“School food programs work better when they actively nurture care and connection.”
Dr. Jennifer Black, CSFS Associate and LFS Professor, recently co-authored an article in the Conversation on the impacts school lunch programs have on the well-being of children and families.
Do you want to know more about how you can improve conditions for your workers? This info sheet was developed with organic agriculture in mind as a shared informational resource for both migrant workers and employers, and is available in both English and Spanish.
It includes tips for how to improve living and working conditions, links to resources from trusted experts and government authorities, and explains the links between #StatusForAll and migrant worker health and wellbeing. We hope you will share this with farmers and farm workers in your networks!
Want to embody fair labour practices on your organic farm? Take a look at this info sheet developed by @fuerzamigrantx & @susanna_elsie – a shared resource for migrant agricultural workers and employers alike, and is available en español to share with workers!
Access the documents here:
Info sheet- oct5_EN and Ficha informativa_5oct_SP
This week we are featuring Humblebee Meadery, a third-year vendor at our market! Humblebee Meadery has a hot take on the worlds’ oldest alcohol, bringing unique, refreshing flavours across BC. We recently had the pleasure of chatting with the owners, Jeff Gillham and Pierre Vacheresse, to find out more.
How long has Humblebee Meadery been around? How did you get started? We started up 5 years ago. I have always been into craft beer and wine, but I didn’t want to be the guy with sh*tty homebrew so I thought I would try something different and started experimenting with some old mead recipes. I tried to make them more in line with the craft beer and cider I loved. People ended up really liking my mead, including my business partner, Pierre, who saw potential to make my homebrew more than a hobby. We found a small shared operating space four years ago and have been growing from there.
For people who don’t know, what is mead? What is the process for making it?
Traditional mead is a honey-based, wine-like alcohol. It is typically very sweet with 13-15% alcohol and no carbonation.
Our mead is a bit different, we brew more in the way of a cider or beer. It is around 5.5% alcohol and we use beer yeast, and less honey for fermentation to keep it refreshing. We also carbonante our products.
As we are still a small company we are still looking for partnerships with local farmers. We do use 100% Canadian honey from Manitoba, we work specifically with this farmer so we can guarantee consistent polled blend for brewing.
Do you have dish pairing reccomendations for your different mead flavours?
Our flavours drastically different from each other, here is what I like for each:
Why did you choose to come to the UBC Saturday Market specifically?We initially heard about the UBC market through other vendors and stumbled on the site. It was great to have help from the market to help us set-up initially. As we have continued to grow it has become one of our staple markets:)
We are at the entire Vancouver market circuit, as the Squamish market, and we sell at various businesses around BC. You can find the closest location to you on our website!
We are also now selling full kegs of the flavour we created this spring, It’s Business Time (Hibiscus and Lavender).
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The pandemic and international racial injustices have heightened the need and urgency for educators and organizers to embed topics related to equity, justice and anti-oppression into their courses and teachings, to increase individuals’ capacities to engage with these topics, but many are unsure how to do this. The Just Food project explores social justice issues by employing food as a pedagogical tool to connect theoretical understandings and terminology to elements of the day-to-day. While these modules were developed in the post-secondary setting, they have wide applicability across sectors.
Date: Thursday, November 19th.
Time: 12:30 pm PDT.
Link to Register: Register for the Zoom meeting here
The Just Food project website includes seven learning modules on various food systems themes (such as a food justice primer, migrant labour, Indigenous foodways, international development) and a facilitator’s guide. Each learning module contains a backgrounder on the theme, suggested learning outcomes, sample readings and discussion questions, in-depth activity instructions, and examples of assessments. The learning modules are suitable for adaptation across many disciplines, including agriculture, food studies, nutrition, geography, sociology, anthropology, education, planning, political sciences, and more.
Rachel Cheang 張伶璘, Just Food Project Assistant
Rachel Cheang 張伶璘 Born and raised in Singapore, Rachel is an immigrant settler, uninvited guest and student-organizer living and learning on stolen Musqueam homelands. She organizes for climate justice and believes in using design and art as activism and creative troublemaking. Rachel believes in the power of collective action in mitigating climate change and seeks to explore and build networks of care and support within justice movements.
Meryn Corkery, Just Food Project Assistant
Meryn Corkery (she/her) is a white settler living on the stolen lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) people. As an undergraduate student studying nutrition and sustainable food systems, she realized that many food issues are tied to larger systems reinforcing inequity. When not spending her time glued to her laptop exploring these themes, Meryn also loves baking, exploring nearby trails, and seeing how far away she can get by bike.
This week we are featuring Pure Pod Co., a first-year vendor at our market! Pure Pod Co. uses organic and ethically sourced ingredients to create quality cacao-based beverages packed with powerful nutrients and antioxidants. We recently had the pleasure of chatting with the owner, Sarah Kerr, to find out more.
Pure Pod Co. started this year. Our first market was on June 13th at UBC Farm. Last year, when I was in Costa Rica, I discovered a cacao pod. I cracked it open, tasted its sweet, sherbet-like flesh, and became fascinated with this tropical fruit, and all it had to offer. Chocolate was the only product I knew of that was made from cacao, but most chocolate is highly processed and full of sugar. I had no idea that raw, unprocessed cacao was a superfood – packed with antioxidants, nutrient-dense, and rich in theobromine (a natural stimulant).
What are the three most important things you think people should know about Pure Pod Co. ?
Many of our products are adaptogenic, what does apoptogenic to mean? What are the health benefits?
Adaptogens are plants (certain herbs, roots, fungi) that can support your body’s natural ability to cope with physical and emotional stress. They do this by working at a molecular level, regulating a stable balance in the hypothalamic, pituitary, and adrenal glands.
They are called adaptogens because of their unique ability to “adapt” their function according to the specific needs of your body. For example, if you are feeling anxious, they can help you feel more relaxed. If you are feeling down, they can help improve your mood.
Our Hot Cacao Adapotgen Blend contains the following organic adaptogens:
We use a tablespoon of this blend to make our Adapotgenic Cacao Smoothies too.
West African countries, mostly Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, supply more than 70% of the world’s cacao. As many as 2.1 million child labourers work in West Africa. When looking for suppliers of cacao, I wanted to be certain that no child labour was involved in the growing and production of cacao. The cacao we use at Pure Pod Co. comes from small-scale farms in Ecuador. The cacao is not only organic and of high quality, no child labour is involved and the growers are paid above fair wage. There is a focus on sustainable farming practices and we want to be involved in improving the quality of life for cacao growers and their families.
You use minimal and compostable packaging, why is this important to you as a company?How do you select the packaging for your products?
There is too much plastic in the world, clogging up our oceans and sealife. We did not want our products to contribute to the waste problem.
We sell products that are healthy for the body, so the packaging needs to be healthy for the environment. For our take & make products, we landed on using a company in Ontario who has created OmniDegradable bags. These leave behind only water, CO2 and a small amount of organic biomass, all beneficial to plant growth, when they degrade.
At the markets, we serve Iced Tea and Cacao Smoothies in mason jars, which can be returned, recycled or repurposed. I hope that in the near future we can implement a mason jar refund system at the markets, so we can reuse the jars.
Cacao is such a versatile ingredient, so it’s easy to be creative and incorporate it into a variety of recipes. I really enjoy cooking and experimenting with different ingredients and have fun in the kitchen. My son, who is two, helps with the taste-testing : )
My latest creations include Cacao Energy Balls using raw nibs, and Pumpkin Spice Hot Cacao, using raw cacao powder, spices, cacao butter, and oat milk. I post my cacao creations on our Instagram page, so feel free to check it out for some baking inspiration!
Why did you choose to come to the UBC Saturday Market specifically?I love the atmosphere at UBC Farm. The Farm staff and volunteers are so helpful and the people who shop at the markets have time to chat, are friendly and genuinely interested in getting to know you and your business.
It’s also very family-friendly. My toddler loves to visit the chickens and wander around the apple orchard. You will often see him and my husband laid out on a picnic rug behind the Pure Pod Co. stall. I don’t know of any other markets in Vancouver that have the same vibe.
If you could only eat/drink one of your products for the rest of your life which one would it be?
With the exception of Cacao Nibs and Cacao Butter, all of our products are beverages. If I could only drink one of my products for the rest of my life, it would have to be a tie between our Hot Cacao Adaptogen Blend, because you can make it into a hot drink, or use it to make a cacao smoothie and our Strawberry Cream Cacao Tea. It tastes as good as it smells, is caffeine-free and can be enjoyed at any time of day or night.
If I could only eat one of my products, it would be the raw cacao nibs. They have such a robust flavour, that is slightly bitter and nutty, and are so versatile.
You can also order from my website!
Market Dates| Facebook Page | Instagram | WebsiteWe received a huge number of thoughtful questions from the audience during our June 25, 2020 webinar on climate change and COVID-19, many of which the presenters didn’t have time to answer live. Below are our panelists’ responses to your questions, with resources for further reading. We look forward to continuing this critical conversation!
There is a lot of disagreement about the meaning of the term ‘agroecology,’ check out this FAO agroecology website to see what I mean. That being said, I think we can all agree that agroecological principles include things like conserving biodiversity, making efficient use of nutrients and water, and promoting resilience. With that in mind, I don’t think that the adoption of an ‘agroecological approach’ would necessarily reduce yields or increase costs, but we still have a lot to learn. Let me give you one example with which I’m pretty familiar:
A lot of the soil in the Okanagan Valley is coarse-textured and naturally very low in organic matter. After a long period of cultivation, these soils can develop ‘replant disease’, in which newly planted fruit trees or grapevines exhibit poor or patchy growth. ‘Replant disease’ has been attributed, at least in part, to the buildup of populations of parasitic nematodes and pathogenic fungi in the soil. The conventional method for treating soil with ‘replant disease’ has been to fumigate with chemical nematicides, but there are growing restrictions on the use of many of these chemicals. Research conducted by my colleagues at AAFC in Summerland, particularly Tom Forge, have shown that surface mulches of wood chips can sometimes be more effective than chemical fumigation for long-term suppression of parasitic nematodes, promotion of soil biological diversity, build-up of soil organic matter and enhancement of tree growth. In the meantime, researchers at UBC-Okanagan (particularly Mesfin Fentabil and Craig Nichol) have shown that surface mulching with wood chips can also suppress nitrogen losses caused by nitrous oxide (a potent greenhouse gas) emissions. Other colleagues at UBC-O (particularly Nicole Bamber and Nathan Pelletier) have assessed the overall implications of surface mulching with wood chips for greenhouse gas emissions (i.e., taking into account the greenhouse gases generated during mulch production, transport and application), but found that there are major gaps in our understanding of the effects of mulching on fruit yield, nutrient uptake, herbicide use and water consumption. To make informed choices about which types of agro-ecological practices to implement and where comprehensive assessments of their effects and effectiveness are urgently needed. Stay tuned, though, students in my lab are conducting a comprehensive literature review that should help us answer some of these questions.
Check out a story about Tom Forge and his colleagues’ work
I really don’t have a comprehensive answer but a few thoughts come to mind. First, we expect that the suitable growing regions for some crops are likely to shift with climate change. This could mean that less expensive agricultural land, previously suitable only for grazing or for growing lower-value crops, could be used to produce higher-value crops. Such a trend could help new growers gain access to agricultural land. Of course, this may also require investment in infrastructure to ensure that these areas can be accessed and managed properly. Second, some neat programs have been developed to keep agricultural land in production, while helping young growers enter the agricultural sector. Check out the land matching program for BC here. Finally, we may need to consider some version of ‘sustainable’ or ‘ecological intensification,’ this term is pretty loosely defined but, in this context, I mean making strategic changes to what we grow and how in order to increase food yield per hectare on the already available agricultural land while utilizing practices that do not accelerate negative environmental impacts.
Do you think consistent campaigns to do seasonal water restrictions would be helpful and viable?
There are a lot of tools (including seasonal water restrictions) that are being or could be deployed to help us ensure that we have enough water to support agricultural needs, environmental flow needs (i.e., for aquatic habitats) and the needs of the public now and into the future. To find out more, here are a few starting places:
i. The Okanagan Basin Water Board, which recently published a water sustainability strategy for the Okanagan, which specifically discusses seasonal water restrictions.
ii. The Fraser Basin Council’s Healthy Watersheds and Water Resources program
iii. The POLIS Project on Ecological Governance’s Water Sustainability Project
iv. The provincial government’s drought information portal
What about funding initiatives for farmers to support on-farm water conservation practices (rain gardens, cover crops, drip irrigation, improved water holding capacity, etc.).
I am aware of a few resources for farmers. There might be more that I haven’t heard about, but here are a few places to start: The Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) Program provides funding for improving environmental sustainability at the farm level. Eligible projects address habitat protection, air, soil and water quality improvement and emissions reduction. There is a link on the EFP website to the Irrigation System Assessment Guide, which is used to help growers optimize water use.
The Investment Agriculture Foundation (IAF) funds projects aimed at advancing innovation in the BC agricultural sector, including energy and waste management, climate change adaptation and improvements in soil, water and air quality. The Irrigation Association of BC also provide access to useful information about efficient irrigation system design, maintenance and scheduling.
In my experience, agricultural ‘trends’ come and go. Where we used to see large apple trees in the Okanagan growing varieties like MacIntosh and Red Delicious, we now see high-density orchards of Ambrosia and Gala. In the mid-90s, massive tracts of black plastic-covered ginseng fields were popping up all over the Thompson-Nicola region which, only a few decades earlier, had been a major producer of tomatoes. As our winters become warmer, rangeland in the north Okanagan is increasingly being planted to high-value sweet cherries. This is a long-winded way of saying that the agricultural sector can be very adaptable when opportunities arise. In my view, the most important thing (and it is very important) is to ensure that the land and soil remain capable of growing crops. That way, if consumers decide that they want locally-grown food more than they want locally-grown wine, then wine grape vineyards can be planted to something else. – Kirsten Hannam
This week we are featuring Goodness Gracious, a first-year vendor at our market! Goodness Gracious is a small Vancouver Bakery specializing in delicious tarts, squares, and bakewells, using high-quality ingredients and home-style recipes. We recently had the pleasure of chatting with the owner, Grace Keenleyside, to find out more.
I originally got set up in March, an interesting time to start a business, in a global pandemic. When I found out farmers’ markets were going to happen, I took them as my opportunity to launch properly and UBC was the first market that let me in.
I was a corporate bankers and was known for bringing in treats for offices parties. After moving to BC, I decided I needed a change and started my own business doing something I really enjoy. It’s been great to be in such a nice, less competitive environment.
What are the three most important things you think people should know about Goodness Gracious?I started baking with my grandmother and mom. We did a lot of big family dinners and some of my favourite memories where creating cakes and cookies.
I wanted all of my baked goods to be homestyle and warming but each sort of cater to a different flavour profile.
Bonnie’s Buttertart– I grew up in Eastern Ontario and butter tarts are quite a staple there. Mine are derived from an old family recipe and named of my granny. They are made with flaky butter pastry and a golden filling with a touch of maple syrup, these are very special treats. I offer “Just Butter” (plain), pecan, coconut, hazelnut, and raspberry crisp varieties.
Blissful Bakewell– These traditional tarts are luscious British creations with almond frangipane and jam. We decided to swap traditional pastry for soft almond shortbread for even more richness and delight. Perfect with tea.
Classy Caramel Square-These may look like your typical “Millionaire’s Shortbread”, but trust us – there is nothing typical about them. A melt-in-the-mouth shortbread base is covered in a thick layer of caramel, topped with chocolate. A classy combination of sweet decadence.
I’m trying to sources as much locally and in season as possible. As I am still so new I am hoping to reach out to more local suppliers, but I used Fraser Valley local butter and local raspberries.
If you could only have one of your baked goods for the rest of your life which one would it be?Pecan butters tarts! I did the most product development on them but caramel squares are also a close second.
I have delivery and catering option on my website, I am at Commisary Connect pop up shop(my shared kitchen space), and I am at the Main St. Station as well as the Kwantlen St. Markets
I am so grateful for the returning customers. I spend 14-16 hours baking and rolling pastries and its really lovely to see the response of this community.
Market Dates| Facebook Page | Instagram | Website
This week we are featuring Van Koji Foods, a first-year vendor at our market! Van Koji Foods has rejuvenated an ancient Japanese ingredient, Shio-koji, to create a line of delicious sauces bursting with umami flavour. We recently had the pleasure of chatting with the owner, Tomani van den Driesen, to find out more.
I began selling Shiokoji in 2013 at the Nikkei Japanese Culture Center. I discovered Shiokoji while making my own koji (a powdery fungus grown on rice) for homemade miso-paste. After reading about shiokoji’s popularity back in her homeland, Tonami decided to introduce it to local Japanese. Since 2013, Vankoji has been producing and selling Shiokoji and other koji based seasonings at craft fairs and festivals. Every year, sales have grown as more and more people from different nationalities enjoy this product in their everyday cooking.
When Kome koji (rice koji) is mixed with salt and water, then allowed to ferment in a warm environment, the rice grains break down into enzymes, glutamates, and sugars, imparting a mild salty taste with great umami (fifth taste) flavours. Shio koji has the appearance of a thick and lumpy white paste and looks similar to rice porridge. This is puree’d further to make it easier to use.
Use it in dressings, dips, brine, marinades, sauces, and soups. It will enhance the flavour of your food, tenderize your meats, and is good for you. This versatile seasoning does so much more than the salty taste out of the container. The live cultures within the seasoning activate the ingredients you put them on. There is such a variety of tasty applications that Shio-koji will become your favourite pantry ingredient. Benefits of Shio-Koji: First, it is very tasty. It is a natural pro-biotic seasoning. Brings the same saltiness with half the sodium. Contains minerals, fiber, and vitamins. Aids in digestion and good for general health.
Renewal in Japan – Shio-koji was lost to the Japanese culture for almost a century. It was once a common pantry item and used in every day cooking. It disappeared from the pantry shelf in the early parts of the 20th centre, around the same time that MSG was making a rise … coincidence?…. We are all fortunate that the 300-year-old miso family business looked into old family recipes and came across shio-koji’s use. The owner re-introduced it to Japan in 2007. Today, once again, Shio-koji is a common everyday item in Japanese cooking. Chefs and foodies around the world are discovering this wonderful ingredient. It has been Vankoji’s mission to make this available to you in Western Canada
Shio-koji (salt koji) is as neutral as salt and the ingredient is incredibly versatile. It is the
drive behind the business and our mission to introduce this to pantry’s of all cultures. It is the continued story from my country’s rediscovery of a lost product. This is our
premier product and continues to be our number one seller.
Shoyu-koji (soya – koji) uses the same process as Shio-koji, but utilizing soya sauce
(shoyu) instead of sea salt and water. This product was developed to provide the same taste and health benefits as Shio-koji, but replacing soya sauce in everyday Asian cooking.
BBQ-Sauce, this product was developed as something people can quickly relate to and enjoy. A mildly spicy Asian sauce that can be used on dishes that demand strong flavours. People are able to easily imagine using this on chicken, or in a stir fry. It is still a koji based seasoning, so it introduces people to the umami and that ….mmmmmmm…something extra that they will come back to talk about.
Garlic-Koji, this product is my my training wheels. This product is simply Garlic and Pepper mixed with Shio-koji and allowed to mature further. I developed it for similar reasons to the BBQ-sauce. Give people something they can relate to and imagine in their cooking.
This has proven to be my training wheels for people starting off with Shio-koji. It is hugely successful with first-time buyers as well as “seasoned” Shio-koji users. I now
have many customers that buy Shio-koji as well as Garlic koji at the same time. This pre-built Shio-koji mixture speeds up your cooking process by providing a base with
garlic and pepper already blended with Shio-koji. Use it straight or use it as the starter for something remarkable.
Why did you choose to come to the UBC Saturday Market specifically?I have been at the Dunbar Christmas fair for six years and have many regular customers in the area. The people in the area are open to new ideas and eager to try quality products. I really appreciate their enthusiasm and stories. The UBC market allows me to be among this community more often.
Shio-koji – no contest. The most neutral, the most versatile.
Where else can customers find you?You can find me at the following locations/websites: Vankoji website, Kanadell Japanese Bakery,Coho Coffee & Commissary Online Store, Konbiniya Japan Center, Pomme Natural Market, South China Seas Trading, Suzuya Japanese Market, Vegan Supply, Yumcha Time, Vancouver Farmers markets (Riley Park, Main St., Trout Lake), and White Rock Farmers Market
Market Dates| Facebook Page | Instagram | Website
The evolving outlook of public perception towards food, nutrition and health has inspired the development of technology to produce and process food in a sustainable way. The presentation shall highlight three major sectors of technological evolution in the Canadian context:
Novel decontamination technologies rely on physical preservation, as opposed to chemical preservation, using pressure and light-based stresses to decontaminate pathogens, wherein these physical processes have minimal effect on quality and nutrition of food products. Design and development of a continuous pulsed light system for processing beverages, and its’ role in extending shelf-life of BC blueberries in combination with controlled atmosphere packaging shall be highlighted.
The second part of the presentation shall focus on encapsulation of the compounds for targeted delivery through the gastro-intestinal tract and alternate trans-mucosal routes. The possibility of dispensing the therapeutic potential of native flora, via encapsulation with appropriate nutrients shall be discussed. The presentation shall conclude with some recent studies on sustainable up-cycling of plant proteins from spent grains by-product from beer industry, and applicability of novel dehydration and fermentation approaches for removing the off-flavours in plant proteins.
Dr. Anubhav Pratap Singh holds the BC Ministry of Agriculture Endowed Professorship in Food and Beverage Innovation and he recently joined the Center for Sustainable Food Systems as a new Associate. Dr. Pratap Singh’s research group explores novel technologies for obtaining sustainable improvements in food quality and nutrition. He has authored more than 50 research articles on novel thermal and non-thermal processing, encapsulation of plant-based ingredients, and food fortification technologies. Dr. Pratap Singh and his research group work with various BC-based plant-based food processors, berry growers, and processors, and nanotechnology based companies and is currently leading the academic planning for the UBC Food and Beverage Innovation Centre.
Thursday, November 5th from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. PST
Link will be shared with registrants via email approximately on to three days prior to the seminar.
This week we are featuring Vida Farm, a first-year vendor at our market! Vida Farm is a small scale urban farm focused on food security and community health, growing more nutritious, fresher and tastier vegetables with a lower carbon footprint. We recently had the pleasure of chatting with owner, Vida Rose, to find out more.
How long has Vida Farm been around? How did you get started? Vida Farm was started in 2020 but I was farming before then. In April 2016, For the very first time, I began growing vegetables after I received my community garden at Gilbert Road, Richmond. I had no previous experience at all, and I just followed my intuition and common sense. For the very first time, I grew vegetables such as eggplant, cucumber, watermelon, and bell pepper. I was learning from my own mistakes and never become discouraged if my plans were not going in a way as I was expecting. Any failure was a fuel to try harder to make a success. In the first year, I had almost 20 different vegetables in my garden, which I was able to harvest despite many wrongdoings. It was a great pleasure to observe the growth of my plants from seed all the way to become a healthy and beautiful plant. In 2017, I increased the variety of plants to 50. The feeling of seeing my vision growing in the garden was incredible. In 2018, I went to KPU farm school, and at that time, I started planting even more at my student lot and community garden. KPU was offering incubator urban farming, and I was thinking of enrolling in it. I decided to continue going to KPU farm school for one more year to become more prepared and settled in what I wanted to do. At the end of the year, I was confident about starting my farm business. I was so excited to figure out all the tools I needed, everything from getting the greenhouse, irrigation system, seeds, and compost was very new, and I was learning a lot. I have enjoyed all the steps! In 2020, CoVId 19 added more complexity to my new operation, which was another opportunity to learn.
What are the three most important things you think people should know about Vida Farm?Organic farming promotes biodiversity, crop rotation, and it uses natural fertilizer instead of chemical fertilizer. Pests and weeds are naturally managed. It improves the inhabitant of other life being and reverses the damages done to resources by a human.
Conventional farming uses unnatural chemicals and fertilizers to maximize the yield of a particular crop, which is typically genetically modified. This method demands a significant amount of chemical and energy input and weakens the ecology of a landscape.
Where is your farm located? What sets urban farming apart from farming in rural areas? I am a small scale urban farmer located in Richmond at the intersection of Gilbert and Dyke road. I live 10 minutes away from the farm so I can bike or walk toward the farm if I don’t want to use my car. The distance between the farmer market and an urban farm is much closer than a rural farm. Most of the time, I can harvest some of my delegated greens for the market on the same day to deliver a fresher quality.
My goal is to connect to nature and to be part of it. We call some living organisms pests, but in fact, they are delivering a message from nature to us. I observe my actions to figure out what I have done wrong to attracts pests. For managing pests, I am rotating crops and planting perennial to attract beneficial insects and birds. I keep the farm clean and tidy and collect rotten vegetables in a closed bin.
UBC Farm is in an area that is convenient for the students to bike to the market to purchase their veggies. Many of them are far from home and need to have better food choices available. UBC Farm is also a popular place for many people who are looking for good quality fresh vegetables.
If you could only eat one item from your farm for the rest of your life, which one would it be?I put some thought Into this question and couldn’t figure out which one to chose. All the crops were at the same level of perfection to me. Tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, all different herbs such as dill, basil, parsley, mint, eggplants, potatoes, zucchinis and lettuces all would be good choices.
My favourite part of being a farmer is, having a chance to do something which can make a difference in the environment and people’s wellness. I also love the freedom and choices which nature provides in growing many different crops. The agricultural world is so vast and mystical.
Where else can customers find you? And is there anything else you want them to know?I am on Instagram, Facebook, and I also have my online store.
My goals are not just limited to growing fresh, local, organic, healthy and delicious vegetables for our community. Food is crucial for our lives and to boost our immune system to resist diseases. We need reliable and trustable local resources to secure our need for healthy food. More medium and small farms have to take part in dealing with growing local food to keep more diversity in the market and more choices for customers for a healthy competition.
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