#FarmerFriday – The Food Pedalers

[clickandtweet handle=”” hashtag=”” related=”” layout=”” position=””]Vancouver Food Pedalers Cooperative grows Vancouver’s highest quality microgreens and delivers them to restaurants, grocers, and farmers markets by bicycle – since 2009![/clickandtweet]

Founded as My Urban Farm by Chris Thoreau in 2009, The Food Pedalers incorporated as a Worker Cooperative in early 2013. Along with Dan Pinto and his wife Evlyn Iglesias as fellow owner-members, the Food Pedalers are excited to be Vancouver’s premier microgreens specialists!

Vancouver Food Pedalers Cooperative is an urban farm based in the Strathcona neigbourhood of Vancouver. Formerly My Urban Farm, the Food Pedalers are now in their seventh season of producing high-quality organic microgreens which we deliver to restaurants, grocers, homes, and farmers markets by bicycle.

The Food Pedalers exist in an effort to find an economically and socially sustainable model of urban farming that can easily be replicated. While many urban farming operations require multiple sites to reach a size which can be profitable, The Food Pedalers microgreens production system is an intensive operation requiring only a few thousand square feet of space. Such a system is ideal for the urban environment where space is at a premium and land tenure is difficult to secure.

The Food Pedalers model started off simple enough, in 2009, producing quick-growing microgreens in soil on covered benches during the summer season. We utilized this model for 5 years, establishing ourselves with farmers markets, restaurants and grocers in Vancouver. In 2013 we received a generous grant from Vancity which allowed us to purchase and modify a 40′ shipping container into a greenhouse, allowing us the capacity for year-round production. With more climate control we get a more consistent crop and can produce 12 months of the year. We are also better protected from pests.

We do all our deliveries by bicycle as well as most of our farmers markets. Bicycle transport is economical, environmentally responsible, and gives us a damn good work out!

We grow our microgeens in accordance with CFIA guidelines including The Code of Practice for the Hygienic Production of Sprouted Seeds and General Principles of Food Hygiene, Composition and Labelling.

We also grow our microgreens in accordance with the Canada Organic Standard which means all the seed we used is Certified Organic. Chris Thoreau, our Chief Executive Pedaler is a former organic farmer and has served on the Islands Organic Producer’s Association (IOPA) Board of Directors, Certification Committee and Standards Review Commitee. He is also trained as an IOIA Organic Inspector.We currently source all of our seeds from Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds in Saskatchewan, a seed company which specialize in seeds for sprouting. All of their seed is tested for pathogens and must be cleared as negative for pathogens before being sold to the public.

We grow all our microgreens in soil. Our soil consists of a mixture containing coir, peat moss, compost, perlite, and dolomitic lime. We do not make any other additions to our soil. We use our soil only once then it is composted and taken away by other gardeners and farmers in the area.

We value the power of the sunlight so grow our microgreens in a greenhouse. In winter we use supplemental light and heat to ensure a healthy crop.

All our crops are harvested, packaged, and delivered in the same day except product destined for the farmers market which goes out the next day. We deliver our products in coolers by bicycle.

You can rest assured that the microgreens you buy from the Food Pedalers are grown with a high level of care and integrity.

Instagram.com/thefoodpedalers
Facebook.com/localfoodpedalers
www.foodpedalers.ca