By Madeline Dunnett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THE DISCOURSE
The Comox Valley Farmers’ Market is awaiting news on if a much-needed program that helps people access fresh, local food will be renewed, all while seeing growing need for the program over the past year.
Many farmers’ markets across the province participate in the BC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program, which receives funding from the province’s Ministry of Health.
The program helps feed lower-income families and individuals, pregnant people and seniors in the community and supports farmers as well. But there has yet to be any news on if the program will continue to receive funding from the province.
Comox Valley has participated in the program since its inception 13 years ago and has seen hundreds of people benefit from this food security initiative.
Last year, The Discourse reported on the region’s skyrocketing need for the program and, according to Comox Valley Farmers’ Market officials, the need has grown even more since then.
Twila Skinner, general manager of Comox Valley Farmers’ Market, said that despite being a recipient of the program, the Comox Valley Farmers’ Market still doesn’t have enough funds to provide coupons to all families who are in need. Not having this funding would be a detriment to the community, and Skinner said it would be difficult for the Comox Valley Farmers’ Market to replicate the program on its own.
“I have my fingers crossed that we’re going to be able to get the funding,” Skinner said.
“The coupon program is a very valuable program … It supports not only the community, but the farmers as well. And if we’re looking at increasing food security in all aspects of it, we need to make sure that people can eat local, fresh, nutritious food. And this is the way to do it.”
Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupons are distributed to community members by local service providers and organizations that offer food security and food literacy programs to people with lower incomes, pregnant people and seniors. Currently, the Comox Valley Farmers’ Market partners with Comox Valley Healthy Families, MIKI’SIW Metis Association and the Upper Island Women of Native Ancestry to distribute the coupons.
Community members who are enrolled in the program can use the coupons at farmers’ markets throughout the province. Items that can be purchased with the coupons include local produce, fruit, honey, cheese and meat.
If renewed, the program will run from June through December.
In a previous story for The Discourse, Skinner said that since the coupons are only valid at the farmers’ market, it helps farmers too.
“It’s one of those circular things in that it helps with the food security here in the Comox Valley all around,” Skinner said.
Skinner said 46 farmers and food producers participated in the program last year.
In 2024, the market received $84,000 in coupons to give to residents, who used them to pay for food items at the market. Farmers and vendors were then reimbursed for the products they sold.
“So that’s $84,000 to families in the Comox Valley … They’re able to then purchase fresh, local, nutritious meat, dairy, eggs, etc. … And that also means that the farmers get $84,000 that they would otherwise not be able to get, because people wouldn’t be spending that money. So it’s a significant chunk of change,” Skinner said.
Skinner told The Discourse that the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupons fed 690 Individuals in the Comox Valley 2024 and served 225 households. Out of the individuals served, 289 were under the age of 19, 13 participants were pregnant, 325 were Indigenous and 66 were Elders and/or Seniors.
The year prior, the coupon program served 226 households and 642 individuals, indicating a growing need for the program in the community.
Skinner said even with the funds from the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets and Ministry of Health, there is more need than what is available for community members. There are a number of people who cannot access the program because the funding isn’t there.
“When it comes time for the coupon program we always have people emailing us saying, `Hey I need this,’ or, `How can I do this?’ … And we just don’t have enough funds,” Skinner said. “.125The.375 hard part about the coupon program is turning people away.”
In the Cowichan Valley, vendors from the Duncan Farmers’ Market wrote letters to Minister of Health Josie Osborne outlining the importance of the program and urging its renewal. A letter dated Dec. 16 was also sent to Osborne from the Duncan Farmers’ Market and was signed by 12 vendors.
The letter asks Osborne to consider the “far-reaching impacts” the program has on communities.
“For many families, the coupons provide more than food — they offer dignity, health and a sense of belonging in our community,” the letter to Osborne says. “For our farmers, the program represents a stable and essential source of income, enabling them to continue growing and offering fresh, sustainable products.”
In an interview with The Discourse Cowichan, Duncan Farmers’ Market executive director Janice Roberts said the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets met with the Ministry of Health on Jan. 28 and that discussions about the future of the coupon program are taking place “in good faith.”
The Discourse reached out to the Ministry of Health multiple times with questions about the future of the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program but has not yet received a response.
Skinner said the Comox Valley Farmers’ Market has normally been lucky enough to receive funds for the program, but the waiting game is stressful. She hopes to hear news about funds for the program at the end of March when the fiscal year ends.
Skinner said people who want to learn more about the program can visit the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets website and click the link to the coupon program.
Roberts encourages people to write to their MLA in support of the coupons in order to demonstrate how beneficial it is and how much it is needed in the community.
There is also a page on the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets website detailing ways to support the program, and Skinner notes that funds can be directed specifically to the Comox Valley or any other community on a monthly or lump sum basis.
“So that’s another way to help,” she said. “Even if the program does go through, that is a way to add to it so that we can have more families helped here in the Comox Valley.”
