SummerEditor's Profile

I was in the Lower Mainland and while the store had great selection, almost all the fruit was from outside British Columbia.

Plums and grapes had come from California and most of the apples were from Washington. This was odd since our apple harvest was well underway. 

I finally located a B.C. apple, but it should have been easier to find something from this province.

The same thing happened a few days ago, at one of our local grocery stores. Once again I saw many apples from Washington and even some from New Zealand. I shook my head in disbelief. 

This is the Okanagan. We grow fruit here. 

Summerland’s origins are agricultural and over the years, some great apple and cherry varieties have been developed at the Pacific Agri-food Research Centre.

British Columbia’s fruit industry is smaller than in the past, but it’s still quite active. Why do we need to import apples?

I’ve long believed in buying local fruit and I will not knowingly buy a Washington-grown apple. It’s a small way of showing my support to our orchardists.

I also make it a habit to look for other foods from B.C. — a challenge at the best of times and a daunting task in the winter months.

British Columbia does not have a lot of good land for farming and often, our agricultural land is also in demand for development. We see this happening here in Summerland and in many other communities in the province.

Some would argue there is no need to preserve our agricultural industry. After all, we can easily and cheaply get apples from Washington and we can easily and cheaply get produce from California, Mexico and other places. 

Relying on imported food is not a good strategy. We may have a strong, dependable and cheap source of food today, but what happens in the future?

A few years ago, we watched fuel prices escalate. This increased the prices of all goods, especially those coming to us from far away.

We’ve also watched as food shortages have affected other parts of the world. In a crisis, if we are dependent upon other nations for our food, we may find ourselves cut off as they struggle to meet their own needs.

There are obviously some limits to our agricultural production. Canada’s climate is not suitable for growing rice or for the commercial production of peanuts. We will not be a producer of olives or avocados. Citrus and bananas do not grow well in this country.

When it comes to many other fruits and vegetables, I don’t understand why we should have to import. 

Are we not able to produce enough to meet our country’s needs? Are we not able to keep people farming? 

Or have we simply chosen to use some of our best farm land for other uses?

Whatever the case, it is not acceptable for us to depend on other countries for our food supply.

And it is ludicrous that in the Okanagan, anyone would even consider importing apples.

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