Agricultural Links

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> Welcome to North Saanich > Municipal Hall > Departments > Planning and Community Services > Planning > North Saanich Agriculture > Agricultural Links

Agricultural Links

The following collection of websites covers a broad range of interests in agriculture. If you would like to see sites listed here, please tell us about them.

Note:    Websites that are local (Vancouver Island) are marked with an asterisk (*).

	Website Categories
	Agricultural Business Information		Other Sites
	Educational Opportunities		Shopping Guides
	Food Access and Security		Specific Tools for Farms
	Food Safety and Technology		Wide-ranging Agricultural Information
	Organics and Environmental Friendly Farming

	Agricultural Business Information
	BC Food Processors Association	Articles, newsletters and videos on food processing topics including health issues and international trade. There is a directory of BC food processors. Resources for business planning, information on regulations.
	BC Agri-Food Knowledge Platform	A variety of educational guides and factsheets on the production, marketing, sale, distribution and awareness regarding different agricultural industries
	Farm Centre	Newsletter, news and webinars on government policy, lifestyle, practices, science and entrepreneurs regarding agriculture. Information on business consultants. Purchasable agribusiness resources and publications.
	Farms	Up-to-date agriculture news on market trends, crop results, economics and government policy. Chat section and Classifieds on agriculture in Canada and the USA. A blog containing expert commentaries on the agriculture industry.
	Farm Marketer	Up-to-date news on policy and industry news, commodity prices. Web links to industry associations. List of province-wide events. Farm real estate for sale across Canada. List of farm suppliers and retailer resources for farmers.
	Maryland Small Ruminant Page	Lots of info for sheep and goat producers –from marketing to health.
	AAFC Programs and Services	Information on a variety of programs that support the agricultural economy.
	* Farmbase (Island Organic Producers Association)	Directory of markets, restaurants stores and distributors. Also contains a directory of suppliers including seed retailers, recycling facilities and equipment retailers. Contains price estimation for different produce. Directories focus on Vancouver Island but include all of Canada.
	BC Agricultural Council	main page listing that includes WALI (which provides information to those seeking foreign farm workers), Buy BC (branding information), BC young farmers (information on events and networking) and BC Farm Animal Care. Contains the forum of BC Farm Knowledge Network; which contains news, blogs and posts.
	Young and Beginning Farmers	Lists programs, networking opportunities and workshops to assist aspiring and new farmers. Contains reports on the challenges and opportunities facing new and aspiring farmers.
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	Educational Opportunities
	Kitchen Gardeners	Resources to learn how to cook and grow food. A forum on gardening topics like seed saving and composting
	Stewards of Irreplaceable Land	cross-Canada resource connecting apprentices with farm apprenticeships.
	World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms	Information about their programs to educate people through mentorships of various lengths. Includes host listings.
	The National Center for Appropriate Technology Sustainable Agricultural Project	Offers Sustainable Farming Internships and Apprenticeships in Canada and the USA. Contains links to a variety of educational opportunities. Contains a large collection of videos on sustainable agriculture
	* Camosun College Gardening and Horticulture	classes on harvesting, gardening, tree care and landscaping. They also have an English class on writing about food!

	Food Access and Security
	Plant a Row, Grow a Row	Encourages people to grow food and donate it to food banks. Contains a list of participating organizations and programming news. Contains tips on growing and recipes for several types of vegetables.
	* Lifecycles	Runs volunteer programs like The Fruit Tree Project that focus on nontraditional agriculture. Also provides resources for teachers and youth, non-traditional producers and community mapping.
	Farm to School	Stories about agricultural initiatives in BC schools, food access news, reports and web links, events, guides to school projects and farm tours and a list of schools and farms with a farm to school program.
	Provincial Health Services Authority	A source of research on the food security, and challenges BC faces becoming food secure
	Bits & Bites	Database of free community food security publications. Topics include urban food, policy change, harvesting, food and health and processing–distribution–retailing.
	* Community Food Atlas	Large collection of organizations and programs mostly dealing with food access issues. Many different ways to search and categorize
	* CR-FAIR	Calendar of events, newsletter, food security links, publications
	* Vancouver Island Diet	Web resources, media links, and links to newsletters, organizations and interesting sites
	* Farm Folk City Folk	A knowledge pantry including help with seed sharing and buying, preserving food and teacher resources.
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	Food Safety and Technology
	Advanced Foods & Materials Network	Provides articles and magazine on innovation in Canadian food sciences. Information on mentorship program and conferences. Lists many organizations important to the food industry.
	Institute of Science in Society	Articles, newsletter, web links and publications on sustainable and secure food sources, biotechnology, food safety and health, biofuels, GMOs and more.
	Canada Good Agricultural Practices	contains information on food production, storage and packaging safety standards and certification system. Contains a newsletter on programming, food industry and food safety news. Web links on food safety
	Canadian Agricultural Safety Association	funding and programming news and information. A variety of media on safety on topics including children, disabilities and animals.
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	Organics and Environmental Friendly Farming
	Certified Organic Associations of BC	List of certified farms, certification information, marketing advice, video seminars or ‘Webinars’ on organic issues, newsletter archive, listserv, webpage forum, market prices, business planning and resources, list of seed suppliers
	Canadian Health Food Association	Podcast archive of issues in the organic industry. There’s also a job board. Some publications and educational resources require membership.
	* Society of Organic Urban Land Care	Links to the organic gardening course at Gaia College. Articles, blog and Newsletter of organic stories, information and resources. Web-based educational opportunities. A link to information on organic workshops in the CRD. Web links to learn more about organic lawn care, pesticides, GMOs, Xenobiotics, Sudden Oak death, business management and other organic organizations. Calendar of local events.
	* The Farmer's Stand	A Gulf Islands blog with articles on preserving farmland and good ecology.
	BC Agriculture and Development Corporation	Information on environmental farm plan program and the various management plans. Information on programs helping farmers with renewable energy, food safety, skills development, product tracing and wild predators.
	City Farmer News	Up-to-date blog on non-traditional agriculture around the world including many ‘how to’ articles.
	Planet Friendly	Good Work Canada (List jobs and volunteer positions with a focus on environmental sustainability. Searchable by categories including agriculture. Job search tips.) Calendar of events posted by site users. Volunteer and learning programs, information on good environmental stewardship, guides for sustainable living including some on agriculture.
	* Transition Victoria	A local forum on reducing energy dependency, which has a subsection on food. They also have a blog and newsletter
	* Saanich Organics	Offers local opportunities for organic farmers to work together. Mentorship opportunities to learn organic agriculture.
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	Other Sites
	BC 4-H Program	Newsletter, calendar and articles on 4-H programming. Safety information.
	Slow Food Vancouver	Contains a guide to when local food is in season. Also contains news, web links and a blog on the slow food movement. Vancouver focused events.
	Eat Magazine	Articles on local food availability, travel and events. Recipes and retail opportunities.

	Shopping Guides
	* Get Fresh with the Locals	A guide to how, where and when to buy food from some local farms, restaurants, caterers and stores. Also lists organizations that support local food. Contains a blog of recipes.
	* Island Farm Fresh	Categorizes opportunities to buy food by location, farm name, u-picking and farmer’s markets. Also contains a guide to what’s in season, a blog of recipes and local stories and information on their tour of farms
	* Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery	Sign up for their online shopping and delivery service
	* Harold Foster Foundation	Weekly delivery service of local organic food
	* Pickyourown.org	Lists u-pick opportunities in the Victoria, BC area. Picking, canning and freezing tips and instructions.
	Canadian Farmers Market	Lists farm producers by produce and region. Provides stories and colourful facts on food production.
	BC Specialty Food Directory	Allows restaurants and other food retailers to source local food. Searchable by region, seasonal availability and product type.
	* Island Farmers Alliance	Local events, newsletter archive, products in season, list of farm markets
	* North Saanich Farm Market	Local events, market information and recipes
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	Specific Tools for Farms
	Web Garden (Ohio State University)	An international fact bank with over 59 000 entries. A database of educational opportunities in the USA. A database of plant images and how to videos. A list of frequently asked gardening questions. An illustrated glossary of horticultural terms.
	West Coast Seeds	Contains a database on the certified organic seeds they sell. Organized by popularity, flowers, vegetables and herbs. Contains how to grow guides on many different plants. Lists retail partners located in the Victoria area. Also lists gardening books and supplies for sale. Contains a planting chart, a Canadian growing map and a glossary of gardening terms.
	Linking Land and Future Farmers	Helps people with unused land and people who want farm land connect. Various agreements include rent, lease, sale, work-in, managing, Co-operative and rent with an option to eventually buy.
	Farm Credit Canada	Provides information on their variety of loans. Offers newsletters on business design and industry news. Has a page for listing properties for sale and reports on regional farmland values.
	* The Pocket Market Toolkit	Covers much of what you need to set up a market stand including food safety and pricing. Details their program to buy organic produce. Explains the importance of pocket markets. Lists numerous web links to NGOs and government organizations that may interest or help you.
	Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada	A database of heritage seed varieties. Contains information on preserving seeds and community seed saving. Newsletter available. Follow a link to Salt Spring Seeds to find heritage seeds for sale.
	* BuySellTrade.ca Vancouver Island	Classifieds for many goods. Searchable by agricultural topics.
	Job Bank	Job opportunities searchable by region and industry (including farming)
	The Agricultural Labour Pool	Canada-wide agricultural job post and find site. Classifieds and educational resources also available.
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	Wide-ranging Agricultural Information
	Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada	An encyclopedia on Canadian agricultural issues including diseases, industry history and statistics and even recipes.
	International Union of food Science and Technology	Up-to-date newsletters, information bulletins and web links to databases on issues including diseases, food aid, land potential, the nutrients in food and GMOs.
	Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations	Policy information on increasing productivity and investment, mitigation of climate change and hunger crises. Database on farm practices, nutrition, forest management, trade and marketing, rural infrastructure and food security.
	BC Farm Knowledge Network	News on farm issues like funding, food safety, politics, succession planning. Contains a forum for issues like farm practices and regulation. Also has up-to-date blogs.
	Google News	Excellent way to personalize the news you consume. You can add sections like ‘Canadian Organic Farming’, ‘Farming’ and ‘Local Food’.
	BC Food Systems Network	Information on agricultural policy, indigenous food security, nutrition and health, food access, farming and gardening and more. List servs and a list of local organizations available.
	BC Ministry of Agriculture	Well-updated news on BC agriculture and the BC government with links to government branches like sustainable agriculture, industry competitiveness and plant health. You can also find good information on organic agriculture and guides for agri-product production by searching the website.
	Small Farm Canada	Up-to-date news, and a good list of organizations and web resources.
	Deconstructing Dinner	Archive of past broadcasts and transcripts on sustainable agriculture and social justice. Links to organizations involved in sustainable agriculture.
	* The Land Conservancy	Information on farmland preservation, conservation farm holidays and community farms. Newsletter on farming stories, conservation tips, the importance of local agriculture, TLC programs, campaigns and events. Publications on farmland preservation including topics of local government, business planning and alternatives to traditional farm ownership. Conservation partners, often farms, are listed.
	* Vancouver Island Food Network	Many films on agriculture, local events, Great list of local organizations, food blogs, cooking and growing and buying guides, Community Forum and news
	Farmlands Trust (Greater Victoria) Society	The Farmlands Trust (Greater Victoria) Society is a not-for-profit charitable organization. The Farmlands Trust website provides information through newsletters and links on such issues and initiatives related to farmland management, preservation, outreach and food security in the Greater Victoria area. The Farmlands Trust is committed to collaborating with local First Nations communities on agricultural-related issues.
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