Darcy Nybo
Kim Stansfield of Summerland's Vinegar Works
Kim Stansfield of Summerland's Vinegar Works at this year’s Meet Your Maker event.
The second annual ‘Meet Your Maker’ event in West Kelowna in March was organized by FarmFolk CityFolk. This annual networking event for B.C. food producers and food buyers pairs small-scale regional growers with regional food businesses. The event is held in Vancouver, on Vancouver Island and in the Okanagan each year.
This year’s Okanagan event featured key note speakers Sara and Troy Harker, who were recently named the 2013 BC Outstanding Young Farmers of the year. FarmFolk CityFolk’s Barbara Joughin spoke on how to build strong and long lasting relationships between buyers and growers.
Then came round one of “speed dating” where growers set up their wares to talk with buyers and media about their business products, what they were looking for in a buyer, and what they could offer to buyers.
Lunch was created with foodstuffs provided by area producers and was prepared by first year students at Okanagan College's Culinary Arts Program, overseen by Chef Roger Planiden.
After lunch, it was the buyers’ turn, wooing food producers by showcasing their stores, businesses, and restaurants. The day was rounded out by an afternoon workshop put on by social media guru, Allison Markin (of All She Wrote), who covered the basics of leveraging social media for the food industry.
For more information on next year’s Meet your Maker go to farmfolkcityfolk.ca and click on events.