Gabriola Agricultural Co-operative
On-line Farmers Market
Buy Local | Eat Fresh | Stay Home

The on-line market is open Thursdays to Monday for ordering.
Orders will be filled and delivered Wednesdays from 3:00 – 9:00 pm.
Gabriola Food Charter 2010
Wholesome food needs to be a basic human right.
Authors: Tsiporah Grignon, Debra Ferens, Dona Bradley

To help ensure that wholesome food remains available to people on Gabriola, Gabriolans have prepared this Food Charter.
The principles can be used as a guide
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for us as consumers
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for those who produce our food or help to bring it to our tables
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for those with authority to make regulations that affect our food
Principles of our Food Charter
Environment/Ecology
We will act to protect, maintain and nourish the integrity of Gabriola’s natural environment. We support responsible growing practices that protect the earth, water and air.
We believe in fostering local, safe and nutritionally superior food systems to reduce negative impacts on our environment, decrease consumption of fossil fuels and lessen packaging waste.
Education
We understand the importance of educating ourselves and our children about the food we eat.
We promote learning about nutrition, growing practices, preparation, storage, seed saving, industry additives, genetic engineering, and the use of local wild foods.
Access
We envision using and preserving the resources in our community: the land, the sea around us, our fresh water, and distribution systems to ensure that Gabriolans have access to safe, locally produced , affordable, fresh and nutritious food.
Celebration/Culture
We value the importance of food and celebration in our island culture, and the integral role that it plays.
We recognize that food brings people together in celebration of community, reflecting our traditional right to share food prepared in our kitchens and using food grown in our own gardens.
Sustainability
The Magic of Soil
In response to a UN Food and Agriculture Organization announcement, “Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation Continues” (Scientific American, Dec. 5, 2014), University of British Columbia Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomer, Phil Gregory, has spent...
Local
The agricultural carrying capacity of Vancouver Island
Jared Smith wrote a paper about food production on Vancouver Island which highlights the issues of food security on Vancouver Island. Are we doing enough to feed ourselves on Gabriola? "Because so few people are directly involved in agriculture, there exists a...