2024 AGM – Invitation and Package
We are pleased to share this invitation to our Annual General Meeting and Election of Directors! This is an essential part of our organization, and a great opportunity for you to be involved in the decision making process of where we are heading and hoping to be. The VFM Board has approved an In-Person format for the AGM on June 22, 2024, 3:30 pm onwards at Vancouver Eastside Vineyard / St David’s Anglican Church, 2475 Franklin Street, Vancouver, BC
Unfortunately the venue booked for AGM 2024 is not wheelchair accessible and we sincerely apologize for this oversight. At VFM, we are committed to learning from this mistake and are taking steps to ensure that future events are accessible to everyone. To our entire community—staff, members, and everyone who cares for the farmers markets—please accept our heartfelt apologies. Your voices matter to us, and we will strive to do better moving forward. There is a chair lift in the building for those who may require one.
Click here to RSVP for the AGM by June 17, 2024
Voting Eligibility
Only VFM members who were in good standing 30 days prior to the AGM (as of 11:59 pm on May 22, 2024) are eligible to vote in the election. Eligible members will receive a ballot to vote upon checking in at the AGM venue.
All the information you need for the meeting is given below, so please read carefully. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us. Please contact Monika Chowdhry (monika@eatlocal.org) for membership and voting inquiries and our team at info@eatlocal.org can field other questions. We are here to help and support you in any way.
AGM Package
In preparation for the AGM, please review the following documents:
Here is a list of our candidates for the Board of Director positions for the year 2024:
Please read the call for nominations to find out the skills that VFM’s nominating committee is seeking this year.
Andrew Watson
Seeking election
Food is my passion, it has been the focus of my life for years, and will continue to be so. I moved to Vancouver in 2011 to attend culinary school at PICA. I went back to my roots in Manitoba to cook for the next five years, and then in 2016 returned to Vancouver. I began volunteering at a local Vancouver soup kitchen where I learned that local farmers were in desperate need of help. I started working on local farms and at the Vancouver Farmers Markets.
I have been fortunate to work for Stein Mountain, Hannah Brook Farms, and Shalefield Organic farms, all longstanding members of the Vancouver Farmers Markets. I am currently Senior Manager at Hannah Brook Farm. I have developed relationships in the community over the past 8 years with fellow vendors and patrons of Trout Lake and Kitsilano Markets. As a farmer, vendor, customer, and chef I have insight into what the market needs and deserves.
If elected, I will bring farmers’ and vendors’ voices to the board, which I feel is essential to the society’s governance. I will promote transparent decision-making in the interests of the market community. The Vancouver Farmers Market is a vital part of the community and the local food system. I hope to be part of it for a long time to come.
Kevin Klippenstien
Seeking election
My name is Kevin Klippenstein and I am co-owner of Klippers Organic Acres, a working farm, restaurant, cidery, cafe and on farm guest suites. I grew up in the Lower Mainland and studied Business Administration, Management and Operations at the University of the Fraser Valley. With a passion for hospitality, and at the age of 26 moved to Cawston with my wife, Annamarie, with the desire to grow healthy, living food for ourselves and our customers.
Together we took our original 5 acres and have now expanded to 65 acres of both fruit and vegetables. We added guest suites, a cidery, farm store, an award winning farm to table restaurant, and raised for children who are now helping in the businesses.
We were recognized in 2011 as Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers. We have sold our produce at Vancouver Farmers Markets for the past 22 years and helped build the markets to what they are today. I have sat on the board of directors for Vancouver Farmers Markets, been Chair of the Organic Farming Institute, Chair, Vice Chair, and Treasurer for Outstanding Young Farmers- BC Region, Past President of Keremeos Fire Department as well as holding an Officer position for 13 years, Government Appointed Chair of the BC Turkey Marketing Board, on numerous committees and is currently sitting as the Government Appointed Chair of the BC Chicken Marketing Board.
My current work as an OIC (Order in Council) Chair has allowed me to build relationships with all levels of Government where I can educate on our regional food systems and help bring inclusivity, anti-racist, and equitable decisions to the boards I Chair especially during this time of reconciliation and the Provinces plan for UNDRIP.
I strive to foster innovation daily and continually work on partnerships with Vancouver chefs, and fostering new relationships and connections with people from all different fields.
Lana Shipley
Current Vice Chair, appointed 2023, seeking election
My name is Lana Shipley, and I am currently serving as the Vice-Chair of the VFM Board and the Chair of the Governance Committee. I was appointed as a director in the summer of 2023 to fill a vacancy, and so I am now seeking election to the Board for a full term.
I work as a lawyer in the Vancouver office of Lawson Lundell LLP, specializing in the areas of energy, environmental and Indigenous law, and I am also a member of the Executive Committee of my firm. In my work, I have advised management and boards of public and private companies, Crown corporations, and not-for-profit organizations on ordinary course and extraordinary corporate governance matters. My undergraduate degree from UBC is in Bio-Resource Engineering, with a focus on soil management and irrigation and drainage systems.
Prior to joining the VFM Board, I was on the Board of a public company until the time of its acquisition by another public company, serving as the Chair of the Compensation, Nomination and Governance Committee and as a member of the Sustainability Committee and of a special committee formed to consider a significant shareholder matter.
I grew up in the Fraser Valley, where I developed a lifelong appreciation for fresh, local produce and the desire to support small community-minded businesses. I am a proud and passionate supporter of VFM, and I have been a weekly market shopper for over 20 years. Through my role on the Board, I have been extremely fortunate to meet many vendors, volunteers and VFM staff over the last year, and I would be honoured, if elected, to continue to contribute my time, effort and expertise to support VFM’s strategic priorities.
Thanks to the candidates for their interest.
Your Local Farmers Market Society (YLFMS), dba Vancouver Farmers Markets (VFM)
Established in 1995 as a non-profit society in British Columbia, Vancouver Farmers Markets has grown into one of the largest and most vibrant farmers market organizations in Canada. We create vibrant and welcoming markets that build community, feed people, and support small farms and producers.
We are grateful to operate markets on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ / sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
