The Sept. 7 Creston Valley Tour de Farm, led by Kootenay Young Agrarians (YA), will show just how easy it is to enjoy a balanced diet of local food.
On bicycles, participants will propel themselves from the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce to Lister to Erickson, visiting Kootenay Meadows, Full Circle Farm, Mo and Mikey Farms, JRD Farm and Root and Vine Acres (as well as, possibly, a winery) — covering dairy, grain, meat and veggies, all within a 26-kilometre loop.
“It means we have the 100-mile diet beat by eight times,” said Laura Hannant, who co-ordinates YA with Nigel Francis.
In addition to the range of food, cyclists will also get to see farms in various stages of development. Kootenay Meadows, for example, is fairly new, while Full Circle owners Drew and Joanne Gailius have been at it for years and are considering their next step.
“It gives a sense of what farming is like at all different moments in life,” Hannant said.
The tour will be a good opportunity for local food buyers to meet the producers, but Hannant expects out-of-towners to take part, as well.
“A lot of people are interested in farming and kind of understanding that Creston is a hot spot,” she said.
YA has hosted several events at east and west Kootenay farms over the summer, and a Salmo event attracted a guest from someone studying agriculture at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., a few hours south. And a Slocan event was attended by an older couple from Calgary; for them, age didn’t matter.
“They were curious about abandoning their lifestyle and getting back to the land,” she said. “Farming and the local food movement are bridging all sorts of divides.”
Tour de Farm is YA’s final summer event (to be followed by a series of land-linking workshops in the fall), and while it could have been a bus or a self-guided driving tour, Hannant feels that it accomplishes much more as a cycling tour.
“I think it wouldn’t bring home to people that we can be close to home and eat well,” she said.
And if this one goes well, she hopes it could become an annual event.
“In lots of other parts of the world, they do slow food tours like this one,” Hannant said. “We could do this every year for years and not stop at the same farm twice.”
Registration for the free event is not required, but Hannant recommended joining the event on Facebook for updates. Tour de Farm starts at 10 a.m. Sept. 7, and should last until 4 p.m. For more information, contact Laura Hannant or Nigel Francis at 1-604-800-2773 or kootenays@youngagrarians.org.