Avoiding American? Tips to source local produce in Kamloops, Okanagan
Some shoppers in Kamloops and the Okanagan are researching and sourcing Canadian products in the wake of U.S. president Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“Now is a perfect time to focus on local food systems, and I think people want to know what’s going on, what’s available and why companies choose to do what they do,” Okanagan Grown Produce general manager Lilian Posch told iNFOnews.ca.
Her Vernon-based company has been marketing locally grown field crops, fruit, greenhouse and storage crops for more than 80 years.
Posch said food systems have many layers and not only has there been a shift in food distribution over the years, there has been a shift in consumer expectations that is contributing to the reliance on products from other countries.
Her company currently supports seven commercial-sized growers in the Okanagan and one in Kamloops that supply the distribution centres for major grocery chains.
“We used to have a direct-to-store program running where our company contacted local stores and filled and packed orders to be out on store shelves the following morning,” she said.
“Now local produce goes on trucks, down the highway to distribution centres in the Lower Mainland. It sits in a warehouse and then is loaded on trucks and distributed to stores from there.”
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One commercial grower Posch’s company supports is Dhaliwal Green Acres Veg Farm located in Heffley Creek just north of Kamloops. It's the largest onion grower in the province and also grows tonnes of potatoes.
“The onion growers have truckloads of products that drive past the stores going down to Surrey into a warehouse and distributed instead of staying in the community. We see the same thing in Vernon, Penticton and Osoyoos," she said.
Posch said when prices go up at grocery stores, the growers are not getting that money, the stores are and they’re the ones setting the prices.
“The store is buying products from the U.S. because they’re cheaper,” she said. “A lot of these big corporate grocery stores don’t care, it’s profit over people.”
One of the hardest products to source locally in Kamloops and the Okanagan in the winter months is perishable produce.
“This generation has come to the point where they have to have everything all of the time, we don’t need everything all of the time,” she said. “We have blackberries out of season because we’re trading with another country, because a few people asked for them.
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“People don’t necessarily buy them because they’re too expensive or the flavour isn’t what they’re used to so the grocery store throws them away or it goes to a soup kitchen. The store marks something else up to make up lost profit.”
She said consumers can think about what seasonal produce is growing in fields at different times of the year when they’re shopping. There are seasonal products like tomatoes and peppers, and storable products like potatoes, carrots, onions and beets.
“It’s impossible for local farmers to grow lettuce at this time of year unless it’s in a greenhouse,” she said. “Storable items are put into computerized, temperature-controlled facilities and kept in the dark with air circulation so those hold.”
A lot of the province’s produce is grown by commercial greenhouse operations in the Lower Mainland.
“There are now vertical greenhouse operations popping up, a big one in Naramata is growing lettuce and doing a beautiful job. Hopefully that industry will grow," she said.
“Field crops are starting in greenhouses down on the coast now so we should get long English cucumbers, some peppers and tomatoes in soon.”
Posch said consumers can help keep products local by confronting grocery outlets.
“If consumers want local produce in grocery stores, they can talk to the produce department store or manager and ask questions,” she said. “As the consumer, you’re empowered to demand local or question why the store is buying from the States.”
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Last week, iNFOnews.ca told you about Fred Nelson of Vernon who started a Facebook group called Buy Canadian First.
The group has more than 9,000 members who share tips on where to source Canadian and B.C. made products.
When asked where his members are finding locally grown produce in the Okanagan, Nelson named a few outlets including Swan Lake Fruit Stand and Butcher Boys in Vernon, and Askews in Armstrong.
“People are finding locally grown produce in smaller, more independent-type grocery stores,” Nelson previously told iNFOnews.ca. “They’re carrying more B.C. goods rather than larger chains that are buying warehouse quantities from U.S. growers.”
Posch agreed and suggested consumers support smaller produce stores.
“NuLeaf in Kamloops is an amazing little store, they’re doing a great job but have challenges as well,” she said. “They have product coming in from the U.S. and California.”
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Nelson said a shift is happening with consumers not only looking at labels on products, but identifying and buying from Canadian-owned retailers like Save-On-Foods and Superstore as much as possible.
“They’re supporting Canadian owned companies, it’s shifting where our money goes,” he said. “Some have to shop at Walmart, it’s understandable, but they’re doing their best by putting two or three more Canadian goods in their carts.
“Generally retailers are still not marketing clearly where the goods are coming from, especially produce. When we see the label BC Greenhouse on tomatoes for example, they’re not necessarily grown in B.C. BC Hothouse has a tremendous number of greenhouses in California.”
More and more apps are appearing and being shared to help consumers identify Canadian made goods.
Go here to access a Made in Canada grocery guide showing locally made products.
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