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Today fruit growers are taking a loss they hope will help lead to some gains. Selling 3,200 pounds of Grade A apples for 12 cents a pound at the Kelowna Farmers‘ Market, with proceeds donated to the food bank, they hope to educate locals on what they’re facing.
By Kathy Michaels
In the hills above the city, a new trend is taking root.
Fruit trees once tightly pruned can be seen growing freely. To the untrained eye, it may not seem like a noteworthy change, but industry experts know it heralds a lesser crop down the road, and worse yet, the possibility of another farmer throwing in the towel.
“It’s become a situation that’s not too good,” said said BC Fruit Growers Association member Fred Steele, noting some haven’t had the money to hire farm staff.
“We’ve had a couple of cases that people didn’t have credit as growers because they haven’t finished paying last year’s bill —they’re desperate.”
Among agriculturalists the problem of dwindling revenues has been understood for awhile, though the dire nature of their situation didn’t present itself until January.
That’s when the packinghouse delivers payment on the crop they took in the year before, and the amount was so paltry this time that it sent growers into a series of emergency meetings.
Since then they’ve been ringing alarm bells and making pleas to government hoping something will happen to allow them to continue on.
“This is the perfect storm,” said Steele. “The frost, the Canadian dollar, the recession… all of these things came together to produce a blasted disaster.”
As relief, they want $10 million in federal emergency funding. That will be used to buoy up farmers until they can transition to a system that will allow them to get money out of the marketplace.
And they need public support.
That’s leading to today’s sale, of sorts, at the farmer’s market. They’re selling 3,200 pounds of Grade A apples for 12 cents a pound at the Kelowna Farmers‘ Market, with proceeds donated to the food bank.
“We bought the apples at the regular price of a box and are selling them for 12 cents a pound and handing out leaflets to the public so they know what the problems are so when we talk to government, we have some allies,” Steele said.
The 12 cent figure didn’t come out of the blue either. That’s what January’s low payment amounted to, and that was far below the cost of production.
“The break even amount is about 22 cents,” said Steele. “That’s the direct cost of production, it can be more than that when you figure in interest on loans.”
That paltry pay-back is something Steele doesn’t think most people are in the know about, or how it affects their food supply.
“The general public doesn’t know the precarious situation of the entire food industry,” he said, pointing to a drought in California that is already impacting supplies.
“Food prices could conceivably double… and we do need some assistance to keep going. It’s not just farmers who will benefit. The treefruit industry, brings $130 million of income in this valley.”
If that industry would completely collapse, everyone facet of the economy would be impacted.
Learn more today at the farmers’ market on Springfield Road across from Orchard Park Shopping Centre. It will be open until 1 p.m.
2 Responses to “See what 12 cents a pound looks like, and think like a farmer”
Tags: apples, BCFGA, crisis, Farmers' Market, Fred Steele, Fruit Growers, Kelowna
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$10 million in federal emergency funding is just going directly into Jimmy Pattisons pocket. Retailers are getting rich off the backs of the growers. The growers need to get together and start their own grower direct outlets that sell directly to the consumer in each city.
Stop selling to “Jimmy”. Thats why hes’ a billionare.
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Farmers Get the web sell Apples direct and value add make apple pie & apple juice sell direct to the public via web cut out the middle guy like the supermarket chains this benefits you Joe Farmer & me Joe Public.
Grow Organic non GMO non patented food free of any Corporate ties!
Make a Farmers Co-op get rid of the middleman or go bankrupt Farmer.
Consumers are also responsible for buying local non corporate food.
If not the Corporates will screw both us & the Farmer!
Please continue discussion on the forum: link