Quick Facts:

•Interior Health prepares over five million meals a year for patients, families and individuals in need in the community.
•For many years, Interior Health has chosen, when possible, to buy food that is produced or processed in B.C., like milk, bread, and seasonal fruit and vegetables.
•As part of the Feed BC initiative, Interior Health has already made the switch to B.C. shelled eggs and B.C. ground beef as part of its institutional buying plan.
•B.C. has 80 hospitals and 122 residential care homes, 25 public post-secondary institutions and over 1,500 public schools.
•Agriculture, seafood and food processing together form a $14-billion industry in B.C.
•There are 17,500 farms in B.C. that produce over 200 agricultural products and over 1,800 food and beverage manufacturing operations.

A new initiative by the Ministry of Agriculture ensures more of the food served to patients at Interior Health facilities is from British Columbia. Feed BC is increasing the institutional procurement of food grown, harvested or processed by B.C. farmers, fishers and processors.

“Feed BC is a game changer.

It’s about working collaboratively to encourage, inspire and support a shift to more B.C. foods in health-care and other government facilities. It’s food as medicine,” said Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture. “Buying local not only supports the agriculture sector in B.C. and B.C. residents, it contributes to our provincial food security, helping build a more resilient and sustainable food supply.”