South Peace Historical Society

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  • Table of Contents

    • Part 1: First Nations of the Peace River Region
    • Part 2: The Fur Trade Era
    • Part 3: Transportation and Communication
    • Part 4: Old Timers and the Price of Land
    • Part 5: Dawson Creek: The Story of the Community
    • Part 6: Mysteries, Adventures and Indian Legends
    • Part 7: Arts, Crafts and Recreation
    • Part 8: Agriculture
    • Part 9: Church Histories
    • Part 10: Schools
    • Part 11: Health Care
    • Part 12: Industries and Enterprises
    • Part 13: Policing the Peace
    • Part 14: Pouce Coupe, Rolla, and Other South Peace Communities
    • Part 15: Chetwynd and the Fort St. John Area
    • Part 16: The Alberta Peace
    • Part 17: Natural History of the Peace River Region
    • Part 18: Interviews with Old Timers
    • Part 19: Remembering Our Veterans

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BN08-05: Food a Sexy Subject Next Year: Evans

Recent History – 1998

By Mark Nielsen, Daily News Staff, Dec. 18, 1998

Food will be much more on the minds of British Columbians by this time next year if provincial Agriculture Minister Corky Evans gets his way.

Asked during a teleconference on Thursday what his big challenge will be in 1999, Evans said he wants to make B.C. residents more aware of the importance of food production to the economy.

“We have to make food a big, sexy exciting subject to the people of B.C. so that they understand why this industry matters,” he said.

Evans said he also wants to change the approach to marketing B.C.-grown food, so that quality is emphasized over price.

“We’re going to get people to buy the best food in the world because that’s the niche that we occupy,” he said.

Taking the other route of undercutting the competition will be pointless as we head into the new millennium. “We have no chance of competing in the next century after the next round of GATT if government and farmers have to solve the problems,” he said.

By quality, Evans means food with less pesticides, herbicides, and milk without growth hormones. Evans and Environment Minister Cathy McGregor have done everything they can inside the government to advance the issue, he said, now it’s up to the select standing committee on agriculture and fisheries.

The committee, made up of MLAs from across party lines, will be touring the province in the fall of 1999 as part of an effort to develop a provincial agri-food policy.

Already there have been extensive provincial and regional consultations with farmers, processors, distributors and retailers.

Evans expects that by next Christmas the committee will have a report completed. “When Cathy and I are sitting here a year from now we ought to have the vision for the millennium for agriculture in our hands,” he said.

 

This article is taken from the Peace River Block Daily News, Dawson Creek, with the permission of the publisher. The Daily News retains all rights relating to this material. The information in this article is intended solely for research or general interest purposes.

« BN08-04: Help is on the Way for Farmers

BN08-06: Wheat Board Candidates Divided Over Dual Marketing »

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