A unique sign greets drivers as they approach the town of Pemberton, where the fast-flowing Lillooet River meets the glacier-fed Pemberton Creek in the shadow of Ts’zil, the majestic mountain: White letters on a big blue square declare “Planting of potatoes is restricted.” This is seed potato country, and these signs protect the town’s economic driver and point of pride. To maintain the important heritage and integrity of seed potatoes in the area, it is illegal for anyone outside the designated seed potato program to grow them.
Pemberton began as a stop on the Harrison-Lillooet Gold Rush Trail, with an estimated 30,000 people pausing here as they ventured north in search of their fortunes in the late 1850s. Soon after, wealth-seekers planting food for survival found that the real treasure lay just beneath their feet. Over millenniums, glaciers had gouged out a meandering, flat valley. Thousands of years of flooding had created rich layers of sediment deposit, leaving behind lush, eminently arable land. Those early farms transformed the town from a place to pause into a prosperous agricultural hub. The potato became the crop of choice, and Pemberton embarked on its quest to become the seed potato capital of North America.
Good Growth
Seed potatoes are not just the average supermarket spud, but specifically selected tubers that provide the foundation for growing high-quality potatoes. Growers select them for their genetic consistency, disease resistance and optimal growing characteristics. The Pemberton Valley’s fertile soil, remote setting and mountain defence—which help keep bugs at bay—further reduce the chances of crop-killing diseases. The Líl’wat Nation farmed potatoes prior to the arrival of the gold rush crowds, but the first settler farmers came from European ancestry, and they likely arrived wary of threats like the insect-borne potato blight that contributed to the Great Famine in Ireland.
When the railway came to town in 1914, population and acreages increased and farming diversified. Supplies and people, including government agriculture experts, moved more freely. “Farming got more mature and was inspected and certified by the government,” explains Will Miller, whose family has been growing potatoes in the valley for more than a century.
Vegetable competitions spread the word: Pemberton produced a superior potato. After the fall fair of 1922, federal government officials saw the area’s potential, and by 1939 local seed potato growers had won 18 awards. “Buyers knew it was high quality,” says Miller. “Farmers found customers in the States and exchange rates were favourable.”
Early farmers had stumbled on literal pay dirt, but the longevity of Pemberton’s potato success stemmed from what they did next. Each summer, the Pemberton and District Seed Growers Association, largely responsible for marketing, held a field day, inviting customers to inspect the fields and giving prizes for those judged to be the best based on appearance, cultivation and lack of disease.
To keep the area pristine, the B.C. Department of Agriculture (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Food) designated the Pemberton Valley a seed potato control area in 1945, and it became North America’s first commercially virus-free seed potato control area in 1965.
Today, the potato farmers of the Pemberton Meadows continue to evolve, expanding their legacy farms with innovative solutions. Many farms have chosen to diversify their crops to include all kinds of vegetables, and some have built climate-controlled farm stands where customers can prepay or pay by cash or e-transfer. Others have created seasonal experiences such as the sunflower maze at Laughing Crow Organics Farm and the Beer Farmers’ pumpkin patch, tulip garden and destination brewery.
As the consumer potato market faces competition from other economically viable sources, such as pasta and quinoa, the Pemberton potato farmers stay true to their roots and continue their established business model of supplying small and medium farms with organic seeds.
Nourishing Nearby
Anna Helmer’s great-grandmother started Helmer’s Organic Farm in 1905. Nearly a century later, as Helmer and Lisa Richardson (now an Edible Sea to Sky writer) drove along the winding farmland road, Richardson idly wondered where the potatoes grew. “Oh my goodness, nobody knows where the potatoes are — it’s an emergency!” thought Helmer.
The pair cooked up the first annual Slow Food Cycle Sunday to showcase the sustainable farming practices of Pemberton Meadows, serving almost as an homage to the fall fairs and vegetable competitions of the century before. They invited guests and local customers to visit the farms, giving farmers the opportunity to speak with the people cooking and eating their produce — and the chance to understand what end users value. The welcoming friendliness of the farmers continues today.
Pemberton’s recent population growth (up by more than 30 percent from 2016 to 2021) brought all kinds of changes to the valley, including one that is particularly welcomed by potato farmers: a larger local market for their harvest. After many years of painful commuting to Vancouver markets in the summer heat, Helmer is delighted about the town’s growth. “[It] bodes well for the success of the farms,” she says, allowing them to sell closer to home. “Now I have a banger day at the Pemberton market on Fridays.”
In August, Slow Food Cycle Sunday celebrated its 20th annual event. Pemberton Meadows Road opened only to cyclists, and thousands of people rode through, meeting farmers and buying as many potatoes as they could carry on two wheels. “A lot of people share they grew up on a farm but had to leave,” says Miller, noting that the event ends up being a bit nostalgic for them. “That’s one of the things we’re grateful for: We get to share that farm memory and experience.”
