How a professional skier in Revelstoke, B.C., became inspired to be a farmer
When the pandemic shut down the world in 2020, professional freeskier Chris Rubens realized he wanted to do something to help both his community and the climate
When you think of farming, Revelstoke, B.C., is probably not the first place that comes to mind. It is a harsh environment, and at 480 metres above sea level, it is much higher than most farmlands in the province. On top of that, the town is situated right in the middle of two mountain ranges, and so the winds are forced upwards, forcing precipitation to form. Cold and wet are not the best conditions for growing food.
Because of that, most of the town’s food is transported from far away. In fact, Revelstoke’s 2014 Food Security Strategy showed that 5.4 per cent of the town’s food comes from within 250 kilometres.
But that doesn’t mean it is impossible. While visiting Revelstoke, The Weather Network had a chance to visit First Light Farm, located just on the edge of city limits. It was near the end of the season, and Chris Rubens and his partner Jess Johnston-Hill were cutting their last few vegetables for their final farmers market of the season.
As Rubens was cutting some chives, I asked him why he started the farm, and his response really caught me off guard.
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“It was all about climate change and reducing my carbon footprint,” he said.
As a professional skier, Rubens has been freestyle riding in the Revelstoke mountains for over a decade, and that’s how he started to notice the changes to his beloved mountains.
Then, when the world shut down in 2020 and his ski career was put on pause, he realized he wanted to do something that made more of an impact for his community and for the world. His goal was to tackle both climate change and the risk to food security in Revelstoke.
He and Johnston-Hill then decided to lease some land, and First Light Farm was born.
While the goal was for his family to live off of the farm, they also wanted to ensure food security for the rest of the community, particularly the most vulnerable population. They started a GoFundMe page, and for every dollar raised, they would donate that amount to a local food bank. To date, they have raised approximately $21,000 in food for the food banks.
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“We do a drop-off twice a week, and seeing the look on their faces when they see the food is the best part,” Rubens said.
While the first four years of business have been successful, Rubens is also anticipating difficult times in the future, especially as the climate impacts he saw on his beloved mountains are also impacting farming.
“Last spring we had a really cold spring, which was really hard on the farm, and the year before that we had a heat dome. Crops are like most things; they like balance, and we are getting less of that.”
But he hopes that his steps will inspire others and show them that it doesn’t take much to reduce your carbon footprint.
Thumbnail image from Frist Light Farm/Facebook.
