By Tamara Movold

It’s my first meeting since getting the student position with the Coalition and I’ve been invited to their monthly meeting.  I come in the room to the sound of Len Parkin just getting in to the Creston Valley Food Action Coalition business. Long name; we can abbreviate that. CVFAC is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing venues for local food producers to sell their goods in Creston. You might recognize their popular venture- The Creston Valley Farmers’ Market. Providing local food is just one of their goals, however.  If we want to get into the philosophy behind that it might take a little longer. Here, this might draw a more complete picture: http://www.crestonfoodaction.ca/site/about/

Tonight’s panel is a handful of meat and poultry industry folk here to speak about raising their animals, processing and selling them. Len sits down, readying his list of questions for the panel after making quick introductions.The first question is read off and the conversation evolves from there. What I’m struck by first, as a vegetarian, is referring to raising cattle as “growing beef”. Clearly I’m around people of a different mindset here.  They have different lingo, a range of farm vocabulary completely foreign to me…what is an abattoir? Oh. Ew.

As unfamiliar as their talk is I’m soon intrigued by the explanation of the difference between grass-finished and grain-fed beef, laying hens versus meat hens.  What is interesting to me is the contrasting dynamic between Tom Tarzwell and the McNamars in their practices. Tarzwell Farms beef is grain fed, the McNamars use grass and hay. Kootenay Natural Meats do not inoculate unless a cow is sick, Mr. Tarzwell has all his cattle inoculated. The differences go on.

In listening to them back and forth between their philosophies and raising methods, one similarity becomes abundantly clear- they both nurture their cattle as best they can.  The dialogue wends its way to the challenges the growers face in selling their products, shipping costs and logistics of marketing.  I’m shocked when I hear that to most of these farmers the Farmers’ Market to them is basically just a publicity show. The return almost doesn’t justify the time spent.

Tom Klaus talks a bit about his practices in butchering and preparing all his meats on the store premises and I have to admit, I haven’t had dinner and it’s all kinda sounding good to me right about now. Oh, right, I’m a vegetarian, shucks.

The questions came from the audience in rapid succession, I’d be hard pressed to have enough room to address them all here. We ran out of time before we ran out of questions and I had learned a surprising amount in just over an hour’s time.

 Overall, I left the meeting with a deep sense of appreciation for these people and what they do in the valley.  It also renewed for me the feeling of connectivity to food, myself and my community and how supporting these people is not a one way gravel street. We buy products from them, they in turn buy services and goods from the Valley, reinforcing a beautiful symbiotic relationship.

Panelists:

Dale and Wendy Mcnamar of Kootenay Natural Meats-http://kootenaynaturalmeats.com/

Tom Tarzell  of Tarzwell Farms- 250-428-4316

Tom Klaus, Famous Fritz-http://www.famousfritz.ca/

Randy Meyer at R&S Meyer Farms-250-428-7013

Thanks to a grant provided by the Columbia Basin Trust’s School Works program, the Food Action Coalition is thrilled to have a new employee joining our small (but mighty!) team! We thank all of the students who applied for the job – there were way more applicants than we were expecting!

Meet Tamara Movold, a student at the College of the Rockies here in Creston. She’s planning on pursuing a career in urban planning and sustainable development and loves food. You may recognize her from around town, especially if you frequent King Fisher Used Books where she also works part-time. Tamara was also a key person behind the Unofficial Town Forum that was held during our November municipal election.

We are so pleased to have this dynamic young woman come join our team! She’s got a lot of energy, ideas and talent that we are looking forward to getting to use. Over the next four months Tamara will be updating the Farm Fresh Guide, helping develop a membership package for the FAC, helping with the Farmers’ Market, and many more things..

Tomorrow Tamara will be posting about her first experience at the Food Action Coalition meeting from earlier this month, where we heard from some of our local meat producers.

FRESH is available for viewing online for FREE! For a limited time (they do need to pay their bills after all), you can access the full-length film from your desktop. The movie will be available for one week, from Thursday, January 26th through Wednesday, February 1st, so don’t wait to watch! To access the movie, simply click below.

http://action.freshthemovie.com/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=6608

FRESH - the movie trailer on YouTube

FRESH Synopsis

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

BC Food Systems Network

BCFSN Gathering Coordinator Job Posting

The BC Food Systems Network is looking for an energetic, detail-oriented person to coordinate our 2012 annual Gathering which will take place on Gambier Island on July 5-8, 2012. The successful candidate will have experience working within a non-profit organization, have some knowledge of the BC Food Systems Network and be an excellent communicator. An in-depth understanding of food security and the surrounding issues is essential for this position. This position requires a flexible personality. The successful applicant must be able to multi-task and prioritize. Experience fundraising and managing large projects and PR outreach is crucial to this position. Developing and implementing a communications plan that will help promote the Gathering and keep all stakeholders informed of gathering development. The Gathering this year is being held at Fircom on Gambier Island, and will require this coordinator to be strong in organisational performance to deal with food provision, thus the this position will be best filled with someone who lives local to the Lower Mainland.

The coordinator will work from a home office and must have regular access to the web, telephone, and be comfortable communicating via email.

Duties include:

• Fundraising for the Gathering. This includes researching to find suitable grants and other sources of support, and applying for funding from these various sources.
• Working with the Gathering Committee (composed of Network members and directors) to develop the Gathering. The committee meets via a monthly (and, closer to the Gathering, biweekly or weekly) conference calls to direct the coordinator.
• Communicating with the BCFSN Board via monthly teleconference calls. These reports include progress updates, tasks and areas that need support.
• Preparation of Gathering budget and program schedule Communicating and corresponding with the Network membership and beyond to develop the Gathering agenda. Craft final agenda for workshops and Gathering as a whole, in consultation with the Gathering Committee.
• Coordinating conference registration including: assembling packages for participants, receiving registration, coordinating sleeping arrangements, food, workshops, and facilities, schedule of events, daycare and volunteers.
• Developing and implementing a communications plan that will help promote the Gathering and keep all stakeholders informed of gathering developments.
• Coordinating volunteers assisting with the Gathering including delegation of tasks to volunteer and Gathering subcommittees and garden barter activities
• Overseeing the duties of coordinating meals and menu while ensuring that the food meets the criteria of the BCFSN in contributing to local food sustainability and local food security.
• Supporting the creation/development of the menu with the local chef, sourcing local ingredients and contributions from network members and acting as a local liaison.
• Ensuring that local details and facility details are finalized for the gathering.
• General administration related to the Gathering and other duties as they arise.
• Crafting a final report to be posted on the BCFSN website and an evaluation report to be submitted to the board by the end of July.

This is a contract position in the amount of $6000 that runs from February 1, 2012 to July 31, 2012. Hours per week increase from about 5-10 to 20-25 as the Gathering approaches. The contract will include an incentive (based on net profit) to produce a successful event.

A PDF of this job posting can be downloaded here.

To apply for this position please send a cover letter, CV, and references to cheryl.thomas24@gmail.com.

The closing date for application is January 23, 2012.

The Creston Valley Food Action Coalition and Farmers’ Market were thrilled to be at this years BC Association of Farmers’ Market conference. The Creston Valley Farmers’ Market is a member of the BCAFM, which is a provincial network that represents farmers’ markets throughout the Province. To become a member, vendors at the market must make, bake or grow the products and then sell them at the market.

To download the 2 page summary pdf, click here: BCAFM2011_Recap_Final.

West Kootenay Herb Growers Cooperative
Focus On Farm Business Management Day
March 17, 2011
Creston, BC

Farm Business Management Workshop
Kevin Murphy & Clint Ellison
BC Ministry of Agriculture

What is Farm Business Management? Kevin and Clint will give an overview of Farm Business Management and the BC Ministry of Agriculture Farm Business Advisory Services Program. During the hands-on workshop, you will be guided through an assessment of your farm business using the Taking Stock workbook and the steps required to develop a farm action plan.

Growing Herbs Successfully – Rhodiola in Alberta
Dave Maruszeczka and Judy Zastre, ARRGO

The Alberta Rhodiola Rosea Growers Organization (ARRGO) is a new generation cooperative of Alberta farmers that provides members with a single-stop support organization for the production and sale of high-quality herbal products based on Rhodiola rosea.

What is Rhodiola rosea? Why did ARRGO form?
Dave Maruszeczka will give an overview of the ARRGO Cooperative, its Vision and Goals and how the Cooperative was built from the ground up to become a high profile cooperative in the Natural Health Products industry. As a producer, Judy Zastre will talk about ARRGO from the grower’s perspective.

Call Carmen 250-402-9887 for further information.

Our 2011 Year-long Beginner’s Beekeeping Course is fully booked and starts January 30. What amazes me is that we still have people ringing in to sign up and some have actually signed up for 2012 course!

With the amount of interest generated, we are currently contemplating holding a one-day basic introduction at the end of February, but for this to happen we need to have about 30 people to sign up.

The venue would most likely be in Nelson and the cost around $25 per head (to be confirmed at a later date).

Deadline to express interest: Friday, February 11

Nette Lack, Administrator
Kootenay Local Agricultural Society
Phone: 250-399-4809
email: klasociety@shaw.ca
www.klasociety.org