In the end, the crowd was mixed.
Some came out simply to buy apples bargain-priced at 12 cents a pound.
Others came out to support Okanagan orchardists and paid more.
“I hope we got our point across,” said Glen Lucas, general manager of the 800-member B.C. Fruit Growers‘ Association, which sold the apples at Saturday‘s Kelowna Farmers Market to make a point that Okanagan orchardists get an average of only 12 cents a pound.
“There were a lot of people who only came out because they were excited to actually be getting apples for 12 cents a pound. Others paid more and sympathized with producers who are struggling with these prices.”
The association expected the 5,000 pounds of apples it brought would last for the entire market, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
However, they were sold out by 10 a.m., an indication more people were after a smoking deal on produce than a lesson on agricultural economics and orchardist woes.
The $1,030 the association raised with the sale is being donated to the Kelowna Community Food Bank.
With each sale, an apple grower handed out a pamphlet explaining the B.C. apple industry dilemma.
The average retail price of B.C. apples is $1.29 a pound, but the growers‘ cut is only 12 cents, which is often not enough to even cover the cost of production.
Fifty-eight per cent of the price goes to wholesales and retailers; 18 per cent goes for packing, grading and storage; 10 per cent goes to processing losses; and two per cent goes to brokers.
“The whole point of selling apples at 12 cents a pound is to show people that that‘s the average return to the grower,” said Kelowna orchardist Domenic Rampone.
“A lot of it is world markets, but people also have to decide if governments should be supporting agriculture more so that producers make more and the farming sector is protected for the future.”
Rampone pointed out that the average Canadian eats 14 pounds of apples a year, yet Canada doesn‘t produce enough apples to satisfy that domestic demand, so apples are imported from countries such as the United States and New Zealand.
“Even small countries like Italy and Portugal grow more apples than Canada because the governments there support agriculture and value local food production,” said Rampone.
Lucas hoped the sale and literature handed out prompts consumers to buy local produce.
He also hopes people will lobby their MLAs for more provincial support for the fruit and nutrition program at schools that feature Okanagan apples, the Agricultural Land Reserve and orchardists.
“Of course I‘m willing to pay a dollar or more a pound for Okanagan apples,” said Justina Belmore, who was shopping at the farmers market.
“But I wish orchardists would get more of it. I was born on a farm in Slovenia, so I am a farm supporter.”
Apples are the Okanagan‘s biggest cash crop, with 250 million pounds grown annually, bringing in a wholesale price of about $130 million. Top of Page
