Photo by Kim Elsasser
Lisa Olson 0916
I can’t help but notice how this industry is growing and expanding and how sometimes a single turn of events can help make things better.
Wine, orchards and general agriculture provide so many more opportunities when they are combined than they do when operating alone. Orchards and berry growers in wine regions often produce fruit wine and other value-added products. Honey farms infuse wine into their honey, and tour companies now include farms along with their wine tours. Sometimes farms that start out with one crop transform completely to another, such as the case with Ripples Winery inside this edition.
The owners started out producing meat, added a nursery business, and then planted blueberries that are now used to make fruit wine.
Now the family are winning awards, proving that while change is a process and you might not know where you are headed at the time, it’s fun to look back and see how it all started.
More women than ever are farming and providing food in Canada, and BC tops the list at 37.5% according to the latest Census of Agriculture. There were 26,430 farmers in B.C. in 2016, and nationally women accounted for 28.7 per cent of all farm operators. If more women are interested in farming then that will help sustain the industry against the overall aging of farmers across Canada.
One surprise turn of events saw farm inspectors uncovering deplorable and cramped living conditions for our hard working foreign workers on a few properties. While bad news in itself, this knowledge is already bringing about a welcome change, and will help all workers achieve better working and living conditions.
The percentage of farms with poor living conditions was very low, so I am grateful and proud of the majority of our farm owners who respect their workers and provide a safe and comfortable working environment.
One of our readers commented last fall, saying they like the format of the magazine that brings the interest of the two farming communities together ‘under one roof.’ We like to think so too and enjoy bringing together many aspects of these communities since there are so many crossovers.
All the best to you this season!