Bringing Meat-Processing Back Home
A undergraduate thesis seeking community feedback on what is needed to increase meat-processing in the Cariboo Region of B.C.
The Researcher
My name is Matt Henderson, I am an undergraduate student at UNBC's School of Planning and Sustainability at the Prince George Campus. My major is in Northern and Rural Community Planning and my passion I am bringing to this project is a drive to see governance and policy more responsive to and inclusive of local people and local circumstances.
Project 2
Bringing Meat-Processing Back to B.C.
Study Region:
- “Food Corridor” Hwy97 and beyond,
- 3 Regional Districts,
- Cariboo Regional District;
- Regional District of Fraser-Fort George;
- Regional District of Thompson-Nicola.
- 17 Electoral Areas,
- 12 Municipalities / Villages,
- 19 Indigenous Communities.
Project Objectives
1. Expand and Evaluate current Farm Gate and Farm Gate Plus Licensing requirements to increase on-farm processing for small-scale operations.
2. Identify target locations for various scales of Processing Facilities offering locally needed facilities/amenities in communities within the study region.
3. Gather community Action Timelines in the form of community-based participatory research from farmers and ranchers with the goal of translating their desires of better access and improved policies that work for farmers into a reality.
4. Engage with Indigenous communities within the study region to identify local solutions and opportunities for economic reconciliation in the form of on-nation processing facilities that accommodate sustainable indigenous butchering practices. (Precedence from the Nisga nation and their Hydrogen Plant).
Objectives
Continued
5. Identify gaps and propose solutions to educational and skills training opportunities within the meat butchering and agricultural processing sectors.
6. Ensure the current integrity of rural small and medium-scale operations are retained within a specified radius from new processing facilities to prevent speculation and “buy-outs” from large-scale/industrial farming corporations within the study region.
7. Conduct a program analysis on literature and examples from other regions (Canadian/Globally) of governments financing/funding relevant programs for processing facilities.
8. Utilizing the precedence from the program analysis, conduct a brief on how the provincial government of B.C. will be able to financially implement the prior mentioned programs this project is proposing.
Coming To A Rodeo Near You!
Past Research Work
ALR Policy Review Project:
- Student-led Research work.
- May to August 2023.
- Conducted Engagements with Farmers and Ranchers seeking preliminary feedback on current agricultural policies from the Agricultural Land Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture.
About The Project
This project seeks to understand through community engagement, what supports are needed to aid our farmers and ranchers in the North Cariboo Region.
This project will be reviewing the current operating structure of both the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agricultural Land Commission to seek ways of enhancing current outreach practices, as well as, bridging the current gap between governance perspectives and realities taking place in BC’s agricultural sector.
In addition, we will be hosting a series of public facilitations throughout the summer months from June to August of 2023.
The feedback given from local farmers and ranchers from the various facilitations will influence which policies and governance from various levels of government need to be reviewed as pointed out by the local communities they are impacting.
It is the primary goal of this project to bring attention to the ongoing crisis affecting our farmers and ranchers and the linkage between farmers and our province’s food security network. I will then be sharing the results of this project to various governing bodies that influence the decisions being made.
Community Engagement
At my public facilitations you can expect....
The tool we use at our facilitations is called
'Dotmocracy' where members of the public are given 3 dot stickers to place beside the main ideas or prompts that we initially created as ideas to improve the lives of farmers and ranchers. If someone does not see an idea that they are thinking of they can write it down on additional paper provided.
The goal of this process is to ask the local farmers and ranchers what they believe are ways to improve their lives, thus putting our province on the right track to improve food security.
These facilitations will occur throughout the summer on selected dates that can be found below Alternatively we have a link to a virtual dotmocracy that can be viewed and utilized any time 24/7.
Engagement Summaries
Below you will find links to the summaries of each of the community engagements I hosted over the summer.
June 10th, 2023 - Quesnel Farmer’s Market
June 24th, 2023 - Quesnel Farmer’s Market
July 8th, 2023 - Quesnel Farmer’s Market
July 14th/15th, 2023 - Quesnel Rodeo
July 9th, 2023 - Alexandria Farmer’s Market
July 21st, 2023 - Williams Lake Farmer’s Market
July 22nd, 2023 - Quesnel Farmer’s Market
August 5th, 2023 - Quesnel Farmer’s Market
Process Images
Initial Results
An Initial Summary Report is currently in the works and will be shared once it is completed. Though I will share a few preliminary thoughts.
During this summer I have been fortunate enough to hear from hundreds of farmers and ranchers, community leaders, members of indigenous communities, and agriculture supporters. All of whom shared the same perspective. The status quo that we live within today is not working and something needs to change. More voices are needed to be heard by those at the decision-making table. Further it was abundantly clear there is a disconnect between what is the reality for those in rural BC versus what is believed to be realty from those creating these agricultural policies. My hope is from the conclusion of this project we will be able to start bridging these ever expanding gaps so we can move forward in a collaborative manner towards the common goal of ensuring a sustainable and robust agricultural network that works for all British Columbians not a select few.
August 5th, 2023 - Quesnel Farmer’s Market
Reports
- A full Community Report summarizing the events that occurred in the summer of 2023 can be viewed below.
- Stay Tuned for the release of the final report
This Project Acknowledges the Support from the Following Individuals and Organizations
Academic Advisors from UNBC's School of Planning and Sustainability
- Dr Tara Lynne Clapp - Program Chair
- Dr Theresa Healy - Assistant Professor
Funders:
- Cariboo Regional District (Area Directors A, B, C, D, and I)
- Kersley Farmers’ Institute
- Planning Institute of British Columbia
Core Community Partners
- Lynda Atkinson - Chair of Farmed North Cariboo
- Sage Gordon - President of Quesnel Cattlemen's Association
- Coralee Oakes - MLA for Cariboo North
- Christa Pooley - Chair of Agriculture Development Advisory Committee at CRD
- Jackie Sarginson - President of North Cariboo Riding Association
- Mary Sjostrom - Director of Electoral Area A for Cariboo Regional District
- Nigel Whitehead - Manager of Planning Services at Cariboo Regional District
- Rick Wittner - President of Quesnel Chamber of Commerce, President of Cariboo Mining Association
- Roy Zschiedrich - Concerned Citizen, President of The Quesnel Model Railway Club
Government Officials and Organizations
Government Officials
- Dannielle Alan - Director of Electoral Area H for Regional District of Fraser Fort-George
- Barbara Bachmeier - Director of Electoral Area B for Cariboo Regional District
- Lorne Doerkson - MLA of Cariboo - Chilcotin
- Steve Forseth - Director of Electoral Area D for Cariboo Regional District
- Jim Glassford - Director of Electoral Area I for Cariboo Regional District
- John Massier - Director of Electoral Area C for Cariboo Regional District
- Coralee Oakes - MLA of North Cariboo
- Mary Sjostrom - Director of Electoral Area A for Cariboo Regional District
Organizations
- Cariboo Mining Association
- Farmed North Cariboo
- Kersley Farmers’ Institute
- Quesnel Cattlemen’s Association