The hot potato drop hits Haida Gwaii with 21,000 lbs of spuds – Prince Rupert Northern View

A windfall from East Coast despatched throughout the county to West Coast will see every Haida Gwaii family profit, not from Yukon Gold, however from a 10-pound bag of PEI potatoes.

A Bandstra truck crammed with 21,000 kilos of the tuber vegetable arrived in Previous Massett on July 8.

Since then Christopher Horner, the elders’ centre coordinator at Previous Massett Village Council (OMVC), has been contacting different villages so each family on Haida Gwaii will get a bag.

It began when Second Harvest, a non-profit centered on decreasing meals waste, referred to as Shelley Crack, a group dietician and co-lead for Haida Gwaii’s Native Meals to College program. the query posed to Crack and Horner was if they might handle a big cargo of root greens.

The response was, “Sure, please ship them.”

The distribution of the bounty has required some coordination and teamwork. Village places of work have been transformed into momentary meals pick-up hubs in Queen Charlotte and Masset. In Port Clements, OMVC pupil volunteers drove round leaving a bag of spuds on each doorstep.

“Tomorrow, July 13, they’re going out to Tow Hill Street and July 14 (Thursday) they’re driving down to satisfy the Sandspit ferry to ship over 120 baggage for them,” Horner mentioned.

“So, it’s actually each home that has the chance.”

It’s not the primary time meals sharing has occurred.

Horner defined that final yr OMVC shared halibut with each family on the island. They couldn’t do fish once more so this yr potatoes have been the chosen meals.

Earlier than the COVID pandemic OMVC used to host meals that have been open to anybody. The group meals needed to be cancelled for the security and safety of the Elders.

“It felt bizarre that we have been turning folks away for some time throughout COVID however then it feels good that we may give them a bit reward and say you’re nonetheless a part of our household,” Horner mentioned.

The Haida Gwaii potato drop is considered one of greater than 175 throughout the nation organized by Second Harvest and Meals Banks Canada, the nationwide group which represents meals banks.

Terrace acquired 45,000 kilos of potatoes on June 14. They despatched pallets of spuds to Stewart, communities up Freeway 37 North, east of Terrace to Kitwanga and to the Nass Valley.

That tens of millions of kilos of potatoes are being delivered throughout the nation may be traced again to late final yr with the invention of potato wart in a number of Prince Edward Island fields. The wart disfigures potatoes however poses no threat to human well being.

Nonetheless, the federal authorities put a cease to shifting potatoes off of Prince Edward Island in November 2021, to forestall the opportunity of spreading the ugly potato wart. The American authorities adopted go well with the identical month by banning the import of potatoes from Prince Edward Island. That led to a concerted effort to each discover a marketplace for the potatoes earlier than portions went to waste and to financially help potato farmers.

The end result was the federal agricultural division offering funds to farmers and protecting the transport of potatoes throughout the nation as organized by Second Harvest and Meals Banks Canada. In April, the American border opened up once more to Prince Edward Island potatoes for consumption however to not seed potatoes grown within the island’s fields.

With information from Rod Hyperlink