Controversy swirls around God’s Little Acre farm

WATCH ABOVE: B.C. food banks are cutting ties with the owner of God’s Little Acre in Surrey over controversy. Jeremy Hunka has the details.

A Surrey farm that has given most of its produce away to the needy is facing allegations of poor quality and questions around profits from British Columbia’s largest food bank organization.

Jas Singh started God’s Little Acre in 2011 after he “had a vision of a farm dedicated to the needy.” In the years since, his South Surrey farm has grown into a massive operation, producing hundreds of thousands of pounds of food thanks to the work of hundreds of volunteers.

WATCH: Global News profiled Singh’s farm in 2013

At the beginning of February, Singh launched a GoFundMe campaign to pay for new equipment.

This week, Food Banks B.C., which has 96 member food banks across the province, said they no longer take food from Singh due to a number of issues they say were brought to Singh in 2013 and never addressed. In an open letter, Executive Director Laura Lansink made the following allegations:

• Food bank members were asked to give money to Singh to help grow his farm, but the return they received in produce was worth less than the amount invested.
• At least one food bank member “regularly received produce that was deemed unfit for human consumption.”
• Food bank members would provide volunteers to God’s Little Acre to grow produce for food banks, but “in some cases volunteers complained that the crops they had assisted with in fact were sold for profit.”
• Singh would imply to donors, volunteers and supporters that God’s Little Acre is a registered charity, which is not the case

Singh says the complaints were fueled by food banks and farms upset at the high public profile of God’s Little Acre.

“They’ve got to quit picking on a poor farmer. I’m the poorest guy out here,” he said.

“There were no issues for three years…and now that I started a GoFundMe page, all of a sudden it becomes an issue. And you know why? Because those donations could have gone elsewhere. But they’re coming to me, because they support me.”

Singh questioned how the allegations could be true if the Vancouver Food Bank and soup kitchens throughout Metro Vancouver still support him. And he says the only complaint he ever received from the B.C. Food Bank over the quality of his food was about a bin of cucumbers.

Still, he’s admitted that the organization of God’s Little Acre is different from most farms.

“I never kept track of our distribution because I trusted all of you when you took product to people who needed it and it was the right thing to do,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “We have a list of people we sent product to but for the most part….like on my last post…..most of you who mentioned which school I helped or people I helped I have no clue….all I know is what I grew.”

He also defended the lack of charity status for his farm.

“Everybody’s aware of that. It’s me, I’m a single proprietor, and what I’m doing is creating a business, and the business is charity.”

Food Banks B.C. isn’t elaborating on the allegations in their letter. But Lansink says it comes down to questions about accountability and transparency.

“In 2013, we did hear from a few of our food bank members, mainly in the Lower Mainland that they had some concerns. We did go down, and spoke with them, and tried to find out what was happening,” she said.

“It was definitely a concern and troubling to us.”

She’s disappointed the relationship didn’t work out.

“It’s sad when you hear any relationship that hasn’t thrived the way you hope they would. With 97,000 people needing help each month, we do need all the help we can get.”

WATCH: Lansink says she hopes the relationship can eventually recover

Most farms in the Lower Mainland, many of whom donate a portion of their produce to charity, have for the most part stayed quiet. But Bill Zylmans, owner of WA Farms, says the questions surrounding Singh’s farm have been discussed for years.

“Farmers have been wondering how someone can survive working only on a charity basis? Long-term, I don’t think it’s viable and sustainable,” he said.

“Farming is an expensive operation we’re into today. Growing produce and food is not something you can do without some serious inputs.”

Singh says he’ll continue to grow his farm and donate food to whomever wants it. He stopped short of promising any concrete reforms in his interview with Global News, instead focusing his anger on the implications of B.C. Food Bank’s allegations.

“Basically, what they’ve said is all the volunteers that have come here are all stupid and sending out degraded product,” he charged.

“I don’t care who comes and takes it, I don’t have any qualifications, but you’re calling volunteers stupid. You’re telling me that I’m sending them inferior product..The public is going to support me now.”

There are many questions unanswered. But at least one thing said by Singh appears clear.

“There’s got to be something more going on than a bin of cucumber,” he said.

– With files from Jeremy Hunka and Asa Rehman