By Natalie Pereman
Published: Nov.9, 2013
I have a vision. The vision is that our community’s food source is sustainable and we take a stand for that. What the heck does that mean you say?
That we make a choice to buy only food that is created in our region, sea to sky country and BC. Just hear me out. I know bananas & citrus fruits don’t grow here and the wheat fields are missing as well. BUT. What if you only buy fruit & veg from BC if it can be grown here?
No more green onions and mixed greens from Mexico, no more California strawberries. NO more imported meat. Period. What if you only buy flour, sugar & coffee that is processed & packaged here in our province?
In BC we can get dairy, meats, baked goods & breads, all sorts of pantry items and fruit and veggies when in season. Think about it, do you need a ‘fresh’ peach from Chile in January when you could have canned ones from the Okanagan?!
This is my vision and that is why On The Farm Country Market was started. We source food that is local to Sea to Sky first then BC.
We shake hands with all our producers & farmers. We buy direct whenever possible to support the producer & bring value to our customers. If we take a stand we will get more local producers due to demand & more variety. It’s simple supply and demand.
On the Farm Country Market opened in 2012 as a garden and flower shop. In the summer of 2013 we started selling local BC fruit and veggies and as of a week ago we now have dairy, eggs, baked goods, bread and pantry items. Plus we launched our grocery delivery service The Galloping Grocer. Offering local meat is next!
At On the Farm Country Market we are fostering and nurturing local famers and food producers. We sell their products seven days a week all year long, not just once a week at the farmers market. Many more people want to start small farms but have not seen a way to get their product out to market until now. We can facilitate this.
I am just a regular person like you, working hard and raising a family. I am running a small business of 10 staff that has seen success despite being a new business.
I need to expand to truly flourish but do not have the capital to do it like so many small businesses. We have a business and products our customers want to see expanded.
This property, On the Farm Country Market, is a testament to small town passion and commitment. The support from our community has been overwhelming, from words of encouragement, donation of time, ideas and historical pieces to supporting all of the shops in our development.
It is heartwarming to know that people bring friends and family to On the Farm when they are visiting from out of town. We are the place people come for a coffee or lunch and hang out and visit. This is where I came to get my pumpkins and Christmas trees as a child and we have created that again but with even more to remember. It gives me the push i need to keep going, to finish what i started & complete the store.
I have done this project with no partners or investors, I am the sole owner of the property and my shop On the Farm Country Market. As one can imagine it is not easy to finance any business today with the state of global finances. I have had to be very creative with funding to get this far and I am on the last leg to get complete.
To get the shop completed I need to invest further capital. I have turned to indiegogo.com, a fundraising website to reach my goal. People can contribute to a campaign & in turn receive perks. Ours include: bumper sticker, Keep Calm and Garden On t-shirts, 5yrs of Valentine’s bouquets & even your choice of the first Christmas tree off our lot!
Go to: http://www.indiegogo.com/
I would like to thank the entire community, friends and family for everything you have done to create this amazing community gathering place. I dreamed of it but seeing it before my very eyes is pretty remarkable. Thank you.
Anonymous says
Really don’t like a newspaper being used for a business to fundraise. Not appreciated nor does this imitative intetest me…in anyway. A real turn off…bad choice of direction and entirely inappropriate. Talk to the bank, not your customers…who are not responsible for your lack of funds. Vision? Really?
MichaelL65 says
Sounds like anonymous is a bit grumpy today. If the initiative does not interest you, fine, but I think many customers would support such an initiative. Especially one that will create mre jobs in the area.
Dave says
Excuse me “Anonymous”, but you might find it very hard to find a newspaper anywhere in the world which does not partially serve as an advertising medium for business. Also, often local newspapers regularly help businesses of their choice for free or at a reduced price. Not sure where your brand of pointless negativity is actually coming from !?
True, Natalie is interested in making a living, especially as she has recently had a tragic loss in her family (namely her husband)….In short, I see no harm in the presentation of the above article whatsoever! Her vision is not purely in making money, if you read more thoroughly.
Jean says
Instead of flipping properties and buying shares on the stock market etc. , maybe not only local food etc. but also local enterprises should be supported and invested in by locals
Great to have local entrepreneurs risking everything usually!!!
Wolfgang W says
‘Buy only local, when you can’ sounds all so wholesome, and I am known to do it too whenever possible. Nevertheless, if you look at the macro economic picture, the proposition is not as benign as it looks. Ever wondered why dairy products are so much more expensive in Canada than in the US, why the Quebec dairy producers cry foul on CETA (Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement with the European Union)? Protectionism! Ever wondered about European Union farm subsidies, particularly to benefit the powerful French farming lobby? Protectionism! It does not just ‘beggar thy neighbour’ as economic wisdom states, but it beggars the instigators of it eventually too.
What makes sense on a micro level does not necessarily hold true at the macro level.
Dave says
To support your comment Wolfgang, but not in anyway not supporting Natalie, I offer an extract from an old blog of mine on this topic written in 2011:
http://www.davecolwell.com/zeromilediet.html
Wolfgang W says
No, no, I did not mean my comment to be interpreted as not being in favour of supporting local farmers and other entrepreneurs in that field! My issue is with absolute statements such as ‘No more this and no more that’ in relation to imported foodstuff, because I detect a legislative whiff about it which we have to treat with caution. The choice should always be that of the informed consumer.
By the way, I agree fully with the content of your earlier blog, Dave. We are getting off Natalie’s main subject here, but what you lament there is exactly what makes the bloated EU farm subsidies so damaging to nearby African would-be farm producers. Still, there is also something to be said about not loosing the skills as a society to grown one’s own food…