BC tree fruit growers in shock after co-op’s sudden collapse
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- čas přidán 10. 09. 2024
- In the heart of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley is an industry that faces a bitter crisis.
In a shock to local farmers, the BC Tree Fruit Cooperative has shut its doors. The closure leaves many farmers without a distribution channel or storage options, meaning fruit that can't be packed or sold may simply go to waste.
The province has promised support, including an emergency task force and a list of alternative packing facilities. However, many of these facilities are already at full capacity.
Global's Neetu Garcha explains.
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Allow consumers to order fruit directly from the farmers then . Better than paying the silly grocery store prices
You already can buy most things straight from farmers, check it out. Just not as convenient
Halfway through the video.
Somehow prices at farmer's markets are not lower than in grocery shops. Quality and freshness can be argued to be better. Prices? Nope
Agreed
I'm sure the affected farmers would appreciate anybody coming, buying fruits and taking them. But this is retail sales, the amounts are small. However, the problem is the collapse of the whole chain of transportation, storage, wholesale distribution and delivery to the retail chains and individual stores.
We need to protect our local local produce and fruit growers, if only to help us retain our independence from the US. Plus it's just smart to be self sufficient...
Everything happens for a reason...perhaps the universe wanted him to move locations...
That land is expensive, and there's a housing crisis. Developers could turn that land into apartment buildings or high rises.
And then he should move his warehouse further inland in kelowna where property might be a little cheaper. But downtown is for sure more expensive.
The universe is just trying to make him move and become more effecient and self sufficient. It's a win-win really. Move my friend!
Fruit is very important to the future of humanity :)
@@WhyWorldWet Spoken like a true developer.
@@sloopy5191 …nah lol. Just an intuitive who sees the reasons behind things. I have no connection to property developing (besides working for my father’s construction company when I was a kid).
@@wishteria234 lol. 😂 housing crisis continues then…
WhyWorldWet There's no shortage of land in Canada. The housing crisis is because of speculation bubbles and money laundering by rich Chinese and Indian migrants.
It’s a shame how we neglect our own farmers. I always buy local no matter what produce thay bring. I hope everybody help their own community.
so why did it close ? Does anyone else feel like there are more questions that are unanswered from this article ?
Nobody indeed, the coop is supposed to be farmer owned and have a board of directors, who have remained suspiciously silent, where have they been since the beginning of 2024? Where are the minutes of their meetings? This is sloppy journalism at best.
@@user-yp6cl1lc6m Sloppy indeed. But this is common in all news outlet in Canada.
I remember seeing that BC fruit logo since I was a young boy
Me too. It is a nostalgic symbol that has always been around.
The purple bedding for the apples was nice.
When the NDP were elected it was all about their great plans to revitalize BC agriculture. The past 7 years haven't looked very revitalized.
Climate change fuelled weather events have been a factor - an issue that Conservatives fail on. If Rustad Conservatives had been in power over the last 7 yrs we would be no better off - arguably worse.
its inherent in their political lineage to cause starvation in a time of plenty. They claim "marxist tendencies", so you can expect their central committee to hinder the flow of food and still blame the common man. Apples grow on trees, then people pick them and eat them. The more steps you put onto that simple equation, the more difficult it is to keep people fed. Now watch, a hundred NDP flood in here and exclaim how their radical new legislation will fix the whole "problem" except it will cause even worse, undetectable and cascading failure in our food supply. They are creating problems, not fixing them.
By design. politicians lie all the time to suck the voter in.
What made everyone think an NDP communists party knew anything about prospering an economy?
the problem began when mulroney implemented the free trade agreement.
The cost of fruits and vegetables are far to expensive for those that are low income!
Along with everything else these days. :(
and they keep going up.
What are you talking about? Low income don't buy healthy food but they can absolutely get it for free on EBT.
I worked at a food bank for years and 99% of the "customers" completely ignored the produce and dried goods section... even though the food bank was in bellingham and the produce quality at the food bank was actually better than most of the grocery stores as it was all local.
@TurboLoveTrain I don't know if you notice, but not all low income are on EBT. Should take that into account first
I will ONLY buy Canadian grown and if they don’t have them, I don’t buy any. This is what should be done by everyone
Enjoy nothing then
good luck getting anything fresh in winter
With the price the way they are, will be buying the best deal & don't care if it comes from the moon or mars or even China
Lots of fruit stands have been struggling this year due to all the fruit not blooming in the Okanagan from the cold snap. They have brought in produce from the states in an effort to stay afloat. While normally I’d say only buy local, this year has been very tough in that regard.
I wish canada grow pineapple 😭
Omg smarten up ,save our farmers and our fruits we need them
Couldn't tell with all the vineyards coming online
Why is an apple grown in New Zealand cheaper at the grocery store than one grown here?
New Zealand autumn when it's spring here, and vise versa. Have you not noticed price and quality of local produce changes over the year?
@@pong9000 nope, potatoes grow a stones throw away here in mb, and get processed a stones throw away (frys/hashbrowns) the prices have doubled, there is no great distance to or from the field to the factory, yet they gouge the prices.
@@hiphop935 We're talking about fresh produce like table apples. Frozen potato products are not that.
Was not taking about distance. The logistic cost of staging between trucks and processing facilities and trucks and warehouses and trucks and wholesalers and trucks and grocers and pallet jacks and the produce shelves, means one leg of ship transport is a minor expense. And an extra week in the ship's hold doesn't add much to the cost.
Tariffs, that's why. Trade disputes. 15% to 25% back in 2018 when the U.S. produce destined for China in which affects Canada ever since. Prices depend on how much of savings are passed on to consumers by retailers.
@@pasqualinamichelaconsiglio9391 That determines the cost of seasonal apples shipped between New Zealand and Canada, when we buy their harvest or they buy ours? How exactly?
Another unfortunate challenge is the absolute take over of vineyards here in the Okanagan. It's shocking how many orchards have been pulled up to make way for more & more grapes. There are more wineries under construction at this moment. Enough with the F#$*@ing wine already!!
Didn't I hear something about vineyards being the only crop where you are able to co-build value-added processing facilities on the same property without added licensing stuff? I'm pretty sure I heard something about regulations that hinder the building of processing facilities with wineries getting an exemption.
So a lot of the issue may just be that BC has made it difficult to self-market any processed goods except for wine.
@@nolan4339 Wouldn't be surprised. Make sure it is easy to produce the stuff that will make people sick (and hey I like a good glass of wine) while making it hard for people to produce and maintain a healthy business growing and selling the very stuff that helps to continue to re-create our bodies every day and keep us healthy. There is a big whooping surprise in this day and age. :(
I have lived in Alberta since 2008, lived in the Okanagan for all of my life till then. When I go back to BC to visit, usually once every 6 or 7 yrs, it breaks my heart to see so many vineyards that used to be orchards. Growing up, watching my mom can the various types of fruit for out large family as well as making jams and jellies, also, being able to grab cherries, apricots, peaches plums off the tree in summer then toward fall apples or pears, I cant even imagine a time when a person wont be able to do that anymore there. I agree on to many freaking vineyards and wineries, but I also understand as to the why. I pray that the goverment steps in to help protect the orchard farmers and implement something so that they can continue to grow the fruit that we all have loved and enjoyed over the years. I wish there was something I could personally do 😔.
@@carleenjohnson9063 Petition your local MLA, write e-mails, letters, make media posts. At least throw your voice out there.
Each time I am going to local grocery stores, rarely I can find local produce. Even apples, why do we sell New Zealand and California apples and strawberries when our local products going bad without reaching shelves. From recently I just stopped buying anything imported. It’s really sad.
Thank people like Kevin O'leary Gaylon Weston and Jim Pattison for how things are and the tax cuts and subsidies they get because they are only poor billionaires and need all the help they can get.......won't somebody think of the billionaire's needs for a change
When we were in California the Stores were full of good Canadian Apples ,Peaches ,Cherries ..B.C.Fruits everywhere..Really cheap…Don’t Believe everything you read…
California floods our Markets with there fruits ,Cheaper than Home Grown…
Name of the Game .Money,Money,Money ..I’m not a NDP supporter…Can’t wait till everyone Votes them OUT..🎉
It must have something to do with global warming, something that is shipped half way around the world is better for the environment?
seek out farmers and buy direct or go to farmers markets to support small farmers... we do. plus growing some of our own... tho our thumbs are so green we try.
@@kennethyoung2077 Of course not, but the major grocery chains don't care. They want profits now, not a liveable earth 20 years from now.
That’s what happens when you sell to big corporations. Sell local for affordable prices
With the Okanogan producing so much fruit, probably hard to find enough local consumers. I can honestly see the fresh fruit market being extremely volatile and cut-throat to the producer as the logistics and networking needed to quickly get it marketed is the most complex and valuable part of the distribution process.
They probably need alternative and competing buyer markets to distribute their products through
@@nolan4339 I did not notice Canadian markets saturated with fruit. So if they have unsold fruit, it is a logistics issue. The industry needs to get it together.
@@dmitripogosian5084 Unsold fruit typically goes to food banks. They won't just leave rotting fruit on store shelves.
We don’t have enough Canadian buyers to buy the product . We sell many apples to China as well.
It's funny because fruit in BC is expensive as hell so is veggies. They can't find consumers but the cost of them is too high for people to purchase.
There isn’t a single aspect of Canada the government hasn’t made considerably worse for at least 30 years. Not 1.
Inclusive and diversity . 😂
Fully agree and not just Canadian Feds but Provincial levels and municipalities levels as well. Greed and cronyism in all aspects has become the norm. There is no party to vote for at any level. It’s like all parties at all levels are now working the same playbook just with different approach’s but results are the same.
What does the govt have to do with your kids not wanting to pick fruit?
@thistall....yup!, and for the last 30 years, guess who has controlled Canada?=Kebek. Trudy gets into office and his mission statement 'Canada Belongs to Kebek' becomes a reality, and NOBODY bats an eye.
100% i wish more people would see this. There is no voting our way out of this communist hell hole.@bdgrandin
What do you expect when it costs 10$ for a bag of apples picked by TFWs?? This industry needs to be audited.
Big vegetable farms do the same, using Mexicans
tfw in canada are paid the same as canadian borns, want cheap anything buy from over seas or mexico etc. don't like TFW you are free to sign up w any farmer they always look for locals to do the job... BUT most can't last a couple of hrs or a day.
@@minimaladjacent Wrong. They are subsidized 50-75% by tax dollars, no CPP/EI contributions, and no protection by employment standards.
@@minimaladjacent lol more like farmers dont even want canadians working for them.. they want cheap replacable labor. and nobody who has lived in canada for a long time is going to be able to survive on those wages.
@@minimaladjacent TFWs are paid minimum wage but the employer is subsidized and rewarded to hire them before Canadian residents. TFWs are also used in modern day slavery schemes across Canada, heavily in the farming and construction industry.
I am not buying because the prices are too high
Because production and transport costs are too high.
That’s terrible- BC tree fruit has given our family memories with many boxes of healthy and nutritious fruit for decades in Saskatchewan.
It is not just BC, hole Canada going down.
But vineyards are more profitable
You find pesticides nutritious?
Where are the Federal and provincial help? This is outrageous
Another Industry down the toilet...all by design.
Someone schemed to close the co-op? Makes no sense. Problems with crops due to extreme weather events created deliberately..? Conspiracy theories are so easy to spout. Just a quick way to explain complex issues by people who don't have the patience or energy for analysis.
Part is also the solar cycle and poleshift (beginning) that we are currently experiencing, but I agree, depopulation and control via starvation is part of the Cabal's agenda.
Yes and many oblivious
@@candacehill1532 maybe someone will rent some trucks and help the orchards get their crops to market. Start a new business..
lol ok
It is too expensive to eat fruit. It is also sad that fruit will "hit the ground" and not be given to people in need.
Go to the farm and ask them if you can pick some. Do you expect them to be able to deliver it to your door? Maybe chew it for ya? And if you are harping about some poor neighbour, then it’s UP TO YOU to pick it and deliver it to those poor people. Not some overworked farmer a hundred miles away.
Social workers should be sent out to pick the fruit. A little labor would do them good.
what you expect, not everyone spoke up for the farmers, you let them down, who you expect is gonna water the crops? lol i be you learned how to twerk and party real good tho
I'm from BC and have lived in in AB foe 20 years. We are being offered 3 small bunches of green onions for 4.00, 4 apples cost over 6$, a small lettuce is 4.99 and it isn't Canadian fruits or veg. While in BC 3cweeks ago,I paid 15.00 for a very small amount of BC cherries. We are being told the prices are high because of shipping costs!!! @@granmabern5283
They can store tons and tons of cherries in my house 😎
Heck ya...me too !! 👍
unfortunately there were no cherries this year due to a cold snap in February
We cannot let the bc fruit farmers fall bc fruit is way superior to any other fruit from the states
Way to go NDP! Keep up the good work!
Stop importing fruits and consume local products.
100%
bring the price down then.
Have the same problem in the states. The produce from Mexico and the rest of central America is usually cheaper than produce grown right down the road. A lot of our farms ship to china/Saudi Arabia and other parts of Asia since it earns them more. And with the subsidies they don't have to lower prices to make sure they sell more. It's all messed up.
Cherries were never more expensive than this year.
@@dmitripogosian5084 if you did the research you would know that much of the Okanagan and Similkameen had a very tough year for fruit. Kelowna only yielded 40% if their regular cherry crop and down south towards osoyoos and Keremeos had next to 0%. So yes, they would be a lot more expensive this year. Next year will be a bumper crop and will be interesting to see the prices especially with the BC Tree Fruit co-op going under.
"The government better be ready" yea they are ready lining their pockets.
Are you for real 😂. Get a life
CONservatives, yes. Cons are going to come up with 1000 new cons to con taxpayers and obliterate whats left of the industry. When Cons in Alberta steal BILLIONS from taxpayers ALL Cons bent over. 80 million alone was siphoned to Big Pharma just in that Tylenol scheme where Marlaina got hockey tickets. Cons be like "WE'RE FIGHTING BIG PHARMA BY GIVING THEM TRILLIONS OF TAXPAYER MONEY"
@@nwc3270 you right, government doesn't do anything for their own interests
This organization was previously called Sunripe, and there are major investors and corporations behind this. The bureaucracy has gotten so big and Overpaid, that the fruit farmers can no longer afford to pay those salaries.88 employees .there was a hostile takeover for this associate of Sunripe initiated by real Canadian water owner I think in 2019 and there was a big conflict about getting rid of directors but the organization was split on the vote and they ended up keeping a huge board of directors, so you might want to look into the background of the story because it’s more than just low volume . This monopoly took all the money from the farmers and the cost of production. Thanks to carbon tax has increased everything regarding transportation and distribution across Canada. They also wanted to sell very lucrative real estate in the Central Okanagan and there were a lot of concerns about transparency voiced by everyone involved
The BC Tree Fruit Cooperative was never called Sunripe (or Sun-Rype). The Clearly Canadian Water hostile takeover attempt of Sun-Rype was in the 90s. The 2019 sale was from Pattison to Lassonde. Again none of this relates to the BC Tree Fruit Coop.
Thank you for being the journalist that journalists have failed to be!!! Great info.
@@artfuldodger5933 Thank you, artful.
@@artfuldodger5933 sunrype was always a separate division of which many bctf growers owned shares, given that their product was used in sunrype juices.
Wrong.
Check out who gets the land and the property afterwards and how much they pay?
The same people who drove this thing under are probably going to benefit from its funeral
What land? It is just a building.
Well of course they are it's all apart of their plan.
True-dope
@@Tugela60 you think they grew crops on the roof?
@hiphop935 They don't grow crops at all. They are a facility that does washing, sorting and packing. The fruit is grown by farmers who use the facility to do that. The company does not own any land beyond their building.
They rebuilt a large part of the packing house last year, so why is it closing this year?
Bankrupt most likely.
This doesn’t get funding but drugs and homeless hotels get
Dont blame people with drug addictions and homeless people. They are victims of a greater problem not the cause.
Why does this particular business need to be funded by the government?
They're likely funded, perhaps not enough though
@@lukehounsell1233he blames not them but the government showering them with money and free f*ng drugs for taxpayers money instead of people who actually work are useful and produce the most vital part of our life, food!
Don't put one group against another. Tax the rich and there is enough to go around
It’s almost like ALL of this could have been predicted. By everyone! Especially the growers and the government, who have ignored the problems for decades and have limited planning for the future to TFWs and subsidies.
The amount of people on here screaming for the gov't to fix this is crazy.
the fact that the NDP openly claims "marxist tendencies" should scare anyone allowing them to try and solve food instability issues. Marxists have a habit of causing starvation in a time of plenty. There is no shortage of them aligning almost perfectly with the Lysenkoism of the soviet union.
slaves need a master, free men only need freedom
Gov destroy everything they touch, while living large.
Happens all the time doesn't it. People scream for less government and therefore less taxes, but when something goes wrong in their life......they want government help..(money)
the govt runs everything into the ground.
Don't tell anyone but gerpeet and petal are not paying enough fees to the cooperative for them to stay open, both of them are extremely cheap except when they charge the consumer for fruit.
The usual suspects…
Their real scheme is making a fortune selling LMIA jobs overseas, the farm is just a front.
The co op closed. Farmers are looking for new facilities. They are talking like if the co op burned down with its employees. Just reopen it. Its better than have 2500 orchards turning to wine and cider house.
All the markets are fully stocked with foreign all year long? Isn't that how you destroy an economy immigrate tons and feed them foreign food?
Yep that's exactly what the Fourth Reich running our government is up to.
But then you know these grocery stores are in on it with them. They don't deserve our business.
@@HAPPYPLANTGAL which year round grocery is not like that?
You know what a Chinese factory floor looks like? Now check this video's footage of BC workers. They're all lethargic, most are overweight, some are idle while the line's running even with the camera on them; way too many paid employees for the volume processed. That's an operation bloated by hiring friends and family who can't be let go.
who knew that regions much more suitable for growing fruits (allowing vastly higher quantities to be produced) would be able to produce it for cheaper.
GREED! They destroyed fruit orchards & replaced them with vinyards which were more profidable.
Didn't see anything about vineyards just tree fruits...
And those drug dealers had one of their worst years ever. Alhamdullillah!
TRUTH I was in Naramata last year, which has been converted over to wine, and they said on the left and right of the tour I was taking with the taxi driver, it was pretty fun, he would say "this used to be apricots, this used to be apples". So exactly right, Orchards turned into Wineries and now the vines have died because of the harsh early winter.
Did you watch the video? There are too many apples they have nowhere to sell them. The orchards didn't get destroyed...
@@ferriswhitehouse1476 It's a lot of conflicting info but there was a cold-snap which interrupted their apple orchard harvest
Who are the owners of the BC Tree Fruit Cooperative?
Its a Cooperative, so I'd assume it was employee owned and operated. The only reason one could think it closed down was because it ran out of money, since the only shareholders it would be beholden to were the workers in it.
A coop is usually owned by the farmers who are members and use its services.
@@Tugela60 So basically farmers have mismanaged their facility. I suspect it got management-heavy with too large an overhead?
@@dmitripogosian5084 Why suspect anything w/o information. Agenda much?
@@dmitripogosian5084Well, the cooperation here in Quebec got uppity once it got rich and the management no longer listens to the farmers. It happens…😮People are broken sinners.
These companies were once prosperous because their owners possessed considerable expertise in their respective fields. The younger generation appears to be experiencing difficulties in assuming responsibility for their actions and tends to attribute blame to external factors.
not only that, EVERYTHING is problematic to them.
ok boomer
They are too busy posting how big their sh it was this morning on social media.
Phone in hand zombie generation.
There should be immediate intervention into BC Tree Fruits to make sure fruit gets to market. After that management of Tree Fruits should be investigated.
Okay the key issue is how did a cooperative go bankrupt suddenly?
Of course the news reporter dodges this most important issue!
Like just how did this cooperative go bankrupt? Was it not partly or wholely owned by the farmers? Is that not what a cooperative is, something owned by the members, and if fruit farmers were not members, then just who was? distributors? retailers? who?
Something does not add up here! Something is definitely being hidden, and instead an appeal to emotion is being made, rather than a careful analysis of what just happened and why it was that the cooperative has declared bankruptcy. Was there internal theft or wrongdoing of somekind, or were financial warnings ignored by members until it was too late?
it was due to the fact that 40% of fruit trees failed to produce fruit in 2023 due to cold snaps in December and March and 75% failed to produce fruit this year due to cold snaps in February.
there was quite literally no fruit for them to process
@@TheAircool1 thank you for pointing this out, makes more sense to me know.
For all the government and taxes we get, there seems to be a lot wrong with pretty much everything in this country lately.
Make a list. And beside each item write down what really caused it -- greedy corporations, climate change, non-government activists stirring up discontent, local government, provincial government or federal government. Items 2 and 3 actually track back to greedy corporations. Climate science denial and some of the most evil propaganda come out of "think tanks" funded by those corporations.
Stabilize the market??? We’re paying $3lb in the store.
My first batch of local apples starting rolling in from my vendor at 1$/lb this past friday. Usually start of season prices are high and lower after a bit. I'll be aiming for 1.5$/lb retail as long as I don't have cull too much stock
@@user-cr4se9yb7n we wish!! Northern British Columbia apples $5lb minimum!!
It's greed!!!
Guess how much the farmers get paid? 30 cents a lb. Gains go to grocery stores, unfortunately.
@@sulmanali566 that is not true!! Kelowna farmers come to the north and in fort st John bc they sell them for $5lb or more!!!
Them farmers make ALOT more then people think!!
There tractors are worth more then most people's houses!! Just look up the price of a tractor now!!
I haven't been able to afford to eat cherries or apples for a while, the only fruit I actually can afford is bananas for now.
Cherry prices were insane this season, never went down to affordable level. Basically I bought them twice on deep sale for $2.99/lb
I bought them twice and paid 21 and 23 dollars
Yep, those locally grown bananas are a steal.
Federal Government rather give the money to EV batteries or the Ukraine.
I have to tell you, I am so sick of going to our grocery stores and the majority of the fruit and vegetables are imported from USA. Shame on our corporate stores, Save on Foods, Buy Low, Canadian Super Stores and so many more. I rarely purchase produce from these stores. Surely you all have made enough profit over the years to sustain your companies, try putting Canadian grown food first, be the hero’s that we are so lacking these days from our government who, it clearly appears, are trying to eliminate growers and farmers with untold restrictions, again. Our government should all be ashamed of themselves and get back to what is best for the people, they can do so much better. .
... _> "try putting Canadian grown food first, ... "_
Have you read Karl Marx's book Capital, which was first published in 1867?
In Karl Marx's book Capital (1867) he quotes an economist who says that if capital can get 100 percent profit, it will _"trample on all human laws; 300 percent, and there is not a crime at which it will scruple, nor a risk it will not run...If turbulence and strife will bring a profit, it will freely encourage both."_
Why these companies need to put Canadian grown food first and above their business interests?
Please tell me at least 3 reasons.
Buy directly from the farmers, fruit growers everything you can. It's time these big stores remember we are there customers not their slaves begging. Maybe it's time there pocket book hurts for awhile. Help out the farmers and buy local and only from Canada. Put Canada first, help Canada. Help yourselves. Grow your own gardens and orchards.
@@HAPPYPLANTGAL We abound in the best farmers markets with some of the hardest working most amazing farmers, so many of whom are trying to get back to practices that encourage healthy soil and food.
Grocery stores are filled with so much....and most of it is not really food. There needs to be a reboot of connection to soil, growing, what food should look and smell and taste like. A remembering that cooking is easy and connection to the food one eats actually enhances its affect on the body.
Until people are growing food (garden out back here) we also need to find creative ways to support farmers that need storage facilities and more.
Funnily enough I think microbreweries have the best grasp on how to work as a collective to come up with creative solutions.
Yes 5.00 for a little bag of radishes ...IPUT IT BACK. This was at Red Deer Farmers Market ,last Saturday BEING SOLD BY A BC FARMER!!!!
@@patriciadodd9412 , _> "Yes 5.00 for a little bag of radishes ...IPUT IT BACK."_
In this case we don't need BC farmers. At all.
The “pandemic” did not cause this. Politicians did this with their boneheaded lockdowns and other mandates.
This guy is the main reason why the Co-op tanked
Sean P. McConnell, vice-chair of Duane Morris' Antitrust and Competition group, has represented numerous clients in their most high-stakes and sophisticated antitrust disputes. Mr. McConnell represents U.S. and international clients on the full range of antitrust matters, from counseling and compliance, to defense of bet-the-company class actions and private litigation, to government investigations, to the competitive aspects associated with mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and other collaborations. While his representations and experience span numerous industry sectors, Mr. McConnell has deep experience in the life sciences, healthcare, and technology spaces, including artificial intelligence.
Areas of Practice *
Antitrust and Competition
Complex Commercial Litigation
Mergers and Acquisitions
Naked shorting/short selling speculating
Insider trading
First step into turning those orchards into more double occupancy "suburbs". Why would people need to grow food in one of the few places in the country it's feasible and economically viable to do so.
Instead of handing out welfare and instead of getting cheap foreign workers, Canadians needing welfare should be directed to jobs that were relying on foreign workers. Give Canadians jobs driving busses to get them to work if needed. There are definitely better alternatives than what the current system offers.
The sad reality is that the majority of welfare recipients these days are too soft and lazy and are not worth hiring for a job like this.
Companies can pay foreign workers less then what they have to pay a Canadian worker though.
@@stephfahey1101 and people on welfare make less than regular people as well. Also some of foreign wages are offset with government money (our tax dollars). I'm saying the system is broken, we have the tools to fix it, we just choose not to.
All this while government is in discussions with UBC activists about taxing anyone on ALR that is not farming. Apparently all that's needed to earn a living farming is for a bureaucrat to designate your land as ALR.
Here's an example of how ridiculous the ALR can be. My friend's property is just under 10 acres and is in the ALR just like the surrounding properties. But his is unique in that it is all exposed bedrock. To build his house required blasting before the foundation could be poured. Obviously, he can't farm on solid rock, so a tax on him is utter stupidity. Oh, ya, the property had a smaller house on it when he bought. Since he's not zoned for two houses, he had to remodel the original house to turn it into a giant workshop that he doesn't need. All the while there is a huge housing crisis going on.
Heads up. The prices are insane especially when buyers (the smaller stores) sell. I only buy at the peak times. Otherwise I’m not interested. I don’t pity anyone. We grow it and pay so much. Best of luck.
It's almost like all the regulations and taxes make Canadian products uncompetitive.
This could be a good time to start using Permaculture principles as we ensure a basic standard of living without raising taxes
You don't think they'll find a way to tax personally grown food?
I agree.
I don't think that permaculture is relevant in this story, but I hate the way that we never seem to discuss it.
Nothing to do with permaculture or how the fruit is grown. This is a marketing and management story.
@@garywagner2466 With the right planning it would be way easier to make ends meets, and we wouldn't need to exploit poor people
@@eugenetswong I appreciate you
The biggest problem is price gouging by the grocery stores......being able to buy decent groceries shouldn't be a luxury or have to make a choice between paying gas or electric utility bills or buying a couple steaks or a roast or whole chickens.......where I live a 3 to 4 pound beef roast is around $60 and chickens $18 to $20 for a single chicken and cauliflower is around $8 bread $6 a loaf and 4 liter jug of milk for $5 or 6 bucks
Groceries are just way too expensive too the point where you can't even budget for it and there is hardly ever any sales and the stores don't even send out flyers or coupons anymore......just a bloody ripoff
so start a grocery store if you think they're gouging, simple.
@@spiderjerusalem6887 There is no thinking, it is a 100% certainty that gouging is happening. Huge price increases that are far beyond what inflation would indicate. I am not opposed to any company making a profit, but large grocery chains are absolutely gouging.
How many people clamoring for GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS scream about big government, high taxes and the deficit? Markets are volatile but government intervention never works. In good years do they give their employees bonuses? One last thing, between blossoming and thinning they knew the potential size of this crop. Where were the preparations. Why no heads up from the Tree Fruit Co-op? This is a perfect example of ignoring a problem and then crying for help.
And people say that globalization is good for everyone.
What is the next "local" industry on the list to fail ?
AXE THE TAX, ITS VERY SIMPLE
Waaah waaah waaah, cry more.
@@user-wo5ku3gi7r what a very mature and intelligent response
Prices still high in stores
Transport costs.
No reason given for the cooperative closing its doors? Did agriculture is BC just disappear and that's why the cooperative abruptly shut its doors? Global once again failing at journalism.
They are too busy censoring and deleting comments.
You live in the west and expect fair treatment from the federal government? That's kinda crazy.
The price is crazy! 7$ a pound for cherries 🍒 apples 2.50$ a pound nectarines peaches up around 4$ a pound (box of cereal 3.50$) who is going to eat a lot of fruit seems greedy as a buyer
It is strange that a cooperative goes bust. Have the growers taken a cut too big?
If these farmers paid their workers decently then I'd probably be more inclined to care. After doing some orchard work myself though it's hard to do anything other than laugh at them when they have struggles. The organic fruit industry in particular is a joke, much of the so-called organic fruit people pay extra for isn't organic at all, but is snuck in by shady growers who have a little bit of organic certified land and a lot more land that is conventional and not certified organic. Little bit of shuffling around and would you look at that, all of a sudden these apples are worth a lot more! Magical lol, they can take a hit or two in my opinion, plenty of them deserve it.
NDP needs to go
I want to buy Canadian produce not American,the government has to step up so we can look after our country ourselves and not depend on the us for food.
Sorry but Government of Canada has spent all their money helping provinces in the east. You don't really count.
Namely Ontario and Quebec.
Government does not care! This is forced on mankind! Hold strong, pray , and call on your Heavenly Father to stop the enemy’s plans to destroy farming, and orchards !
Times r changing
Stop asking for help
Take control of your market!
When fruit farmers suffer I cry and cry.
they need to "Diversify" in order to survive, these fruit farmers need to start making Jams, dried fruits, fruit rolls, fruit preserves, the list goes on and on, and sell them directly to local stores; they can make money in so many ways, instead they're always crying for a government hand out when ever there's a bump in the road/market.
that's because they are businesspeople first and farmers second. If it's a lifestyle, they are farmers first, if it's about profit then it's a business.
The issue here was the fact that 40% of fruit trees failed to produce fruit in 2023 due to cold snaps in December and March and 75% failed to produce fruit this year due to cold snaps in February.
So sidehanded what they did to the growers...right before harvest and now no market.
There is a huge market they just have to advertise and let people know where they can come and buy from them. Fruit stand along the road, one in town, farmers market!!! Buy the best fruit and produce, product of Canada 🇨🇦!!!
uh
its a co-op, it was owned by the growers
If it's a Co-op shouldn't there be regular meetings and financials gone over? This sounds sus.
And this legacy media story sheds no information...
"Poor farmers " as he drove past the 10000 sqft house that doesn't pay tax.
Farmers don't pay tax? Where did you get this information?
Meth is bad for you.
I know somebody will find a way to make people believe that the economy is in exellent shape..!!!!
The government should support the farmers!
Instead of allowing food to go to waste then why not deliver the food to Canadian food banks?
Millions of people are going to food banks while food is going to waste in BC just WOW is all I have to say. There are people who are living in other provinces, and are not able to afford to buy food, and who might be skipping meals, or are starving. If there is a lot of left over food that might go to waste then I think it can be delivered to places in Canada where food is lacking, or there is no food.
In my opinion I think Pilots, and Captains have the ability to deliver food all over Canada, so if Canadians are not living near a food bank then they could still get food assuming if Canadian pilots, and captains helped to distribute the food that might go to waste.
Food can be preserved, so it can last longer by the way!
We are not legally allowed to ship our fruit or market it without the proper Canada GAP certificates. Unfortunately that was done through BC Tree Fruits. It's not just the fruit, there are so many more issues now
The refrigeration and transportation needed to carry things to food banks would not be terribly different from the needs to get the product to businesses. The crux of the issue is BC tree co-op is a crucial resource for refrigeration and processing for getting product elsewhere that is not easily replaced
@@user-cr4se9yb7n Absolutely. Add to that the fact that we have to pay for bins and other material as well now (instead of borrowing it) and that BC Tree Fruits still hasn't paid us for last year's crop, most farmers cannot afford to harvest this year. Many are waiting on money owed to them.
@@user-cr4se9yb7n There are different ways to preserve food. There is not only 1 way of preserving food.
Truckers are probably used by farmers, but truckers are not the only people who can carry items to bring to other people. Captains, and Pilots can go all over Canada unlike truckers!
Maybe there are Canadians who are not living near a food bank, so what do you think will happen to these people if they do not eat?
@@sulmanali566 That sucks, I hope the situation gets figured out and someone looks out for the farmers. I purchase stock for a single location retailer in the lower mainland. I'm trying to decide if I should trade my SUV in for a truck, cut out the middlemen and go straight to the source
Co-ops need protection. Similarly Esops should be commonplace.
Get investors and get building.Dont ask the government for anything.Time for people to get together.
Why are prices so high for fruit in bc? Oh that’s right, the ndp
What does the NDP have to do with it?
@@Tugela60 Nothing, its a constant attack on our freedom and liberties by foreign who are tired of the 'free world'.
@@Tugela60 when it's cheaper to buy fruit and other produce from overseas than your local farmer. I think it's time to reevaluate
@brotherben4600 It is cheaper because the US government subsidises American agriculture. It is not because they are more efficient or better farmers than Canadians. On top of that they dump their excess into the Canadian market at cost or a loss. So of course Canadian farmers can't compete, it is not a level playing field.
@@randompersonintheworld232 It's cheaper for a few reasons
1. Canadian grown fresh fruit is only available when its in season, not gonna find Canadian grown fresh apples 3 months before the apple harvest begins.
2. For many fruits (and some vegetables), Canada isn't the ideal climate to grow them in (not to mention that much of Canada simply is unsuitable for growing fruit). As a result, places that are ideal for growing specific fruits (such as Apricots in Turkey) will be able to better utilize economics of scale to reduce production costs.
3. Canada is a high income country with high wages, so the baseline production costs are going to be higher compared to lower income, lower wage regions.
Are there any Caucasians left in Canada?
WEF replacement agenda.
When farmers are barely surviving and consumers cannot afford the product there is someone in the middle making too much money.
Government needs to audit and regulate food distribution and large retail, not the farms or the consumers.
The fruit is not even good, everything is sprayed with avid, till the day of harvest. Birds don't eat until well after harvest, when the sprays have washed out.
Throwing tax-payer money away to growers who aren't growing the latest varieties at high density is stupid. There is a $70m replant program that will replace the $.12 per pound Macs bring with $.45 per pound Honeycrisp. Crying growers should have replanted years ago if they can't make any money. Tax payers can't afford to support the buggy whip industry either.
Spent some time in BC and made sure I brought cherries from there back to Ontario for our elderly Mom, definitely made her summer.🍒
Farmers accumulated substantial wealth considering the very high-priced canadians have paid for supporting locals. It's time for you to dig into your pockets and stop relying on tue gvt.
Food is very expensive these days like everything else.
More and more companies are bankrupt or they are reducing their employees.
What will be the best solution for all of us and not for few?
THANK YOU LORD FOR CALLING FOR MORE LABORERS OF THE HARVEST, I’M DOING SOME HEAVY LIFTING HERE LORD, PLEASE BRING IN BACKUP AROUND THE GLOBE FOR MORE PRAYER WARRIORS AND HELPERS/BUILDERS!!!
You sure love to praise yourself in prayer. A prayer you are showing off to the world.
I’m only buying American foods as the prices are allowing me to eat, sad when grass fed American beef steaks are half the price, same as the fruits and vegetables
That is because the US government subsidises farmers.
@Tugela60 Regardless of the reasons,so many people are struggling under inflation that they have to go with the lowest priced option.I'm one of them.😢
I don't eat beef or pork for ethical reasons
Brilliant. Put money in American producers’ pockets. Traitor.
@@DonnellOkafor-r2d, nobody cares about your “ethics.”
Why does everyone expect a government handout when there job is threatened?
Are the farmers willing to pay back money years down the road when they sell the land for a fortune?
You can rest assured that carbon tax increases to the fuel farmers use is contributing immensely to the collapse of the BC fruit industry :-)
Farmers with huge mansions just want to raise fruit prices
Support tree fruit farmers. Buy BC fruit 😊
Feed the homeless instead of letting them rot
Picking them is the problem.
Who's going to pick them?
Who is letting the homeless rot?
There quite literally isn't any fruit to pick
40% of fruit trees failed to produce fruit in 2023 due to cold snaps in December and March and 75% failed to produce fruit this year due to cold snaps in February.
how can BC Treefruit and their unionised workers, just before harvest betray the grower and close the processingplant? Could this be a revanche because many grower critisized how selfpossesed this packinghouse treaded the apple growers?
No marketing board no quotas. Conservatism!
Liberalism!
Donations, Donations, corruption.
I hope this ends well
No worry, gov doesn't care because we have nice fruits from usa and maxico. :)
Maybe build another 20 000 sq ft house on alr land,collect crop insurance,big scam.
Canada as whole is falling apart through political maneuvering that doesn't help grow economies of all the provinces and territories.
🎉Co-ops need to be financially viable as well! No one can operate under losses.
Things get better when the government does less and allows more
Just today this guy who work at the grocery store told me that right now, fruits from Canada are off the shelves to be replace by the American's fruits... Why? He doesn't know. Free trade is. So now our fruits will go else where and we have to buy from else where. Why? Make the economy running. For who? Not for us. Who you think?
19 workers in the work line 1:50 to process 27 cherries.... cant imagine why the co op fell apart... it was clearly taking its share.
Good catch, you're right. This explains why they kept everybody employed even knowing since spring it was financially unsustainable. The membership bloated their co-op with easy jobs for friends and family.
There were so few cherries to process because 70-90% of the crop died due to a cold snap in February
@@TheAircool1 So 70-90% (!) of cherry sorters couldn't find new jobs since February and the corrupt co-op couldn't lay them off or make them productive elsewhere. You realize what you said only damns them further?
i pay $2 a pound for apple. Total ripoff. 4 years ago I was paying .70