On a summer evening recently, lovers of local food and farming in Powell River congregated at a long table in a picturesque hay field for the city’s first-ever Farm to Fork fundraising dinner.
A sold-out crowd of 60 enjoyed a four-course meal prepared with locally-procured, in-season ingredients. The scene for “Farm to Fork” was set beside a bountiful farm garden, with grazing cows and horses nearby, live music, and a full moon illuminating the festivities.
Beyond the local cuisine and drink pairings, the guests supported a larger social goal for the event: addressing food insecurity in the community. The funds raised have been channeled into a project that will provide low-income seniors with coupons for Powell River Open Air Farmers’ Market. Throughout the 2015 market season, participating seniors will receive $15 worth of nutrition coupons weekly, which they can redeem for fresh produce, meat, eggs and herbs at the farmers’ market. It is a “win-win situation” said Juhli Jobi, farmers’ market manager. “Vendors benefit from getting more customers, and seniors benefit from easier access to local, nutritious fresh food.”
The infrastructure for this program is already set in place through the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets (BCAFM). Through provincial government funding, the BCAFM provides nutrition coupons to over 50 farmers’ markets in BC, making nutritious food accessible to a wider population.
Kelly Hodgins, coordinator of the Farm to Fork evening, has spent the last six months studying farmers’ markets province-wide as part of her master’s research. “Overall, the program is well-designed, well-implemented, and highly regarded,” she said, but reported that one key complaint is “there isn’t enough funding, so markets can’t include as many participants as they would like.”
In Powell River, participation is limited to young families through Family Place, and pregnant or new mothers through the BOND (Babies Open New Doors) Program.
Jobi points out that this demographic is not the only one which struggles to afford healthy, local, fresh food. “The Nutrition Coupon Program was launched in Powell River during our 2013 season,” she said. “Four years of funding was set aside by the BC government for the community groups that applied for the program. Since our seniors were not represented Kelly and I felt it made perfect sense to focus our efforts toward raising money to support our local seniors.”
Community partner for the Farm to Fork dinner, Powell River Food Security Project (FSP), now has locally-raised dollars to distribute to local seniors as part of the program. Vanessa Sparrow, FSP coordinator noted that “Food security is not only about developing a more productive and sustainable local food system; it is also about ensuring access to good food for all residents in the region.” She added “It has been great to be able to work with Kelly and Juhli on assisting people to buy and prepare delicious, locally grown food for themselves and their families, as well as to support the farmers who grow it.”
The feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive, and Hodgins, Jobi and Sparrow hope that it will become an annual event, fundraising more dollars each year. For now, they continue to work on a variety of initiatives to create a local food system that is inclusive and accessible to the entire community. For more information about this project, readers can email Hodgins at [email protected]. Anyone who knows a senior who would benefit from participation in the coupon program can contact Sparrow at [email protected]. Coupon distribution will commence in June 2015.
