Produce Availability in Remote Communities Initiative : Improving services to high need subset of SAMI population

"In British Columbia's remote communities, fresh vegetables and fruit can be hard to find. Geographical barriers to having fresh, good quality produce in these isolated communities include distance from a commercial center, poor transportation routes, inadequate freight handling and poor gardening conditions. Community barriers include a lack of retailers, minimal capacity and skills for gardening and food preservation, and low community engagement. In 2008, the B.C. government committed to addressing the challenges of making produce more available in these remote communities, and the Produce Availability in Remote Communities Initiative (PAI) was initiated. The B.C. Ministry of Health, as lead, partnered with the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and the Heart and Stroke Foundation with a goal to: Improve the year-round availability and quality of fruits and vegetables, including B.C. produce when available, in remote B.C. communities. Through focusing on action in seven component areas across 24 remote B.C. communities, the PAI delivered on three key objectives: to increase consumer demand for produce in remote communities; to enhance the distribution of produce in remote communities; to create community capacity for remote communities to grow and store their own produce. This report showcases the PAI component areas delivered in Phases 2 and 3 (2011-2012), and brings together the learnings from a comprehensive program evaluation implemented over the course of the PAI."--executive summary.