Farming in British Columbia

Jordan Marr
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Interviews with BC-based farmers, food processors, academics and others who contribute to food production in BC in one way or another.

  1. 4D AGO

    Burnout Claims a Veggie Farmer in Buffalo Creek

    This time on the podcast: my conversation with Robin Hunt of Big Rock Ranch. Back in 2016, Robin moved from Squamish up to their grandparent’s property near 100 Mile House to start a market garden business and live the truly rural life they’d been craving for years. There was a steep learning curve for Robin and their business partner Johan, but in short order the two established themselves as a fixture at the local farmers market, and the business expanded quickly to include restaurant sales, a CSA program, and eventually, wholesaling. Robin joined me last week to talk about that trajectory and the burnout that followed, leading to a decision to pause farming operations for the foreseeable future.

    51 min

  2. MAR 18

    A corporation is buying up this BC community's farmland

    Today on the show, listener submissions about the permanent time change announcement, and then we head to the central interior, where residents of Dunster, a rural community in the Robson Valley along highway 16 south of McBride, have been grappling with a decline in population that some say is connected to a single corporation having bought up a substantial amount of the farmland there. You’ll hear from two residents of the region who are part of an organized effort to advocate for policy change that might help communities like Dunster grow rather than contract. Info about the online forum on March 25 mentioned in the episode: The Dunster Community Association is holding an online forum with communities across B.C. to discuss and understand how land speculation, non-farm development, corporate interests, and Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) policies are impacting agricultural and community development. If you’ve encountered similar issues or are making efforts to address farmland loss or corporate acquisition in your area, we invite you to share your perspectives so that we can gather to address these challenges. This online meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 25th 6:30 pm to 8 pm. If you want to reach out to Dunster Community Association about this issue/project before the online meeting, please connect with Rashmi Narayan (Dunster Farmland Project Coordinator) at dunsterfarmland@gmail.com.

    52 min

  3. MAR 4

    You Got a License for those Potatoes, Bud? Orderly Marketing Comes to Northern BC

    For many years, the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission’s authority has only covered southern BC. But in 2024, the commission announced its intention to expand its regulatory authority over production in northern BC. The news was met with surprise and suspicion by some in that farming community who opposed the specifics of what the commission was envisioning. Eventually, this opposition came together to speak with a unified voice through the District C Farmers Institute, and the marketing commission listened, and subsequently engaged that community in a consultation process to determine what its expansion into the area of BC above the 53rd parallel would look like. Two years on, BC’s Vegetable Marketing Commission has just published an updated version of its rules that includes an expansion of its authority to all of BC. On the surface, it appears the primary concerns expressed by the District C Farmers Institute have been addressed, but I was curious to know what farmers were opposed to in the first place, what the consultation process looked like, and whether the farmers originally opposed to northern expansion of the commission are now satisfied. So I reached out to the District C Farmers Institute, and they connected me with two representatives who gave me an interview. Then, after that, I welcome BC Veggie Marketing Commission Senior Policy & Market Analyst Jerome Lengkeek back on the show to talk about these developments from the commission’s perspective.

    1h 1m

  4. FEB 18

    Yanking out Cherries in Creston: Danny Turner

    It’’s been a while since I’ve featured a long-form conversation with a BC farmer, but this episode I’ve got one to share with you. Danny Turner is one half of the ownership of Just A Mere Farm in BC’s Creston Valley. For year’s Danny’s main cash crop has been organic cherries, but the last time he turned a profit on the crop was before Covid. So Danny has gone all-in on organic blueberries, and he joined me to tell me why. We also talked about his earlier life as a management consultant, the value of good agrology, and why he thinks farmers should think in ten year cycles. In the community segment this time, some stories about regrettable purchases for the farm.

    1h 1m

  5. FEB 5

    Bonus: Werner Stump has concerns about aspects of BC's Reconciliation Policy

    This bonus episode: you heard a couple of media clips of Werner Stump, BC rancher and current President of BC Cattlemans, in the episode with George Abbott released yesterday. In this bonus episode, Werner joins me to discuss his concerns about aspects of BC's approach to reconciliation and the potential impact to decisions like Cowichan. In our conversation he references the Provincial Agreement on Haida Aboriginal Title. Then: a white landowner in Haida Gwaii shares her perspective about owning private title in the context of said agreement.

    28 min

  6. FEB 4

    "Land Title is Under Threat!": Legit Concern? Moral Panic?

    Today on the show I wade into the reconciliation discourse, because lately I’ve felt surrounded by it. Last August 7th the BC Supreme Court released its Cowichan Tribes decision, which recognized Cowichan Tribes' Aboriginal title to part of their traditional lands in Richmond. Some lands owned by the City of Richmond & the Federal government were declared invalid, and the decision also found that the granting of private property by the Crown on these lands unfairly infringed on the Cowichans' Aboriginal title, which was never extinguished. The ruling said a lot more than that. It’s over 800 pages long. But the much shorter summaries that have typified most media coverage of the case have led to a lot of public anxiety that suddenly, private property might be under threat. This anxiety extends into pockets of the farming community. My guest on this episode is George Abbott, who was an MLA for his Shuswap riding for seventeen years starting in 1996. He held multiple portfolios in Premier Gordon Campbell’s cabinet including Education, Health, Sustainable Resource Management, and Indigenous Relations. He went on to obtain a PhD in Political Studies, and he currently sits as the government-appointed commissioner at BC’s Treaty Commission. He's also the author of Unceded: Understanding British Columbia’s Colonial Past and Why It Matters Now. George joined me via video conference a few days ago to offer his insights about private property concerns, and to talk about 160+ years of settler-indigenous relations in our province. *** To learn more about the Organic BC/SSMPA Grazing Workshop advertised at the head of this episode, click here or visit farminginbc.ca/grazing

    1h 3m

  7. JAN 21

    Where are all of BC's Cooperative Grocers?

    This episode, a conversation about the Kootenay Co-op, a Nelson based, co-operatively owned, 21000 square foot grocery store that turns 50 this year, and which spent four million dollars last year purchasing products from farmers and processors in the Kootenay region. My guest is Amanda Verigin, who joined me to tell me about the store’s beginnings as a bulk food buying club in 1975, and how the co-op impacts, and is impacted by, a food system dominated by a handful of giant, vertically integrated grocery behemoths. To learn more about the Organic BC/SSMPA Grazing Workshop advertised at the head of this episode, click here or visit farminginbc.ca/grazing farminginbc.ca/submit farminginbc.ca/advertise

    54 min

  8. JAN 7

    Year in Review pt. 4

    In this final episode of the 2025 Farming in BC Yearbook Project, each farmer who participated joins me on the phone to compare the goals and anxieties they expressed at the head of the season to what actually happened. If there's anything you want to share with the show, visit farminginbc.ca/submit. Potential advertisers can visit farminginbc.ca/advertise for info on how to sponsor the show.

    1h 3m
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About

Interviews with BC-based farmers, food processors, academics and others who contribute to food production in BC in one way or another.

Information

  • Creator
    Jordan Marr
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    59
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Jordan Marr
  • Show Website
    Farming in British Columbia

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