Calories, nutrients, cost — and a classroom full of kids. How the Food Hub chooses what to grow.
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Vegetables plucked from the garden in the first year of the Food Hub. (Chelsey Wingfield, Ecotrust Canada photo)
What to Grow on BC's North Coast: The Food Hub's Plant Picks for 2026
It's that time of year again. Gardeners everywhere are poring through seed catalogues trying to decide what to grow. The Food Systems team at Ecotrust Canada is no different. Teaming up with the schools in Prince Rupert, BC, and being in a difficult growing zone, we have a lot to consider. Now in its second year, the North Coast Food Hub is building greenhouses, kitchens, and markets — and the plant list might surprise you.
The Food Hub's greenhouses have three goals: provide nutritious food for Prince Rupert school food programs, create hands-on learning opportunities for students, and generate revenue to cover operating costs. That means every plant earns its spot.
In 2026, the team is growing tomatoes, carrots, peas, beans, cucumbers, herbs, potatoes, garlic, and more — chosen not just for yield, but for what school staff actually need. Raw vegetable finger foods. Specialty greens not yet grown locally. Mushrooms for vitamin D. And a few fun picks, like graffiti cauliflower and Haida potatoes, to keep students curious and engaged.
Guiding those choices is Chelsey Wingfield, the Food Hub's Greenhouse Coordinator, drawing on over 20 years of gardening experience in Prince Rupert.
New & Noteworthy
Big win in energy policy!
Canada now has its first municipal bylaw regulating protection from overheating in rental housing. The City of New Westminster just passed a bylaw requiring one room in each rental unit to be maintained at 26°C or lower overnight — a legal first for any Canadian municipality.
This bylaw draws directly from a recommendation in our 2025 report on thermal safety in BC rental housing. In September 2025, we also called on the BC provincial government to act — including enshrining a right to cool and removing barriers to heat pumps, air conditioning, shading, and ventilation in rental units.
We're tracking policy progress across municipalities in our thermal safety policy action tracker.
New Westminster is a landmark step. We hope it's just the beginning.
Careers: Summer Positions
Are you looking for a job working outside directly with fisheries and eager to gain experience in the environmental field? We are hiring part-time seasonal Dockside Monitors in Gold River, Haida Gwaii, and Klemtu.
Through the Canada Summer Jobs program, we’re hiring two positions in Prince Rupert, on Ts’msyen territory: Greenhouse & Garden Assistant (9 weeks) and a Communications Specialist in Prince Rupert (8 weeks), with a focus on content creation and fundraising research.
Where We Work
Our Indigenous Homelands team recently spent time in Nuxalk territory, Bella Coola, on the Central Coast of BC. After a governance session with Nuxalk Nation council members, our locally based program manager, Carrigan Tallio, took us to watch the sun dip behind the mountains at the Clayton Falls Recreation Site. Shiny-eyed seals popped out to say hello, and eagles soared overhead. We were moved by the beauty of the Great Bear Rainforest — and to be welcomed into the territory by the people who call it home. (Shannon Lough photo)
P.S. What are you growing this year in your garden? Let us know!
Proving the Possible
Ecotrust Canada works with rural, remote, and Indigenous communities toward building an economy that provides for a healthy and resilient natural environment; sustainable and abundant energy, food, and housing; prosperous and meaningful livelihoods; and vibrant cultures and inclusive societies. We call this approach, building an economy that provides for life.
Thank you for your continued support!
The Ecotrust Canada Team
