Delta, B.C. – Everyone has heard of the 100-mile diet. But can you imagine surviving on a 10-mile diet?
Now you can. Thanks to a collaboration between the Tsawwassen First Nation and Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU), consumers can enjoy a diet that is much, much closer to home and features a plethora of veggies, free-range eggs and countless cuts of palate-pleasing pork.
“Our Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School opened in 2015, and we’ve been ‘growing’ ever since,” quipped Kent Mullinix, director of KPU’s Institute for Sustainable Food Systems.
Students in the 10-month farm school program began working an eight-hectare (20-acre) piece of land on the Tsawwassen First Nation in the spring, learning the science and business of farming plus perspectives on indigenous food systems. They have been raising market crops and small livestock (chickens and pigs), with the fruits of their labour sold at farmer’s markets around the Lower Mainland.
Members of the public interested in direct farm sales can also sign up for a weekly produce box with items that are in season and eggs, as well as order various pork products, from chorizo and salami to ham, bacon and chops.
All the produce is organic and the eggs are from free-range hens. As for the pork, farm pigs have access to a fenced, open area and are free to express their natural behaviours. When the time comes, the pigs are locally (Chilliwack) slaughtered to standards developed by Dr. Temple Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado State University.
There are various payment options available. A weekly produce box costs $25, with the option to add a dozen eggs biweekly for $5. The boxes can be picked up at two of KPU’s four campuses (Richmond and Surrey) as well as at various farmer’s markets in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, all pork products are frozen and available for pick up from the Richmond campus. All cuts are individually selected and priced, with options for single cuts or special quarter and half orders.
Proceeds from all sales are returned to the school to support the future farmers being trained there.
Visit kpu.ca/tfnfarm/box-a-week for more information and to place your order.
Photos of the Tsawwassen Farm School are available for download from Flickr.
About the Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School
The Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) Farm School is a collaboration between the TFN and the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems (ISFS) at KPU. First of its kind, the school fuses sustainable agriculture and traditional indigenous food systems as tools to build community and create dialogue around land stewardship for the future. The school program is open to all with curiosity on how to feed a growing population while restoring the land. The program curriculum takes place on traditional TFN lands that boast a traditional medicine garden, a two-acre mixed fruit orchard, an organic market garden, farm animals and incubator plots for the students that graduate from the program. The TFN Farm School is a gathering place to raise awareness around human-scaled alternative food production systems.
About Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Kwantlen Polytechnic University has served the Metro Vancouver region since 1981, and has opened doors to success for more than 200,000 learners. Four campuses—Richmond, Surrey, Cloverdale and Langley—offer a comprehensive range of sought-after programs in business, liberal arts, design, health, science and horticulture, trades and technology, and academic and career advancement. Over 19,000 students annually have a choice from over 120 programs, including bachelor’s degrees, associate degrees, diplomas, certificates, citations and apprenticeships. Learn more at kpu.ca.
Media contact:
Corry Anderson-Fennell
Manager, Media and Communications
t: 604.599.2840
c: 604.828.5232
corry.anderson-fennell@kpu.ca
For more KPU news:
@KPUmedia
kpu.ca/newsroom
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