07Jan 2026 by admin

L2T 2025 Reflections

We hope everyone enjoyed a slower end to 2025 filled with good food, deep rest, and surrounded by friends and family. 2025 was the year of big beginnings for Land to Table. With the strength of the network and our shared expertise, we transformed many years of conversations and ideas into action– to make the change we wish to see in our local food system. For those who attended our events, gathered with us, shared ideas and knowledge, or followed along our journey last year, thank you for being a part of the groundswell to re-localize our food systems. We hope you’ll join us for a year of trying new things. This month’s newsletter is a recap of 2025 and a preview of all that is to come.

May our collective momentum carry us through a fruitful 2026.

Happy new year!

The Food Shed

The Food Shed is an Armstrong-based wholesale warehouse connecting our community’s schools, institutions, social service agencies and non-profit organizations to year-round, local, affordable, food grown by regional farmers.

Engage with The Food Shed

Farmer Engagement

As Land to Table prepares to launch The Food Shed in 2026, farmer engagement has been core to creating a producer-forward operation.

  • Wholesale-Ready Workshops (JAN/FEB): Designed to help small and medium-sized farmers explore wholesale markets and develop action plans to grow and sell their products. Access resources and the series recap here: read blog post
  • Farmer Interviews (SPRING): Interviews with some of the network’s most engaged farmers to understand pricing and appropriate crops for our region’s small-medium scale farmers to grow in wholesale quantities.
  • Know Your Farmer Tour (SEP): Continued support for the annual BX Farm Tour, promoted via our online platforms: landtotablenetwork.com/bx-farm-tour
  • L2T Forum (NOV): The Around the Table forum had strong producer turnout and focused on how local retailers can support farmers and make local food more accessible. While not the only solution, The Food Shed is a key piece in supporting farmers and connecting communities with local food. Read the event recap.
  • Growing Agreements (DEC): We met with nine local vegetable farmers to shape Food Shed growing agreements, pricing, deposits, and policies to support business growth and scaling to wholesale production.

School Food Engagement

  • School Food Supplier Workshop (JAN): Sponsored by FeedBC, this full-day event aimed to connect local food suppliers with school food purchasers from districts across the Okanagan and Columbia/Shuswap regions.
  • School Food at the Basin Food Summit & Expo (FabX): L2T worked with the FabX team to develop a “Ready to Sell to Schools: A Resource Guide for BC Producers” in collaboration with Feed BC, and helped co-host a webinar to share our experience working in the school food sphere. We also attended FabX, hosted a booth promoting The Food Shed, and facilitated a session on “Creative Partnerships that Increase Local Food in Schools.”
  • Coalition for Healthy School Food: L2T regularly attends meetings as a member of the CHSF Steering Committee. 
  • School Food Coordinated Procurement Grant: School District 6 (Rocky Mountain) and Land to Table Network applied for and received a $100,000 grant from the Ministry of Education and Child Care. The grant supports L2T to work together with eight school districts across the Southern Interior (SD 6, 67, 22, 83, 8, 51, 20, and 5) to: understand and map current and potential food supply chain opportunities for schools, develop a centralized ordering software platform for schools, and to create efficient and cost-effective pilots for each school district to increase food access for school food programs. 
Resource: Ready to Sell to Schools

Cross-Regional Food Security

Land to Table is continuing to build the cross-regional network, and bring together food champions to learn and share food knowledge and experiences, strengthen relationships across our food system, and support local Indigenous food sovereignty and food security projects. 

  • Okanagan Prosperity Fund: L2T received $46,750 from the Province of BC, Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, via the Okanagan Community Foundations, to strengthen connections with organizations across the three Okanagan regions and deepen relationships with Indigenous communities, advancing Indigenous food sovereignty. The project builds L2T’s capacity to expand food security knowledge, strengthen collaboration to address poverty and social inclusion, and increase the network’s overall impact.
  • Ntamtqen Work Party (MAY): L2T coordinated a networking and work party with the Ntamtqen Community Garden & Food Hub located on 7.5 acres of Smelqmix (Similkameen) community land. Read the full recap to learn more. 
  • South Okanagan (JUN): L2T convened key food security stakeholders in the South Okanagan to gain a better understanding of the current state of food security in the region, explore their unique challenges, and identify future opportunities.
  • L2T Forum (NOV): The Around the Table forum gave us a chance to reflect and celebrate our shared achievements over 5 years, explore the collective impact of food system initiatives across the region, and engage in thoughtful discussion with a diverse range of partners shaping the future of local food.
  • Columbia-Shuswap Food Collaborative: L2T is stewarding a cross-regional hub, the Columbia-Shuswap Food Collaborative, expanding our spokes to include Revelstoke Local Food Initiative, Rise Up Indigenous Wellness, Shuswap Food Action Society and Eagle Valley Community Support Society. Learn more about our United Way BC Regional Community Food Hub work. 

Advocacy, Community Outreach, and Local Government Collaboration

  • Eat Think Vote (APR): Ahead of this year’s provincial elections L2T co-led a campaign to bring food and agriculture to the forefront of political conversation. Learn more: landtotablenetwork.com/eat-think-vote-2025
  • sncəcmałqtn Agricultural Park: L2T supported sncəcmałqtn Agricultural Park (SAP) by attending regular meetings and providing grant writing services on behalf of the Regional District of the North Okanagan. We secured $7,760 for plants and trees for the SAP Food Forest.
  • Out in the Community: L2T took to various stages, boardrooms, and virtual spaces to share about what we do and what’s to come with The Food Shed, including:
  • Bridging Food Systems Gaps: PhreeAgent Creative Media produced an updated video for L2T, highlighting the work we do and how The Food Shed fits into the bigger picture. Watch on YouTube.
Video: Bridging Food Systems Gaps

What’s Next: For Us and For You in 2026!

In 2026, Land to Table Network Society will:

  • Continue to grow The Food Shed:
    • Design the Community Food Marketplace to increase food access for community organizations offering food programming.
    • Complete a feasibility study for a food processing facility with funding from ETSI BC
    • Complete a business plan
    • Launch The Food Shed in Fall 2026
  • Conduct the School Food Coordinated Procurement Grant project.
  • Meet with Central Okanagan food security actors to better understand their work and collaborative opportunities. 
  • Present to local government about L2T’s work and the launch of The Food Shed.
  • Continue to engage with and support local Indigenous food partners 
  • Continue to sit on the Coalition for Healthy School Food steering committee
  • Organize a North Okanagan event to bring Central and South Okanagan food security actors together to plan next steps for cross-regional collaboration and connecting food infrastructure.


Actions for You:

  • Sign up for The Food Shed newsletter and check out www.thefoodshed.ca to learn more and stay engaged. 
  • Join the Coalition for Healthy School Food! www.healthyschoolfood.ca
  • If you are a food supplier and interested in supplying school food programs, reach out to sammy@landtotablenetwork.com
  • Keep an eye on this website for cross-regional food security updates and engagement opportunities.