Patients at hospitals and long-term care facilities in the Terrace area will have access to more local and provincially produced foods due to a partnership between Northern Health and the Ministry of Agriculture’s Feed BC initiative.
“We are a family farm based in Terrace and we are proud to produce our products in the north, for the north,” said Kieran Christison, owner of Daybreak Farms, in a release.
“Hospital patients and long-term care residents need the best care. They are our family, friends and neighbours, and Feed BC ensures that we are feeding them the best of local and nutritious products.”
The Ministry of Agriculture uses Feed BC to work with supply-chain partners to help northern producers sell their products to public sector institutions. Feed BC offers guidance, business development skills and targeted training for northern producers to meet food safety requirements to sell to Northern Health.
“I’m so excited Northern Health is now part of Feed BC,” said Lana Popham, the agriculture minister, when the program was announced.
“We’re opening the door for a multitude of new, exciting business opportunities for B.C. farmers, fishers, ranchers and processors and I know they’re looking forward to providing more of their delicious products in the north.”
Last year, reports indicated that Northern Health’s food was 19 per cent local. Northern Health’s Eryn Collins told The Terrace Standard in 2019 that the definition of ‘local’ can include food sourced from anywhere in B.C., and that Northern Health is striving to reach a mandated target of 30 per cent locally sourced and prepared food.
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- With files from Rod Link