A VISION

for a
TRI-CITIES
CO-OP
(Three River Co-op)

TERESA LYNNE

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About Me
Food Security Threats
• Lack of local, fresh produce
• Global food costs increasing
• Climate Change:
• CA drought – less than 10 years left
• future unknowns make food security a priority
• Poverty, high cost of living and housing
• Increasing population
• Government policies often driven by colonialism, making
questionable decisions:
• ongoing increased use of pesticides and herbicides that
are known carcinogenics
• desiccation and food irradiation processes
• mono crops kill soil
• unfair distribution of government funds between indus-
trialized agriculture and small farmers
• Lack of local food processing, food aggregation and distri-
bution systems 3
Growing Food
• Distribution of Agricultural Land Reserve in Metro
Vancouver Municipalities.
Total Land Land in % Regional
Municipality Area (ha) ALR (ha) Share of ALR

• Anmore 2,755 nil o

• Belcarra 523 nil 0
• Coquitlam 12,308 823 1.3%
• Port Coquitlam 3,003 589 1%
• Port Moody 2,644 nil 0
kpu.ca/sites/default/files/Metro%20Vancouver_Region-
al%20Food%20System%20Strategy_2011.pdf
• What are we growing?
• What land is available?
• How do we increase sustained access to healthy, local
food for everyone, including vulnerable populations?
In 1960 BC grew 80% of its food locally
Now it grows 4%

In 2011, Gross Margins for farmers

in BC was 25%
In 2021, it’s 4.3%

watershedsentinel.ca/articles/webinar-food-system-security-
in-the-comox-valley/
What is a Food Co-op ?
• Co-ops are owned and democratically operated by its
members
• Members set the rules and the policies
• Co-operatives work for the sustainable development and
well-being of their communities
• Membership involves the purchase of a member share
• Profit is determined by members
• A co-op can be as simple as:
• buy in bulk
• rent space to sell at a co-op stall

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imdb.com/title/tt5909108/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl
 Benefits of a Co-op
• Democratically run, everyone has a voice
• Going local rebuilds local economies and communities and
restores cultural and biological diversity
• Strengthen community food resilience
• Strengthen local economy
• Worker-ownership, create jobs
• Support and encourage more local farmers
• Grow more food
• Can choose to grow healthy foods without GMOs, herbi-
cides and pesticides
• Healthy food promotes regenerative farming that heals the
soil for future farming
• Minimum packaging
• Zero waste

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. 7

A Vision
• A local resilient, food secure community working together
for self-sufficiency, health and well-being:
• land and a building(s) that belong to the Co-op
• healthy, plentiful food – organic or non-sprayed
• gathering place to share and work
• education/skill-sharing, empowering adults, youth and
children
• ability for all to learn how to grow, cook and save food
• strong local economy
• support local artisans
• healing through bringing people together,
interconnectedness, improved mental health
• connect to nature
• regenerative agriculture
• zero waste
• water usage, conservation, etc.
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Short Term Goals
FALL & WINTER, 2022 – SPRING 2023
• Conversations: build community, invite the public,
businesses, farmers, non-profits, etc.
• Research governance options, different components of
the initiative can be structured differently
• Discuss and set guidelines for group decision-making
• Discuss a Co-op Currency – in exchange for labour
• Procure a space for meeting and food distribution
• Buying power:
• research and approach local stores to buy direct, in
bulk, build partnerships
• Interview local farmers:
• a needs assessment, what are their challenges, how
could we help

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, fl

Medium Term Goals

2023
• Homeowner Yard Campaign (Micro-farms):
• with the City Councils’ assistance promoting the
campaign (Victory Gardens), this could be really
successful in building food security
• campaign to find homeowners with yards who are
interested in having food grown on their land and
finding people who want to grow food
• hire a gardener to teach community members how
to grow sustainable food, herbs, berries, flowers
• many online resources

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• Research and plan to help local schools build gardens
• Research programs to bring food awareness to schools
• Connect schools to farmers
• A gleaning program:
• service the lower mainland and the Fraser Valley –
orchards, berries, vegetables, herbs, etc.
• decrease food waste
• redistribute back to the community
• increase access to fresh local produce
• Co-op Currency

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Long Term Goals

2023-2028
• Source agricultural land to grow more food
• Source land for a food co-op building
• Raise money and build an environmentally responsible
and resource-efficient co-op:
• sell locally grown food and local artisan products
• gathering place
• sharing skills/workshops (adults and children),
teaching others to grow healthy food and medicines
• business opportunities
• commercial kitchen
• strengthen local economy
• work with farmers to grow more food

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• A local Food Innovation Hub:
• food processing in the commercial kitchen
• more food security
• helps farmers plan their crops
• creates jobs
• improves the local econony
• food aggregation and distribution systems
• help farmers gain access to larger markets so they
can focus more on farming and less on marketing,
distribution, etc.
• sell fresh and processed foods from the Hub to local
restaurants, residential facilities, hospitals, schools,
etc.


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Governance
• Research optional governance: different services of • transition towns
the Co-op can have different legal structures
• permaculture principles
• For profit or non-profit: could be a combination of
• gathering/meeting structures: liberatingstructures.com/ls/
both
• Social enterprise: non-profit or for-profit, two goals: to
achieve social, cultural, community economic and/or
environmental outcomes; and, to earn
revenue
• Working or policy governance board of directors
• Eco-governance: the ecological and economic system
of intentions, policies, processes and regulations of
organizations and corporations to ensure the eco-
responsibility of individuals and organizations. codes.
earth/eco-governance
• Ecosystem stewardship

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