Since 2022, the BC Craft Farmers Coop (BCCFC) has organized a yearly summit for all it’s members and supporters of Craft cannabis and the BC bud brand. This event is held around April the 20th a.k.a. (420) with a mission to help those in the black or “Legacy Market” as it is referred to in the industry transition to the legal market. The Coop also endeavors to build a close relationship with first nations and the mandate to promote the Craft. We were lucky enough to attend the first summit in Kelowna and soon became members of the Coop. After attended the following year's summit, again in Kelowna, I approached Tara Kirkpatrick, president of the coop, on how I could help, and was invited to the Board of Directors of the Coop, a volunteer position. Soon after I was asked to take the role of Vice President of the Coop, which I happily accepted.
This year the summit took place in Prince George, the Northern Capitol of BC as the Coop wanted to showcase the North, an important part of the BC Bud culture. The decision was made for two of us to drive from Vancouver to Prince George and visit independent Bud Tenders on the way up as both a member of the coop and to introduce High Mountain Organics to them.
Every location we visited was friendly and welcoming and each had its own feel, from dispensaries that have a more government store feel to dispensaries with murals and a hippy and relaxed feel. I was a joy connecting and so much fun checking out these places and communities.
The trip led us through 4 distinct climates on the drive up. One of the highlights of the drive is finding a taco stand in Cache Creek, that has the biggest selection of tacos, salsa, and toppings I have ever experienced.
It is amazing how beautiful this province is and the drive was well worth it. It’s still early in the season so nature has not come to full bloom yet, but wow even at this time of year the drive was amazing.
Prince George welcomed us with open arms and the summit ended being an amazing and historic one. Some of the speakers highlights were:
Regional Assembly Of First Nations Chief Teegee, who opened Friday on the traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh people in Prince George BC with an opening address from British Columbia’s Regional Chief for the Assembly of First Nations.
West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Member of Parliament Patrick Weiler. Patrick attended the Summit after arriving directly from Ottawa where the government of Canada presented its 2024 Budget. Patrick talked about plans to start addressing some of the problems with the Cannabis Act identified by the recent expert panel review, particularly related to craft farmers.
Mike Schilling, CEO of Community Savings Credit Union, the first financial institution in Canada to accept cannabis business accounts and John W Conroy, one of Canada’s most respected legal cannabis lawyer and advocate. There were also multiple discussion panels focusing on the state of the craft and all the challenges facing craft growers, processors, retailers and consumers.
This year we also had the pleasure to hear from Dr. Susan Dupej, PhD from Guelph University. Among other things, Dr. Dupej concluded that many of the conditions in northern California’s world famous ‘Emerald Triangle’ cannabis farming region can be applied to BC. and highlighted BC’s unique cannabis culture and history of advocacy as a major advantage in attracting tourists to experience the place cannabis is grown and the passionate people farming the plant.
Great example of how Cannabis can work hand in hand with tourism were:
The fist ever street festival with the first ever fully legal and sanctioned outdoor cannabis consumption area. Special thanks goes to the Major of PG, Simon Yu who welcomed us with open arms. This event attracted thousands of visitors and showcased a large number of local artist and vendors and was a huge success
and the road trip to the local observatory.
On the final day of the summit, the focus shifted from the state of Craft, to where we go from here. Growing up outside of Canada and during my travels, even I heard the term BC Bud and it's place as one of the top product in the world. This brand and the craft industry is in danger of disappearing from the legal market.
A large number of these legacy growers, that move into the legal market fail due to the large tax burden and crazy amount of red-tape requirement. There are numerous stories of farmers investing and loosing their life savings trying to transition to the legal market and stories of legacy growers that wont even try to make the transition due to all the challenges such as the requirement to build their facilities even before applying for a license and the large tax burden. Large corporations can move the burden over large quantities of product while the small farmers are restricted to small volumes and small margins.
The discussion focused on creating our own supply chain for the Craft grower/processors and how we need to work together to preserve the BC Bud brand and the power of the many to push for changes in the industry. The summit ended in a high note with lots of resolutions and to-do's to move the craft forward. Everyone that attended left with a renewed hope for the future and a feel of history in the making.
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