About Us
The Ucwalmicw Community Farm “represents an opportunity for people to work on the land, in their community, on a project that is specifically for nourishing their community,” says Chelsea Tims, the Community Farm Manager. Ucwalmicw Farm is approximately five acres, with one acre of cultivated fields for mixed produce and perennials and a large orchard of mixed fruits. The farm also has an automated, temperature regulated greenhouse which will be possible to heat in the spring, fall and winter for year-round growing. They recently finished installing a Walk-In cooler, which will allow farmers to take store produce to bring to the local market for sale. It will also be offered to community members if needed.
- Ucwalmicw, which means “People of the Land” in St’at’imcts language.
The farm is by and for the community. Last year, they produced enough food to supply the local food bank twice a week, which also holds the Friendship Center and the local shelter all in one building. This helped to supply fresh community lunches twice a week, as well as gave access to local and nutritious foods at no cost to Lillooet’s most vulnerable population. We also invited anyone to come do a volunteer-food exchange, as well as a free Upick which was mostly limited to St’a’timc families and T‘it’q’et elders, however we had more than enough to give away and no one was turned down.
The farm started with several families in the community wanting to organize a non-profit called Ucwalmicw. There are many more aspects to the Ucwalmicw organization, including a multi-purpose community hall with offices, areas for workshops and classes, a kitchen, and a room for cultural gatherings and activities which is very complimentary to community food security work that needs to happen alongside the farm, which Chelsea calls “urgent.” The community does not have many food sources, let alone local and nutritious ones and recent fires and mudslides have quickly cut off some of their imported food sources.
Chelsea says that what is really special about this farm is that the land-based work is centered on “collective wellness, Indigenous perspectives, and community agriculture.” This summer, they are holding a pilot project with incubator farmers on a quarter acre of land each, to cultivate, farm, and eventually sell their harvests at the local farmer’s market as well as through any other channels they can manage. Chelsea says that she hopes the farm “keeps being a source of food security and knowledge.”
Mission + Vision + Values
Ucwalmicw Community Farm is a part of a non-profit organization under the Ucwalmicw Centre Society. The Ucwalmicw Farm strives to grow high quality, pesticide and chemical-free food for the area’s most vulnerable population. This land has been farmed over generations in our community, it was our ancestor’s way of being self-sustainable by growing their own food, and the soil has never come in contact with any chemicals or pesticides.
