Local Food in Burnaby – Farm Fresh, Picked Daily

Local Food in Burnaby – Farm Fresh, Picked Daily

Fresh vegetables that are picked the day you buy them? Hallelujah! Why eat lettuce and potatoes from 1,500 km away when you can eat them fresh from local farms?

The more we buy local food, the more we support local farmers, and that ensures we will have an ongoing food supply close to home. Because climate change may mean that imported food is not available in the future, it’s important that we have local food sources. Plus, shorter shipping distances cut down on greenhouse gasses.

And when you can talk to the farmers and see herbs and vegetables growing in the rich fields, shopping changes from a chore to a pleasure. In Burnaby, we can buy local produce direct from two market gardens that are open 7 days a week and at a third farm that is open on summer weekends.

The Sun Tai Sang Farm at 4886 Marine Drive has been a family run business since 1935. From May to the end of September, you can buy fresh-picked produce grown in the fields behind the store. The store is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Sun Tai Sang Farm also carries produce from the Fraser Valley and fruit and tomatoes from the Okanagan. They bring in some fruit, such as oranges and bananas, but they promote BC grown produce as much as possible. The farm’s homegrown items are identified with a ‘Sun Tai Song’ sticker above the bin.

Sun Tai Sang also offers a wide variety of bedding plants for your flower garden and seedlings for your veggie patch. Take a look behind the retail building and you can see the covered gardens with people growing rows of vegetables in the dark, rich soil.

If you want to order produce in bulk for canning, freezing or drying, give them a call at 604-434-3663.

Hop On Farms at 5624 Marine Drive is open from 9:30 to 6:00 pm every day of the week. The farm has been family run since 1953. Come by for the fresh produce they grow, like sweet carrots, dark green chard, and herbs. They also sell produce from the Fraser Valley and Okanagan.

Treat yourself to a walk along the field to the creek, smell the rows of mint and see the lush fields of growing veggies. You can wander through the covered tables of bedding plants and vegetable seedlings and select some for your own garden.

You can order in bulk by calling ahead. Cases of basil, anyone, for your own fabulous pesto?

Hop On Farms

Watch for Common Ground Community Farm’s ‘Open’ sign during the summer months. The farm is located at 7354 North Fraser Way. Common Grounds farmers grow vegetables from their own seeds. The farm relies on crop rotation and beneficial insects – no pesticides or herbicides.

Common Grounds is a great place to come to get your veggies and show the kids what a small farm is like. The produce stall will usually be open on weekends. Check the website for dates and times.

Article Written By: Burnaby Food First Member Joyce Cameron