Live Q&A tonight: Food — can B.C. grow enough and keep it affordable?

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B.C. farmers are battered by floods, drought and the rising cost of fuel and fertilizer.

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We pay much more for food at our local grocery stores and markets because of climate change and supply chain disruptions driven by war in Ukraine and pandemic aftershocks.

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Only about one-third of the food consumed in B.C. is produced here. When it comes to fruit and vegetables, we are heavily reliant on our southern neighbours who are battling even greater environmental challenges.

Join us here tonight at 7 p.m. for a Conversations Live event hosted by Stuart McNish that will dig into the state of local food production and solutions to the crisis.

“Food: Can we grow enough and keep it affordable?” brings together these seven panelists to take your questions and explore what can be done to ease the burden on farmer and consumers:

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• Lana Popham, B.C.’s minister of agriculture and food, and MLA for Saanich South.

• Dan Huang-Taylor, executive director of Food Banks B.C., representing 100 food banks across the province.

• Sarah Sache, a dairy farmer in Rosedale, vice-chair of B.C. Dairy and a director on the B.C. Agriculture Council.

• Ned Bell, award-winning Okanagan chef and Chef Ambassador with Buy BC.

• Frank Mitloehner, an animal science professor at the University of California Davis whose research focuses on sustainable livestock.

• Glenda Luymes, Vancouver Sun and Province reporter who covers the agriculture sector in the Fraser Valley.

• Cherie Copithorne-Barnes, an Alberta rancher and founding chair of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.