The BC Government is providing $4 million to support 65 organizations in BC to help strengthen food security infrastructure.
“We all want people to have access to nutritious food, so we’re taking action in a time of rising grocery prices,” said Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction Sheila Malcolmson.
“This is why, on top of hundreds of other projects, we’re funding critical infrastructure that helps people access fresh food in Nanaimo and throughout BC.”
The four organizations in the Kootenays to receive funding are:
- Boundary Community Ventures Association in Christina Lake- $8,620. This will go towards purchasing a 72 cubic foot upright reach-in freezer to improve food processing and storage, and replace the aging chest freezers.
- Kimberley Wellness Foundation in Kimberley- $100,000. This will go to install a commercial ventilation and fire suppression system, along with two induction cooktops, enabling onsite meal production, eliminating offside kitchen rentals, and fostering social enterprise initiatives and community collaboration.
- Kootenay Christian Fellowship/Our Daily Bread in Nelson- $45,000. This will go towards upgrading infrastructure to improve food storage capacity, extend shelf life of perishable items, and enable the organization to efficiently serve a growing number of community members.
- Shuswap Band in Invermere- $7,761. This will be use for training and equipment for the Shuswap community members to test wild meat for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). This includes training Shuswap guardians in tissue sample collection and purchasing necessary storage testing equipment.
The money comes from the provincially funded $14 million Critical Food Infrastructure Fund, administered by United Way BC.
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