Po-tay-to, po-tah-to. We’ve heard that many times. The implication of the phrase is that there is no difference in the meaning of two words. The result is the same: it’s just a potato. They’re all the same.

To the approximately 90 residents of Whistler and Pemberton who gathered at Millennium Place on Thursday, (Aug. 14), a potato is not just a potato. There is a history and a journey involved with each potato, and with fuel prices on the rise, the journey is becoming increasingly more relevant to members of the two communities.

Attendees gathered at the Anything Grows forum to open a dialogue with the panel of thirteen representatives from various aspects of the local food industry, and discuss the journey that each piece of vegetable or fruit makes before it reaches their cupboards or refrigerators.

Moderated by GD Maxwell, the forum allowed members of the panel to express their thoughts about growing and selling food locally in Whistler and Pemberton.
The concern stems from the increase in fuel rates. Currently fuel for international travel and the transportation of food is exempt from taxes, but as Maxwell said, “…all that’s obviously going to change if the cheap fuel, the tax-exempt fuel upon which all this food runs all the way around the world starts getting taxed. And that, my friend, is why all of us should be here tonight wondering about the future of food in Whistler and wondering what role local food has to play in it all.”

Members of the panel ranged from local Pemberton farmers, managers of Whistler and Granville Island’s Farmers Market, and chefs, to the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s (RMOW) sustainability coordinator.

Panellist Rob Clark, executive chef of C, Nu and Raincity Grill, was applauded several times during his presentation.

“Every inch of farmable land available in this country, or let’s just talk about B.C, … should be preserved for food production,” he said.

“We need to be buying flats of raspberries…buy and preserve it, whether it’s freezing or drying or canned. It’s very, very important to help the farmers.
“If we don’t preserve our land, we don’t preserve farming, we don’t preserve our food system and our culture, (then) large multi-national corporations are going to put our food in little pills…” he said.

Clark has spent many years sourcing food for his high-end restaurants, and he realized early on in his career that good local food brings people to the table.
“You have a market, you just don’t know where it is,” he said to the audience and the farmers. “Pemberton potatoes should be world-renowned. There shouldn’t be a potato served in Whistler unless it comes from Pemberton.

“…People are coming here to ski. They don’t need McDonald’s French fries; they don’t need Idaho potatoes. They need Pemberton.”

Farmers Roxy Kuurne and Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy spoke about the trials and tribulations many local farmers experience, the biggest challenge being the lack of local volume.

“I’ve always been asked, ‘Why can I not buy Pemberton potatoes in Pemberton?’,” said Kuurne, who is a potato farmer. “Well, up until recently, the local volume just wasn’t enough to utilize the volume of potatoes that we produce.”

Kuurne’s farm produces 500 tonnes of potatoes each year – and she is not alone. There are 12 other farms in the valley that produce potatoes as well.

Kuurne also pointed out that traditionally, the cost of purchasing a commercially-produced potato was far less than that of a local potato. However, with the price of fuel rising, this may soon change.

Stephen Milstein of the Whistler Greenhouse Project discussed the success he has had with his four community greenhouses.

“Currently 212 community members are growing food in the four greenhouses, and we now have a waitlist for 40 more boxes,” he said.
Karen Schreurs, the manager of the world-renowned Granville Island Farmers Market also shared the successes and challenges of running a daily farmers’ market in a large city.
What became clear out of the forum was that there is an interest in growing and selling food locally.

What was unfortunate, however, was that none of the members of the audience had a chance to speak to the panel and open a discussion.
The public meeting ran out of time, and many members of the audience left feeling enlightened but frustrated at being unable to voice their ideas and concerns.
The Slow Food Cycle Sunday Society is planning to schedule a follow-up event in the fall.