ross, a researcher with Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, tells us about research on harnessing the antibiotic properties of berry pomace for use in poultry feed in order to combat the rising problem of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella.

Project contact info:

Dr. Moussa Diarra (Project Lead): [email protected] 

Dr. Kelly Ross (project team member): [email protected] 

Organic Science Cluster III project information website

https://www.dal.ca/faculty/agriculture/oacc/en-home/organic-science-cluster/OSCIII/livestock/activity-24.html

Contributing partners:

Wild Blueberry Association of North America

Fruit d’or

Centre de recherche en sciences animales de Deschambault

Rosebank Farms

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

This is a re-release originally produced for the 2021 BC Organic Conference.