What is your name, where do you farm, and who are your mentors? My name is Kim Watt and I run Thimble Hill Orchard and Nursery, just outside Nelson B.C. My business mentor is Chris Bodnar of Close to Home Organics in Abbotsford, and my production mentor is Richard Walker of Silver Moon Food Forest

Community Futures Wildfire Business Transition Program Business and Not-For-Profit Training The Wildfire Business Transition – Self-Directed Training Program is intended to help businesses and not-for-profits (organizations) impacted by the 2017 wild fire season to identify their training needs and provide financial and advisory support to meet those needs. Courses such as the “The Market Gardener’s Master

The inaugural 1st Generation Farmers Conference was a day of great connections and great ideas! More than 50 farmers, aspiring farmers, and farm supporters drove out to Rosy Farms, where we gathered to learn about marketing, business planning, building community, and everything in between. Although it was a cool August day, we made the most

Have you checked your website and packaging to ensure it’s aligned with the new Organic Certification Regulation? A new Organic Certification Regulation came into effect in BC on September 1, 2018. The term “organic” is now a protected label within BC.  This means producers and processors must have organic certification from an accredited certification body

One of the most common questions we hear from new farmers and producers in the Kootenays is about how to get their products into the local market. The Kootenay Co-op is an important sales channel for locally produced food in the Kootenays through the True Local Program. Our Columbia Basin Land Matcher, Hailey Troock, interviewed Nadine BenRabha, the

Give your progressive food business a leg up with Feeding Growth. Feeding Growth’s Scale Your Progressive Food Business is a five-part workshop series that provides practical tips to environmentally progressive, organic, ethical, and socially responsible packaged goods companies at critical stages of expansion. Feeding Growth alumni include award-winning businesses such as Wize Monkey, Spread’em Kitchen

Are you a 1st generation farmer looking to connect with a strong community of friends and mentors? Do you want to make your farm business more resilient by improving your financial plan and communication strategies? Are you an urbanite itching to get your boots on the ground but don’t know where to start? Join us

Stuart Basset is one of ten participants in the 2018/2019 YA Business Mentorship Program. His business is aptly named Peninsula Kiwi as he is growing kiwis in the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island. Stuart is new to the area and has developed a profit sharing arrangement with the landowner and is taking the stewardship of the land very seriously.

Do you do incorporate any value-added activity in your business? The Small Scale Food Processor Association is carrying out a project to determine needs for financing at all stages of business development. Please contribute with your experiences!  “We have heard over the years that finding financing to start up and to grow is one of the major

Are you a Certified Organic Farmer in Canada? Please take this survey to contribute to research on the social, environmental, and business motivations of organic producers in Canada.  This survey, designed by a research team from the University of Guelph, is collecting information on the motivations of Canadian organic farmers to farm organically. If you are a certified