Fall is already upon us and what a whirlwind summer it was! I spent many wonderful hours driving across the province visiting wineries, farms and attending glorious events. Every single trip I make, I meet another amazing person in our food drink and farm community. One that is inspired and passionate about their craft or their job—it really reminds me that I live in the best place in the world right now. The many generations involved in our industry at this time are offering unique perspectives and contributing knowledge dealing with food security issues. The wine, spirits and microbrewing community also continues to flourish—all this leading us to international recognition and celebrity as well as benefiting our local economic systems. Attending a 100 Foot Dinner at Crannog Ales in Sorrento reminded me that we are so blessed to live in a farm rich region, able to feed and ‘water’ ourselves with local ingredients.
I ended the summer attending an epic long table dinner in Pemberton hosted by Araxi Restaurant in Whistler and setting a record with over 400 people seated, the largest single longtable in BC history! Another sign of community support and the wonderful change of attitude towards the farmers who are now celebrated rightly as our food heroes. This was another extension to my explorations ‘north’ this summer. Discovering the bounty of food, drink and thriving communities north of Kelowna was truly exciting. Visiting the furthest winery north in the province as well as the highest altitude winery in North America are both available to visit nearby in the beautiful Shuswap.
A huge thank you to photographer Victor Poirier and the team the came together to create this cover!
We had such fun shooting this issue and had a great team organized. HUGE thanks to photographer Victor Poirier, a super talent that was so gracious to share his time and talent to create this. Thanks also to his lovely wife/photo assistant Henrietta, who also writes for Food & Wine Trails Magazine. The location was in the beautiful barrel room at Church & State Winery in Oliver; it was John Pullen and I who planned this unique feature cover with his friends Neil and Nadine Barrett on board as models. Tattoo artist, Jeff White from Kettle Valley Tattoo in Penticton mocked up the tattoos and Hannah Schell from Hannah Schell Makeup was on site for styling. THANK YOU to all of you for your time and creativity.
Get out there and explore our province and meet the amazing community behind the labels and menus. And please, shop direct or from your local farmer’s market. And to make that easier, check out soilmate.com – an amazing tool to help you locate all of your local farms, markets, restaurants, wineries, drinkeries and more!
Happy harvest!
“In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.” William Blake
Jennifer Schell