Victoria fresh produce program adds ‘B.C. box’ amid U.S. tariffs

Amid the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war, Fernwood Neighbourhood House's Good Food Box program now offers a "B.C. box."

A Victoria non-profit is adding to one of its fresh produce programs by spotlighting B.C. first, as a response to U.S. tariffs.

Fernwood Neighbourhood House has launched the “B.C. box” as part of its Good Food Box program, which is available for purchase and free through partner agencies to families facing food insecurity throughout Greater Victoria.

“This is such a great program because it doesn’t pad the pockets of CEOs. The money that we bring in, it’s a social enterprise, so it goes right back into community,” says Fernwood NRG strategic priorities director, Aaren Topley. “It goes to our $10/day childcare, our community meals, our Best Babies program.”

The Good Food Box program operates like a bulk buying club. It has sustainability-focused boxes, as well as options with more fruit.

The $30 B.C. box includes island-grown carrots, collard and salad greens, and garlic.

“Doing this work feels really wonderful,” says Topley. “And being able to pivot so quickly in terms of challenges is what we’re good at.”

Topley says Fernwood NRG staff have also shifted to buying from Mexico over the U.S. when necessary.

The boxes are picked up and delivered to 300-350 families per week. Some of them are sold and some of them are available through The Gift of Good Food.

“We work with a lot of small-scale farmers here. And we’ve heard a lot from them that us being able to buy $5,000 worth of produce is the difference of them being able to grow the next year. So while we have just a B.C.-only box, a lot of our Good Food Boxes that are available have a lot of B.C. products as well,” says Topley.