While B.C. grown produce may cost more for now, farmers are urging shoppers to buy local

The recent U.S. tariffs have brought a greater focus to buying local products, but B.C. farmers say that can come with some challenges.

Abbotsford blueberry farmer and farming advocate Gagan Singh says many in the B.C. agriculture industry are struggling to survive these days due to a number of factors, with the biggest being the high cost of farming.

Singh hosted a series of town halls recently to discuss solutions and urged consumers to pay more attention to where their food comes from.

“You’ll start becoming aware that Canadian produce is going to have to be expensive for the time being because it’s so expensive to grow Canadian produce and there’s not a ton of local demand, which unfortunately is keeping the prices higher,” Singh said.

1:04 Province highlighting food industry efforts to ‘Buy B.C.’

He added that they identified seven reasons why farmers in B.C. are failing.

They include competition with cheaper imports; unpredictable weather and climate change; limited marketing and sales reach; difficult accessing capital and funding; rising costs; restrictive government policies and regulations; and operational challenges and inefficiencies.

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“Everything is so expensive here,” Singh said.

“Farmers here are excellent farmers but they are not excellent at marketing,” adding that less than five per cent of what people pay for produce at the grocery store goes back to the farmers.

Minister of Agriculture and Food, Lana Popham, told Global News that it is “all hands on deck” right now to help find solutions.

“We have producers now that are getting their products on shelves across Canada, but more of that would be great,” she said. “There’s been complications because we have two levels of inspections, for example, so CFIA inspects, in some cases, in meat plants, and the provincial government inspects.”

Singh said they are meeting with Popham on Tuesday.

“A lot of people don’t understand how complex (farming) is,” Singh said. “One thing consumers can do is buy your groceries, buy everything you need but start paying attention to where products are coming from.”

He added that many will start to notice how more products are imported into B.C. and Canada than grown here.