Canada: This Surrey field produces millions of vegetables for B.C. But it could be paved over for warehouses
“No other piece of land is producing what this piece is doing right now in B.C. If we didn’t have it, we’d lose our early vegetable supply.”
By Glenda Luymes
Vancouver Sun
Jun 20, 2022
Excerpt:
More than a quarter of the local potatoes, carrots, cabbage and squash available from spring to early summer in B.C. are harvested from a single Surrey property that isn’t protected in the Agricultural Land Reserve.
A group of farmers is calling on government to change that before it is paved over and sprouts warehouses.
The Campbell Heights property at 192nd Street and 36th Avenue is essential to B.C.’s food security, particularly in years when the weather is wet and cool, said Tristin Bouwman, crop manager with Heppell’s Potatoes.
“No other piece of land is producing what this piece is doing right now in B.C.,” he said. “If we didn’t have it, we’d lose our early vegetable supply.”
The 220-acre field is part of a 300-acre property owned by the federal government that has been leased by Heppell’s for the last 50 years. It produces between 30 million and 50 million servings of vegetables each year, which in early spring and late fall are often the only locally grown field veggies available in B.C. grocery stores.
The produce harvested from the field offsets the province’s reliance on food grown in Mexico and the United States, while helping to retain market share for other B.C. produce, said farmer Tyler Heppell.
Read the complete article here.
Follow-up:
Mayor pledges to protect Surrey field that produces millions of B.C.’s vegetables
Doug McCallum said the Campbell Heights property, located at 192nd Street and 36th Avenue, is a “vital piece of farm land that should remain untouched.”
