Save the Date – Seed Bank Events
Notice of Annual General Meeting
Bring your favourite dish to share and come join us at our Potluck AGM!
Your Co-op will be providing home-made soup and local green salad – and you bring the rest!
Here are the meeting details:
Date: March 11, 2026
Place: Agi Co-op Hall 465 South Road
Time:
5:30 – Door open for registration
6:00 – Potluck
7:00 – Meeting starts
Documents
Here are three documents you may wish to read prior to the AGM:
Your directors are proposing a special resolution ” that the Gabriola Agricultural Co-op waive the appointment of an auditor for the fiscal year.”
Here is your current board and what will be changing at our AGM:
- Laura-Jean Kelly, appointed in August and will be continuing
- Rob West, appointed in August and will stepping down
- Graham Bradley, completed 3 terms and must step down as per rule 70(b)
- Drew Staniland, completed 1 term and is stepping down
- Rachel Dubois, completed 1 term and is stepping down
This represents a significant change in our directors, so we are asking you to consider taking a board term. There are a few members interested but nothing official just yet.
As well, we have been discussing using Rule 60 to reduce the size of the board slightly in order to reduce quorum to reflect a potentially smaller board. This will be discussed at the AGM.
There is an offer from several current board members to coach the incoming board for several meetings to help effectively pass on the leadership.
If you are new to boards some education will be provided.
Please send your intention to run, along with a note outlining what skills and experience you have to offer your co-op to: coopagiassoc@gmail.com
You will also have the opportunity to nominate yourself or other members at the AGM.
If you can’t commit to being a director at the moment, you might consider joining one of the key pods (committees). You’ll hear more about the work of the pods at the AGM.
We look forward to seeing you on March 11th!
How much food do you waste?
Did you know?
Canadians waste $31 billion of food every year! And 47% of that food is wasted in the home.
The primary contributor to consumer food waste is high expectations—demand for high-quality, aesthetically-pleasing food is a key factor behind the volume of food waste occurring among consumers.
In North America, more than 30% of fruits and vegetables are rejected by supermarkets because they aren’t attractive enough for consumers.
Source: “$27 BILLION” REVISITED: THE COST OF CANADA’S ANNUAL FOOD WASTE (www.vcm-international.com)
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 significant disconnect with consumer knowledge and on the ground agricultural realities.”
“Most people are surprised to find that much of our food has travelled significant distances, been out of the ground or off the bush for weeks or months before consumption, and has required from one to twenty calories of fossil fuel energy for the production of one calorie of food.”
You can read Jared Smith’s paper here.