Did you miss this event on May 19? Good News, you can watch the recorded presentations here!
Salt Spring food growers are significantly reducing the GHG emissions we produce by keeping our food systems local. Here is our opportunity to learn what is underway on the island and what we can do to help increase and improve local food and agricultural production!
Join us in rooting down to enhance our robust local food economy—providing solutions to lowering our carbon footprint through improving Salt Spring Island’s food and agricultural systems.
We heard from:
Anne Macey, President of the Salt Spring Abattoir Society and the current chair of the SSI Agricultural Alliance and the Island Natural Growers;
Patricia Reichert, Food System Analyst and project manager at The Root farm centre, a centrally-located food processing, distribution, and storage facility we can all use; and
Kaleigh Barton from Heavenly Roots Farm, CSA farmer, on the board for the Community Market Society, the Salt Spring Farmland Trust Society, and co-ordinator of the annual SS Seedy Saturday
Thank you to our host Bobbi Janowiak, who has happily participated in the SSI Conservancy, the Garden Club, and is a member of the TSS Education Committee for over six years.
The Salt Spring Abattoir is a community facility managed by the not-for-profit Salt Spring Abattoir Society. It provides local custom slaughter services for both red meat and poultry.
In 2010 the agricultural community came together to raise funds to build a local abattoir. The intent was to remove the need for farmers to leave the island for slaughter service, ensure humane treatment of animals, and increase local food production and food security. The Salt Spring Abattoir opened late in 2012 for poultry and now processes all types of livestock under a provincial license.
The Root will be a centrally-located food processing, distribution, and storage facility, operated on a break-even basis as an incubator for increased local food production. The aim is to increase food production on Salt Spring by making it easier for local growers to bring their harvest to market, add value to it and connect with consumers on the island and the surrounding region. A hub for food initiatives and the development of new value-added products using Salt Spring-grown produce, the Farm Centre will also serve as an educational center for food security, food safety, and value-added processing. It will provide access to food-related vocational rehabilitation programs that do not currently exist.
Eating local and growing food – How are farmers working together with the community and finding innovative solutions to provide individuals with local food? Salt Spring has different models like CSAs and Market Clubs/Market CSAs, with the regrowth of the farm-stand culture. How can we increase local food availability at local retailers, and what are new websites and applications that make buying local food on Salt Spring Island easy. Let’s find out how gardeners can meet their own household food needs by accessing locally grown seeds and participating in the seed system. Let’s pursue growing food that makes ecology and sustainability a priority!