Record nutrition coupon funding

This week marks the start of another season for the BC farmers’ market nutrition coupon program, which is being backed by nearly $1.9 million in provincial funding this year – a new record.

BC health minister Adrian Dix announced the funding on June 5.

“It is so important to ensure the farmers’ market is everyone’s farmers’ market,” he told market managers in a conference call organized to break the news. “Markets are for everybody.”

Dix says the funding, administered by the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets, meets both health and community objectives. The province is committed to supporting the program in the years to come, he adds.

Participants will receive $21 a week through November 15 to purchase BC-grown vegetables, fruits, nuts, eggs, dairy products, herbs, meat and fish at markets in 79 communities across BC. This is up 29% from $16.22 a week last year. Coupons can also be applied to online purchases at the 64 markets that offer this sales channel.

A total of 6,000 low-income households and 18,000 people, including expectant mothers and seniors, are expected to benefit. This is approximately double what it was in 2018 and a 300% increase from 2012.

BC agriculture minister Lana Popham participated in the announcement, saying the program helps support local farmers during what has been a challenging year trying to gauge demand. She calls herself “Polly-Lana,” saying she likes to see the silver lining in bad situations. This is a case in point.

“People are more connected to food, now more than ever,” she says. “I have so much pride when I go to farmers’ markets and see the changes that have been made.”

“We are so grateful to the program, it provides so much to our community,” says Rob Pingle of the Tuesday market on Salt Spring Island.

However, the program isn’t a cure-all.

Pingle said COVID-19 continues to have a negative effect on market operations. Operating expenses are up 6% while income is down 50% because it had to relocate and physical distancing measures mean fewer vendors can participate at the new location.

Other markets have also seen a decline in vendors, with some seeing operating income fall up to 75%.

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4 hours ago

Forty-six regions in BC are eligible to participate in the federal livestock tax deferral program, announced yesterday, more than anywhere else in the country. The program allows producers who downsize their breeding herds by 15% to defer reporting the proceeds until the following year, when they buy replacement stock. But after multiple years of drought, the BC beef herd is cruising 25-year lows and some producers are calling for more support to maintain and rebuild their herds. For more, see: [www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-leads-livestock-tax-deferrals/]

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4 days ago

After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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5 days ago

The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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Bessette Creek is the latest watershed hit with a temporary fish protection order this year as the province moves to protect returning Chinook salmon. A total of 131 surface and groundwater users must cease drawing water immediately, with forage producers, greenhouses and nurseries impacted. "Declining flows in Bessette Creek reached record lows in early July 2026 and have remained below the minimum level required to support fish population survival," says the province. Bessette producers have embraced voluntary cutbacks, scheduled irrigation and other measures to reduce water use, and are also waiting on funding to boost water storage infrastructure. They're the second group of producers hit with a provincial order this year. Salmon River irrigators were told to top watering earlier this month following a reprieve to address wildfire risk. Growers in both the Salmon River and Bessette watersheds are urging the province to support new water storage infrastructure in advance of next year.

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There is a problem... having lived in the salmon river ( silver creek ) area, I remember a fish biologist telling family members that salmon only "survive" in high iron content creeks, they do not "thrive".... salmon river ( silver creek ) is a very high iron content, would stain clothes brown when i would use bleach... So don't expect high salmon numbers off of that creek , even in ideal situations...

I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.

The annual potato variety trial in Delta on August 27 attracted more than 300 people from across Canada, with Bill Zylmans of the BC Potato and Vegetable Growers Association declaring it a gathering of "the extended potato family." With the expansion of BCPVGA's mandate to a host of field vegetable growers, the field day was a chance to network, learn and understand issues across the vegetable sector. BC agriculture minister Lana Popham and Delta South MLA Ian Paton were on hand for the event at Lundstrum Farms on Westham Island, with both applauding efforts to restore bridge access to the island earlier this year to ensure production was unimpeded. Results of the trials will be published in the new year once seasonal data has been collated and analyzed.

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Lana Popham is the hardest working MLA in the province, I don’t agree with the NDP policies, however I do recognize a hard working MLA…thanks for what you do