Nestled along the Fraser River, about 10 minutes from Fort Langley, is Glen Valley Organic Farm Co-operative (GVOFC). This unique and beautiful patch of land has remained a small, organic farm for the past 20 years despite increasing pressures to develop or sell.
The farm has survived because local people believed in its ability to provide organic food to the community and formed a co-operative. With it’s excellent flood-plain soil, the founders of the co-op felt it should not be forfeited to private development.
The Co-operative Solution
Because the owners at the time couldn’t find buyers that intended to keep the farm organic, a co-operative was formed in 1998 and — with the money raised from memberships and a mortgage — this group of visionaries bought the farm. 20 years later, the mortgage on GVOFC’s land has been paid off and a couple of farming business have come and went, but it remains an organic farm.
Currently there are two farming businesses leasing land from the co-operative: Close to Home Organics and Earth Apple Organic Farm. Both are family-owned businesses and each family lives on the farm. They often share meals and co-operate in a number of ways, making this farm feel much like a community all its own.
One of these farmers is Chris Bodnar. Along with his wife Paige and their children, Chris runs Close to Home Organics. During our conversation Chris showed us around the farm.
Successful Sustainability
Once we started talking, I started to get a sense that they understand the value of this place and have made concrete steps to protect it. Parts of the farm remains forest, and the farm is certified salmon safe — a step they took due to the river being just a stone’s throw away. Leaving the forest was only possible because of the lack of pressure to make every square foot of land generate profit, Chris said.
The co-operative also put in place measures to halt the potential sell-off of the farm. For example, membership shares are set at a fixed value regardless of whether the assets of the farm appreciate. This measure reduces the incentive to sell at a profit, which helps secure the land for organic farming.
The people involved here are very serious about organic farming. They live on the land, and many aspects of how the farm is operated, including right down to its very structure, is done in a way that ensures the farm will churn out organic produce for a long time to come.
A Community Farm
This farm is important to more than the people living on it though. Peggy Vogler, the farms largest buyer of rhubarb and daughter of Allan Christian who founded Aphrodite’s Café and Pie Shop and spent time living on the farm, has kept her ties to the farm. Organic produce is important to her clientele, and so the farm remains a key supplier.
Likewise, Michael Marrapese, who does all things communications and technology for the agricultural support organization Farm Folk City Folk, commended Glen Valley’s current farmers on the connections they’ve been able to form with the community.
We met Michael at the Langley Farmers Market, which is where you can find Close to Home Organics on Wednesdays. Being at the market was a great way to see the market side of the farm and get in touch with how the community outside of the farm interacts with its products, all of which looked stellar!
The farm has this undeniably welcoming quality to it. With everyone cheerfully going about their business, I felt as if I’d stepped into some sort of pastoral wonderland. Over here a coop full of chickens androws of beans, and over there potatoes, rhubarb, and many other veggies. Glen Valley’s got everything you’d expect — and great people too!