THIS MONTH, Spud.CA IS TEAMING UP WITH YOUNG AGRARIANS TO SUPPORT WOMEN IN OUR FOOD SYSTEM

In celebration of all the hard-working women in the food system, we at Spud.ca have teamed up with a local organization, called Young Agrarians, to support business women and farmers in our community. This month, buy from any of our women-owned vendors and a portion of your purchase will support aspiring women farmers in BC and Alberta. Get groceries, grow a farmer!
 
Funds raised will go towards the Young Agrarians’ B.C. Business Mentorship Network and their Alberta Apprenticeship Program. The programs pair up new and seasoned farmers to cultivate skills for running ecologically sustainable and financially viable businesses.
 
 
 
 

Get to know the women farmers in Young Agrarian’s network

 

To tell you a bit more about Young Agrarians and about the programs that you could support this month, we’ve asked two women farmers who are currently in each program to tell us about their experience. Read below to hear about what Young Agrarians has done for Ashala and Kay!

 

Meet Ashala Daniel, Sapo Bravo Organics

Lillooet, BC

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“I am Ashala Daniel from Sapo Bravo Organics, an off grid farm near Lytton, BC. I sell my heat-loving produce weekly to Vancouver restaurants and at Trout Lake Farmers Market from June to October.”

 

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 “I am participating in the  Young Agrarians Business Mentorship Network 2020 cohort. Connecting with my mentor, DeLisa Lewis from Green Fire Farms has been a humbling and inspiring experience. Through weekly conversations with my Mentor and attending a Young Agrarians webinar series, I have become much more focused on the details of my business. This has built my confidence in implementing necessary strategies to record my progress and therefore succeed. The Business Mentorship program has given me the tools to use my time wisely and efficiently to make my farm work for me, instead of me working for my farm. The year 2020 will see me running a much tighter ship with a solid mission of promoting an off-grid, sustainable lifestyle which is unique to my farming operation.”

 

Meet Kay Rollans

Edmonton, Alberta

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“My name is Kay Rollans, and I was part of the 2019 cohort of Young Agrarian Alberta apprentices. I worked for a season with Ryan Mason on his farm, Reclaim Organics. Reclaim is an organic vegetable and microgreens producer in central Alberta that sells its produce at farmers’ markets in Edmonton and Lakedell, and to Edmonton area restaurants and grocers.”

“Growing food has always been something I’ve dabbled in, but before participating in the Young Agrarians’ apprenticeship program I’d never really gotten my hands dirty. In other words, it was hard to imagine getting involved in agriculture on a scale larger than my own balcony. Working at Reclaim, and attending Young Agrarians workshops and mixers not only gave me the skills and confidence to pursue my desire to grow food, but also introduced me to a vibrant and growing community of food producers in Alberta who are committed to sustainable, regenerative, and just farming practices and food systems. The Young Agrarians program gave me the incredible opportunity both to learn about and to experience the future of food production in this province. More than that, it has given me the opportunity to be part of it.”

 

More About Young Agrarians

 

Young Agrarians is a farmer to farmer resource network for new and young ecological, organic, and regenerative farmers. They offer the support, mentorship, and community that young farmers need to succeed. 

Canada needs a new generation of thriving, viable, ecological farmers. Ecological farmers help our communities and planet by…

  • – Growing good, clean, fair food
  • – Keeping our air, water, and soil safe with better farming practices 
  • – Preserving biodiversity 
  • – Mitigating climate change and increasing the resilience of agriculture to its impacts

Ecological farmers play an important role in the future health and well-being of our planet. Unfortunately, farmers represent less than 1.6% of the population in Canada and that number is shrinking; young farmers 35 and under represent only 9% of that number. 

The fact is that it’s hard to grow new farmers. New farmers often face barriers to entering the farming industry like gaining access to land, business knowledge, and experience. 

That’s why Young Agrarians is supporting ecological farmers by offering on and off-farm educational events (ranging from farm tours and potlucks to one to two day mixers, small-scale farming workshops and more), a B.C. Business Mentorship program that pairs up new farms in start-up with experienced mentors, the B.C. Land Matching Program to pair land owners with farmers seeking land, and the Alberta Apprenticeship Program; as well as extensive online resources and services. 

You can learn more about Young Agrarians or donate to them directly here! Thank you for supporting women farmers!

SPUD has been delivering local and organic groceries in Vancouver and the lower mainland for the past 20 years, and now services Vancouver Island, Calgary, and Edmonton as well!

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