Local food economy flourishes in Kamloops

By Samantha Garvey

At the Smorgasbord Café, a small but lively downtown Kamloops bistro, the local food movement is good for business.

The Smorgasbord is just one of many local businesses that, by supporting the local food movement's goals of promoting a clean environment and better health, also help the local economy by purchasing from growers and producers closer to home.

When consumers purchase from local businesses, and local businesses purchase from local producers, more money stays within the community. Those people, in turn, spend their earnings at other local outlets, creating a positive cycle.

Everybody benefits.

The Smorgasbord's owners, Dalton and Anita Strong, live by example by doing business in a responsible way. If the Smorgasbord purchases imported products, it endorses companies that exemplify fair trade. But whenever possible, the Strongs choose producers in the Kamloops area and suggest consumers do the same.

“I recommend going to the farmer’s markets,” Dalton Strong says. “Find the farmers you feel comfortable with and go to their farm and check it out.”

Laura Kalina shares the Smorgasbord’s ideals through her work at the Kamloops Food Policy Council (KFPC). She says the KFPC has become a leader in food policy across Canada since its creation in 1995.

Farmer’s markets and community gardens are among its successful initiatives and are positive ways to regain independence from imported food. The farmer’s market is growing in the number of suppliers and shoppers and there are now five community gardens throughout the city.

When it isn’t possible for individuals to grow their own food, Kalina says, choosing local suppliers and retailers is best.

“It’s not ‘How are we going to do this?’ but ‘When are we going to start?’”, she says. “On average, your food travels 3,000 km from gate to plate.”

This results in pesticide use to preserve the food and heavy packaging. Kalina says people should also be concerned about the ethical standards of growers and producers located far away.

“You don’t know their practices, how they treat their employees, for example,” Kalina says.

According to Helena Norberg, an economic and agricultural analyst, farmers make a higher profit by selling their products locally rather than exporting. In the U.K., for example, 95 per cent of all money spent on food goes to transport, packaging, irradiation, colouring, advertising, and corporate profit-margins. The farmers’ profits come from the remainder.

Shifting to a local food economy won’t be easy, Kalina says, and “education is the biggest barrier.” The KFPC has been working towards a partnership with the Kamloops school system to get better nutrition in schools and provide kids with better education and training.

Education is also a concern of Smorgasbord supplier Kathy Wikkerink. She owns and operates Gort’s Gouda, which produces specialty cheeses, creams and milk in Salmon Arm. She and her husband took over the dairy farm in 2007.

“I want to know what college students think,” she says. She hopes they recognize the commitment her company is making to smarter practices and are drawn to the transparency of their production methods. Gort’s Gouda products are from grass-fed cows and are certified organic. The company is careful to avoid products that use genetically modified organisms (GMO).

Their commitment to local and healthy products has never faltered, she adds.

“We don’t want to lose that passion, that vision,” Wikkerink says, adding that community support is strong. “We work together to make a living.”

Deb Kellogg and her husband own Thistle Farms in Kamloops and have created a home-delivery system for buying local organic produce. The box program that the family farm began in 1998 allows the customer to select  produce online and have it delivered to their home.

When people buy from Thistle Farms they are “supporting a province and a country where business practices are fair,” Kellogg says. “The more people become aware of the hidden costs, the environmental costs and the health costs (of other companies) I think they’ll realize it’s worth it.”
 
Kellogg and Kalina both say the business community in Kamloops is gradually supporting close-by growers and producers.

Mike Bruch, the general manager of Nature’s Fare Markets in the city, agrees.

“People in Kamloops are paying more attention to healthy products,” he says. The store carries numerous products from local suppliers, such as Craig’s Bakery on the North Shore.

Bruch says that there is a misconception about the price of local foods. People assume the cost is higher than imported food sold at chain stores and supermarkets. But Bruch says that as local products gain popularity, the demand goes up and the price goes down. He says Nature’s Fare prices are usually on par with those at a supermarket.

The ability to ask an employee questions about products is very important to customers, Bruch adds, and will hopefully attract people to alternative choices such as Nature’s Fare.

Customer Kevin Marshall says he shops at Nature's Fare because he supports local foods.

“Bringing in (product) from the (United States), takes the local producer out of the game,” says the second-year science student. He also says when you shop and buy local the food tastes better.