Richmond farmer George Gens has had to erect a fence around the fields that front Steveston Highway. He operates G J Farm and a produce stand at No. 4 Road and Steveston Highway.
People driving the likes of $100,000-plus luxury vehicles are backing into George Gens鈥� fields and stealing his pumpkins, prompting the farmer to erect fences around his G J Farm in south Richmond.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what to say; it鈥檚 hard. People look through, grab, that鈥檚 why we have to put a fence up,鈥� said Gens, who immigrated to Canada in 1989 from Paraguay, where he was raised on a family farm.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that they take pumpkin, it鈥檚 that they steal. I grew up in small place; no one steals; they need food, they ask. I don鈥檛 mind.
鈥淚f they come to us, they cannot afford, I will give it to them. I see many people; they are poor. They need something, I say take, take, it costs me $2,鈥� said Gens.
But, 鈥渋t breaks my heart to see a car 鈥� $80,000 鈥� come and steal,鈥� said Gens, whose rental fence cost $1,600.
This, he hopes, should prevent the BMW, Range Rover and Mercedes vehicles from accessing his fields. But many, he said, still seem undeterred as they move the fence's emergency exit to back their vehicles in.
Gens said he has only experienced the theft at such rates over the past four years.
鈥淔irst we put a sign, 鈥楴o Trespassing,鈥� and then we put a sign in Chinese and English. But people don鈥檛 care, they go right into the field and steal,鈥� said Gens, noting all his big pumpkins have been stolen.
鈥淲hen you see someone steal something that pleases everybody, I鈥檓 not too happy,鈥� said Gens, who wakes up most days at 4:30 a.m. to start work on his 85-acre vegetable farm.
Gens said from his home he hears the vehicles come in at night, after his dogs start barking at them. He said he's also installed cameras, hoping to catch the perpetrators.
Fellow verteran farmer Bill Zylmans told the Richmond News theft is a unique problem in Richmond.
This week, the City of Richmond launched a social media campaign to 鈥淩espect Our Farmers.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e been working with local farmers for a number of years . . . to address ongoing issues around vandalism, theft and other conflicts between the general public and farmers,鈥� said city spokesperson Ted Townsend.
鈥淭his year, local farmers have raised additional concerns about problems being caused by motorists stopping to observe the ongoing harvest鈥� and/or 鈥渉elping themselves to farmers鈥� crops,鈥� added Townsend.
Farms are private property, please no trespassing or helping yourself to crops. Harvest time is busy -keep safety a priority.
— City of Richmond (@Richmond_BC)
