A commentary by a resident of Qualicum Beach.
It was shocking and heartbreaking to hear of the recent closure of B.C. Tree Fruits, based in Kelowna and one of Canada’s best-known and respected agricultural co-operatives.
Shocking because the co-operative had been successfully working for its member growers for 88 years — heartbreaking to me because there was a close family connection and respect for the organization.
My father managed the Norfolk Fruit Growers’ Association in Ontario, where B.C. Tree Fruits took on an almost mythical air during his many years of collaboration with them and his respect for their work.
Fruit growers’ co-operatives and the good they do for farmers is woven into my DNA.
How can the province stand by and let the B.C. Tree Fruits member growers twist in the wind while the receivers come in and deliver the killing stroke?
Damage from climate change is getting deeper and wider. The headlines have been mostly about dramatic events — floods, wildfires, and heat domes.
Kelowna, Slave Lake, Fort McMurray, Lytton, Lahaina, West Kelowna, now Jasper, just to name a few, are dramatic examples.
Take a moment, however, to think about the challenges farmers around the world are dealing with as the crops they have traditionally grown become more and more stressed from local growing condition changes.
The Okanagan is a clear example.
B.C. Tree Fruits has been facing many challenges in today’s modern food marketing free-for-all zoo, but the recent multi-year run of poor crops was clearly exacerbated by climate-change effects.
Just one example of farmers paying the price, while oil and gas companies are still subsidized by taxpayers while making record profits.
Where are the subsidies to keep the orchardists going in tough times? It takes significant monetary investment, and at least a decade of hard, hard work to get an orchard to the point where it starts to produce a modest profit (and by the way, provide us with very healthy food).
Co-op organizations traditionally offer stability and resilience to their members as they nurture their orchards, which ultimately nurture all of us.
The co-ops are supposed to look after their members through thick and thin — I have seen this in action many times.
The way in which B.C. Tree Fruits went down is absolutely ugly, and serious questions need to be asked as to who made the decisions and why.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Some apple varieties are already being harvested and many others are just about ready.
Without warning, the growers were told they would have to figure out on their own how and where to sell their crops. Think about that for a minute. Their cold and controlled atmosphere storage facilities are shut down — there are no packing lines running — there is no sales force to try to bargain with the tight-fisted grocery czars.
Meanwhile, even though they jointly own the facilities and lands, these assets are now off-limits and in bankruptcy limbo, and the apples are soon going to be dropping off the trees.
Total disaster. These farmers need relief, and they need it now. Where is it? What are our priorities? I suggest growing nutritious food should be really, really high on the list.
The Canadian government loaned, at last count, about $40 billion to the builders of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. There is talk of billions and billions more in subsidies to oil companies so they can play at building carbon capture and storage, which most experts say will likely never be viable.
A common belief is that they are just buying themselves time to continue to pump oil at record profits.
Subsidies for hydrogen technology — more and more billions, and another boondoggle. But the farmers who grow the food to feed us? Too bad, so sad, you’re on your own.
It is unfortunate that the fossil fuel industry did not share their in-house research from decades ago that scientifically confirmed that what is happening now would result from the products they were selling.
If we had the real research to chew on 40 years ago, we might have been able to keep ahead of this — reduce the warming and switch to more resilient crops.
Many of us are working to try to right that wrong, but farmers everywhere need help, guidance and relief.
If there was ever a time for intervention by all levels of government, it is now. Let’s go!
