Thanks to a sizable donation, farmers in North Saanich may soon have access to a much-needed farm hub processing facility.
The generous gift, announced at a council meeting on April 28 by local resident Greg Warner, aims to bolster the district’s agricultural initiatives and support local farmers, aligning with the vision outlined in the district's draft Official Community Plan (OCP).
Warner holds a donor-advised fund at Charitable Impact Foundation Canada and proposed to use the full value of $750,000 to contribute to the cost of constructing a "farm food hub processing facility" in the district.
He called his contribution a "starter kit," envisioning a community-driven project that can be expanded upon as resources and time permit.
Warner said the donation is specifically intended to help North Saanich achieve tangible results in line with the OCP's agricultural objectives.
The proposed farm hub seeks to address a critical gap in the local food system – the lack of adequate facilities for processing, packing, storage and distribution.
This absence has long been a challenge for smaller and medium-sized farms in the region, hindering their ability to scale up and compete effectively.
Phase one of the project envisions a minimum of 1,000 square feet facility, constructed with a modular design to allow for future expansion.
Warner emphasized the importance of this scalability. "One thousand square feet is not very big, so we realized it would be nice to build it in a modular format so that we could expand it as funds and resources became available."
As part of the proposal, Warner is requesting the district to provide the land for the facility, with a potential location being the area adjacent to the current municipal building on Mills Road.
He also requested the district provide utility hook-ups, including three-phase electrical power, water and septic infrastructure.
Under the proposal, North Saanich would be the sole owner of the facility and responsible for the planning, design and construction.
The hope is that the facility will primarily benefit smaller and medium-sized farms within North Saanich.
If excess capacity exists, it could also be made available to farmers from outside the immediate community.
Michael Hughes, co-owner of Kildara Farms, a local farming operation since 1987, lauded the proposal, emphasizing its potential to greatly benefit nearly every farmer in North Saanich.
"That's because it allows access to resources that maybe we otherwise wouldn't have or couldn't afford and especially for new farmers who are maybe starting on an acre of land or less or trying to start their farming business," he explained.
Hughes emphasized the importance of the project in strengthening local agriculture, food security and community support.
"That's why this food hub is a massive step towards doing that so we don't have to import from California, Mexico, or Ecuador and really focus on the local food economy," he added.
He highlighted the concerning statistic from Vancouver Island Coast Regional Agriculture that over 90 per cent of the food – including produce – consumed on the Island currently comes from outside the region, stressing the need to prioritize local resources and community resilience.
The farm hub is envisioned as a vital piece of infrastructure to support this shift towards a more localized food system.
The overarching goal is to preserve, promote and revitalize local agriculture, while simultaneously encouraging a new generation of farmers, addressing gaps in the local food chain and investing in agricultural infrastructure.
This would contribute to a more vibrant, thriving, prosperous, sustainable and food-secure future, all while reducing the carbon footprint associated with the food supply chain.
Beyond its practical applications, Warner envisions the facility evolving into a community hub and an educational resource over time.
The proposal itself incorporated input from farmers, community members and ongoing discussions between district staff regarding the OCP.
Councillor Sanjiv Shrivastava, the district’s agricultural liaison, enthusiastically welcomed Warner's proposal, calling it an "amazing and generous gift to the district and the community."
He emphasized the critical need for localized food production and processing, noting the significant food waste that occurs within the global food industry.
"If you look at the global food industry in North America, 40 per cent of the food goes to waste after processing. In Asia, Africa and Latin America, over 40 per cent of the loss occurs from the farm to a product to a distribution place," he explained.
Chief administrative officer Stephanie Munro said the district may leverage an earlier feasibility study on a food hub, which was greenlit by council on June 3, 2024, to inform the development of the project.
Council unanimously approved a motion directing staff to report back at a later date to further expand upon the food hub preliminary feasibility study outlined in Staff Report No. CS-24-028, which was presented at the Oct. 7, 2024, regular meeting of Council.
