Vernon ‘honour fridge’ may have to close thanks to repeated thefts

It’s not a typical police case, but the reported theft of eggs and meat from an ‘honour’ fridge has prompted an alert from Vernon RCMP.

According to police, a man has repeatedly taken food from a honour-system fridge at a Vernon farm. Owners of ‘Mama’s Farm,’ located on Redwing Road, said the man first took a dozen eggs without putting payment into the jar.

Three days later, he returned and reportedly took more than $100 worth of organic meat from the fridge.

“Since the first report made to police, the same male has returned to the property four additional times and collected various items from the fridge including meat and eggs, without leaving any sort of payment behind,” said RCMP Cst. Kelly Brett. “To a small, local farm, thefts like this can be devastating and may jeopardize the way the farm continues to conduct business.”

The farmers working there said they started noticing things going missing on June 20 and believe the culprits have come back at least eight times.

Genniene Sutherland, also known as ‘Mama’ at the local farm, said the loss has been substantial.

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“They’ve taken the equivalent of us being able to buy a cow in the last week, so about eight to nine thousand dollars.”

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Sutherland said they haven’t had issues with the honour system in the past.

“Most everybody’s honest and if they don’t have the money today, they have the money the next day,” she said. “Give us a break, I’m happy you love Mama’s products, but start paying for it.”

Sutherland said they are looking into other alternatives to an honour system, like a vending machine.

Police said an additional suspect has been identified, but that they are seeking assistance in identifying the male seen in surveillance footage.

“We are confident with the media and public’s assistance we will be able to identify the male seen in the surveillance video,” said Brett.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Vernon RCMP at 250-545-7171

With files from Doyle Potenteau and Kristen Robinson