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Two-acre greenhouse proposed for athletes’ village

Project expected to produce organic vegetables and $500,000 annually for WCSS programs

If a community group gets its way athletes competing at the 2010 Winter Olympics will be munching and crunching cucumbers and carrots grown organically just a few feet away from their living quarters.

The Whistler Community Services Society, a non-profit organization focused on promoting and supporting social sustainability, has sent a proposal to the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Games and the Resort Municipality of Whistler to put a two-acre greenhouse beside the athletes’ village at the south end of town.

“We are not asking them for money, we are not asking them to break any rules, we are asking them to allow us to put it down there and to allow us to feed the athletes,” said Dr. Stephen Milstein, who is on the WCSS greenhouse committee.

“We are prepared to take our full production for that month and send it into the athletes’ village. We think this is a good news story for the Olympics, for the province and for Whistler.”

VANOC spokesman Chris Brumwell said the proposal was being considered.

“We are aware of it but it is too early to comment on it at this time,” he said.

WCSS needs VANOC’s blessing as it hopes to build the 80,000 square foot greenhouse next summer and the site is adjacent to the area where the athletes’ village is under construction. WCSS is in the process of working out a deal for the municipally-owned land.

Milstein believes there are many reasons why the project should go forward in time to showcase itself for the Games in February of 2010.

“We think that this project will be a beacon,” he said. “It is the kind of project that will catch people’s attention.”

Not only will it produce organic carrots, tomatoes, beans, lettuce, herbs, cucumbers and peppers, it will do so using heat trapped from the waste water treatment plant and the methane from Whistler’s old landfill, adjacent to the athletes’ village.

WCSS projections show there will only be about three weeks each year when the project would have to buy power from the grid.

All the produce would be sold locally, therefore transportation and packaging costs would be minimal.

Milstein estimates that the project would conservatively make a profit of at least $500,000 a year.

That sweet smell of success makes Janet McDonald’s mouth water in anticipation of the programs that could be brought to the corridor.

“It really gives us the opportunity to grow the programs that are needed in the community,” said the executive director of the WCSS.

Programs on the WCSS’s radar include emergency housing, affordable housing and food. Currently those in need of a shelter in the corridor have to go to North Vancouver.

All in, the proposal is projected to cost $3.2 million. Milstein says the plan is to raise all of that in grants from government and non-government sources and donations.

“Our goal is to raise everything,” he said.

He wants the greenhouse to be up and running by next year.

Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed supports the idea wholeheartedly but has told WCSS that the project can’t be fast-tracked and must be shown to be a proven winner before it can become a reality.

“It absolutely fits (with Whistler sustainability goals),” he said. “The challenge is that it is not within the existing work plan.

“But wouldn’t it be incredible to show how we have… created the possibility for fresh vegetables in the winter grown here in Whistler using waste heat from the water treatment plant. It is just a fantastic story.”

Milstein said the committee is planning on hiring a consultant to shepherd the proposal through the municipal process.

There would be no lack of buyers for the organic produce as long as it was priced competitively.

  “I think there is a tidal wave coming to eat locally and eat organic,” said Bob Adams, one of the owners of The Grocery Store. According to his research, local grocers, restaurants and hotels are chomping to get their teeth into a larger supply of organic produce.

Nesters general manager Bruce Stewart said sales of organic produce is going up by about 5 to 7 per cent annually.

Most of Nesters’ local produce comes from Pemberton suppliers but organic produce is also sourced from Vancouver and overseas.

“Last winter we were able to bring in organic Mandarin oranges from China,” said Stewart. “The price (was) comparable and the quality was excellent.”

Stewart said Nesters would also use the greenhouse product.

“…We would support this,” he said.

“To be able to support a local organic grower without the cost of freight and reduction of emissions from trucking would be exceptional. I (also) like the fact the profits help sustain community programs through the WCSS.”   WCSS plans on hiring a facility manager for the project who will be a certified horticulturist.

Milstein said hiring a specialist will also benefit the already successful community greenhouse project which has run in Whistler for the last few years.

There may also be an opportunity for existing local growers of organic produce and the greenhouse project to band together and form a type of co-op.

“People will come to Whistler knowing they will be eating organic vegetables that were just picked,” said Milstein. “Does it get any better?”