Lana Popham
Every fall Orchard and Vine speaks with the BC Agriculture Minister to recap how the year has gone for the industry in BC, but with the election this year we were unable to connect with Minister Lana Popham until just before Christmas. In this interview, Popham talks about some of her work during the year and some things to look forward to in her expanded role as Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Fisheries.
O&V:
“How has this year been for fruit growers, given we had frost, rain, hail, freeze and COVID-19?”
Minister Popham:
“It has been relentless, growers have been hit with everything. For the apple growers in particular, if the weather had been perfect, and we hadn’t been hit with a pandemic and we weren’t having a bunch of cheap Washington apples in our stores, then maybe there could have been some improvements.”
O&V:
“BC Tree Fruits Co-op is working on an extensive restructuring plan. Do you see any role for the Ministry in supporting this key business in the tree fruit industry, as they strive to improve fruit quality and the health of the business?”
Minister Popham:
“Yes. The Co-op is a corner stone of the tree fruit business in BC and it has been struggling. We have been working since the summer to address some of the issues that were brought up in the governance study and I feel like there is some hope there. Sometimes change is really tough, but we are almost at the point where there is no choice so we are going to be putting forward suggestions of how we would like to see things change and how we will go about supporting those changes. It is going to be a different approach, very hands on. These are not easy times for change because in some ways people are just hanging on to what they have got. But I think in many ways change is going to be welcome for growers.
“Consumers are more in tune with the food system now, which is great. Consumers got a big scare this year when they went to go buy things and the shelves were bare, so I will continue to push hard on producers to develop their domestic markets as well as trying to recover some of the international market. But I don’t have to try and convince anyone anymore because people were there. I sometimes feel a little bit of a broken record when I am talking to producers about the domestic market, but I don’t think I’m going to have to play that song anymore. I think we are all on the same page.”
O&V
“When I talk with producers, some of them ask why we just can’t make it a law to sell only BC fruit in BC?”
Minister Popham
“We can’t make it a law to just buy BC because of trade agreements, so unfortunately Washington apples are always going to be there. Even with our Buy BC program, it is well thought out, so we are not stepping on trade issues. We have retailers who are embracing the buy BC program and using that logo in-store, but it is important to make sure consumers are asking for our apples in their retail stores. I am looking forward to talking with our BC apple sector about how we make consumers understand the importance of that choice. It comes down to, do you want an apple industry or not? And when it comes down to being that harsh, I am pretty sure most people in British Columbia will cheer BC apples.
“But we can’t depend on retail sales completely, so moving food through the hospital system is one way to bring more stability. The apple industry hasn’t embraced that idea yet, so that is another way that we need to work with them more. They do say that the unprocessed fresh apple is the best way to make money, but honestly, the hospital system uses a lot of apple sauce and some sales is better than no sales. We have to figure how to bring some stability there and if it is going to have to be with value added products, then that is what is going to have to be.”
O&V
“This is the last year of the tree fruit replant program. How successful do you believe it has been?”
Minister Popham
“There have been millions of dollars invested in replant and I think it has been a success and we support that fully. But within the reviews we are doing, we are going to be talking about the replant program to see if it is getting the biggest bang for its buck. We support replant. In fact we support it so much that we have initiated a new replant program for raspberries.”
O&V
“Tell me more about the investment in raspberry replant.”
Minister Popham
“The raspberry industry finds itself with the same pressures as other fruit adapting to the way consumers shop. Having the right varieties for the fresh market that will stay on the shelves a little longer, or ones that will freeze better are important. The industry just hasn’t had the support that they needed to make those changes.
“We put forward $90,000 this year which will include some money for a study to figure out what they need, but also try out an initial replant to see how it is going to work. Sometimes industry doesn’t necessarily need tons and tons of money, they just need some support along the way so they can get to the next level and that is what I see the raspberry support as being. It is not a massive amount of money, but it is the beginning of a program which I think is necessary to save the industry or else we won’t have a raspberry industry.”
O&V
“You were able to offer support for SAWP workers coming into the province this year. What success did you see with that support? Any plans for expansion?”
Minister Popham
“We led the country with our plan to quarantine workers and I am really glad we were able to make that decision quickly. We do get workers earlier than other provinces, so we had a little bit of a heads up on what was happening. We could not have had a successful agriculture season without it.
“We are ready to continue doing it. We have the hotels secured again for workers who will be arriving in January. Making sure their stay is comfortable in those two weeks of quarantine is really important. We have tweaked the program a little bit to make sure that people arriving have more information and the way workers and farms are able to communicate together and with us, is going to be excellent.
“The pandemic has shone a big light on the life of temporary foreign workers, and we have seen right across the country that housing is an issue. I have been working hard with the Mexican consulate on this.
“There are amazing farms that have excellent accommodation and generally they do, but when it is bad, it is bad. You can wag fingers at the farms that don’t have good housing but really that doesn’t fix the problem. We need to figure out how do we get the resources where they are needed to look after the workers in the way they need to be looked after. We shouldn’t expect people to live in housing that we would not live in ourselves. That is the bottom line.”
O&V
“Are there any other initiatives you see coming out of your new mandate letter?”
Minister Popham
“Well, it is a renewed mandate, so I am carrying on. But the profile is a bit higher because resilience and self-sufficiency are key words of the day for the Premier. I think the change in my title says it all, Agriculture Food and Fisheries. We have now acknowledged how important food processing and fisheries are to the portfolio.
“One of the coolest things is plans to set up a regenerative agriculture network. Regenerative agriculture is of course one of the oldest ways of doing agriculture, but now it is also cutting edge, because it has the ability to address climate change. Agriculture so often gets fingers pointed at it for being a culprit in emissions and this is going to help agriculture have a tool to fight climate change, because a regenerative agriculture network will involve looking at ways we can sequester carbon on farmland.
“People think, well, that is just an organic growers’ approach, but actually for conventional growers there is an umbrella that they can get under too. It involves all types of agriculture. And that way we can use Agri-tech which is heavy in my mandate for testing and using technology to come up with ways to become more efficient.”