About Us

We believe in bikes ... that is, we believe in low emission, sustainable transportation

What We Do :: What We Offer :: Our Buying Ethics :: Farmer Direct Relationship :: Little "Green" Steps :: Our History

What We Do

Home Delivery

We offer you a selection of great Produce Boxes and more delivered to your door! Boxes are the best way to buy because we fill them with fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables direct from local farms. You save 10% by choosing a Produce Box over a la carte ordering.  Ordering by the Box helps us determine our crop needs with farmers and crop planning makes their business more efficient.

Most Boxes can be modified so feel free to customize your Box to suit your family's needs. To make the most of the island bounty the Local Box and Small Fruit Box are not customizable, although we will remove items that are on your Never Send list.

Bulk Buying Pick Up

Dry Goods and larger volumes of seasonal local-as-we-can-find-it produce are offered through our Bulk Buying Group. Order online (with access to the entire Share Organics' catalogue) and pick up at the warehouse on
Wednesdays 12pm to 4pm OR Thursdays between 8am and 5pm.

This buying group is possible due to the combined buying power and crop planning of the home delivery aspect of Share Organics and the buying group folks. Bulk amounts are special order only so advance payment by credit card is required.

What We Offer

In addition to our produce offerings, you can add grocery items on to your order.

As much as possible, we support local processors. We encourage them to utilize organic and local ingredients. This is how we are working to provide you with a selection of products sourced close to home.

For example, we offer only one type of soy milk, made in Vancouver. We know there are many types available and everyone has their favourite but as a small business we cannot stock all the brands. Our olive oil is extra virgin organic from Italy. What can we say? No commercially available olives here yet - but they are planting olive trees on Saturna Island!

Similarly all our dry good offerings are organic and we let you know the country of origin so you can make informed choices.

We are proud to carry Vancouver Island products from the following companies:

• Island Bison
• For Good Measure
• The Good Seed
• Fernwood Coffee
• Level Ground Coffee
• Silk Roads Teas
• Deacon Vale Farms
• Denman Island Chocolates
• Teafarm
• Terra Nossa
• Moulin Vert Bakery
• WildFire Bakery
• The Hazelnut Farm
• Gentle Earth
• Finest at Sea
• Cowichan Bay Seafood
• Endless Pawsibilities

Browse the Store to see it all!

Our Buying Ethics

Share Organics sources organic fruit and vegetables as close to home as possible.

1. First we buy LOCAL - from Vancouver Island and Gulf Island farmers.
2. Then we buy BC - from our farmer friends on the mainland.
3. We try to keep our focus to within our Bio Region. This includes Washington State which has some wonderful farms with lots of produce to offer.
4. We supplement with imports from Oregon, then California or Mexico only when local or regionally grown is not an option. This happens most often between December and May. We do not buy off the continent with the exception of bananas and ginger.

In the summer, our Boxes are up to 80% local with a top up of Okanagan stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, cherries) and the occasional lemon or avocado. Of course the Local Box is Island Only during the summer bounty.

Wendy of WestWind Farm in the Cowichan Valley

Farmer Direct Relationship - Working to build farm capacity

... this is how we are able to buy local FIRST!

When we started as a buying group over a dozen years ago, it was shocking to find out that we could not purchase local, organic produce for even our small group of ten families. We built relationships with farmers to encourage them to grow a bit more.

Share Organics continued the process contracting crops from many local farmers over the years. Initially it was so we could supply you with as much local produce as possible. We concentrated on quantity at first - could we have 50 heads of lettuce a week? Then we worked towards variety in the summer season -we had lettuce, chard, kale and zucchini, strawberries and blueberries, but were still looking for rhubarb and raspberries.

We continue this process to fill the holes in our supply from our Islands and to encourage farmers to grow more as our customer base expands. None of this is possible without the folks that support all this, our customers! (Thank you, thank you, thank you!)

Most recently, we have been working to extend the growing season. We have new contracts for late and early season crops and even have some mid-winter offerings. Some exciting developments:

• Umi Nami Farm is supplying us with green onions and daikon in December and January 2011/12
• Barry at Dencor Organics wants to supply garlic greens and squash in February and March so he can go sailing all summer!

Share Organics has had a positive effect on the farmers and their capacity to grow. Contracts help them decide what to plant and provide them with a guaranteed sale of their product. Extending the season spreads their income over a longer portion of the year. We hope farmers can take our contracts "to the bank" as part of their business plans for expansion!

Supporting farmers through the certification process

Share Organics supports local organic farmers in the certification process by buying their products in the transitional years. Transitional farmers are growing using strictly organic methods while they await certification. Over the years we have supported many farmers though this transition time and now enjoy their wonderful certified organic produce.

We have been able to increase our local offerings by purchasing from small local farms that are growing using organic methods. We require them to sign an affidavit stating they are growing to COABC standards - our Provincial organic standards. The only exception we've have made is for urban organic farmers who cannot guarantee a buffer zone. Produce from these growers is listed as naturally grown and everything else is certified organic. All of our local produce indicates the farm on which it is grown or the marketing group organizing the farmers (farmer co-ops, for example).

Meet the Farmers here!

Our Green Practices

Every little step counts

The whole process - from how we get food from farms, to everyday warehouse practices, to how every bin is delivered - is done as sustainably as possible.

• At least 40% of our weekly deliveries are done by bicycle (7 out of 13 routes every week!)
• Reuse as much delivery material as possible
• Use re-freezable ice packs in the summer
• Pass along organic waxed boxes and other packing materials to local farmers
• Recycle almost everything we cannot reuse. The total amount of waste that makes it to the garbage bin every week is less than an ice cream pail full!
• Use biodegradable and natural cleansers around the warehouse
• Encourage farmers to deliver in re-usable totes
• Use solar heating in our upstairs office
• Pass along unused food to families in our community through the Blanshard Community Centre, Cool Aid Society, or Food Not Bombs
• And more!

Bicycle Delivery

This video follows Colby, our bike delivery driver, through a typical delivery day.

Our History

Susan Tychie began Share Organics as a bi-weekly buying group in December of 1996. As the group expanded it became obvious that some coordination of orders was needed so that everyone could order the same items in the same week to take advantage of case-lot discounts. The idea of a co-op was discussed but not pursued. Susan took on the role of coordinating and distributing the orders.

Susan in the very beginnings of Share Organics

Next it became evident that having the items delivered would be very convenient. When weekly delivery became the preferred option it was obvious that more help was needed.

Susan has worked in the natural food industry for the past 25 years and has been an organic gardener all her life. She is committed to the organic movement and to local food sustainability.

A need was identified for an organic produce box delivery service that offered a choice in Box sizes and in Box contents. Share Organics took up the challenge.

Local organic produce is important in terms of freshness, and local economic and ecological sustainability. Susan recognized the superior standards of the local organic certifying body, the Island Organic Producers Association (I.O.P.A.). Share Organics is an associate member of IOPA and encourages the farmers we work with to become members too.

Local produce from certified farmers was scarce so Share Organics supported local organic farmers in the certification process by buying their products in the transitional years. Transitional farmers are growing using strictly organic methods while they await certification. Over the years we have supported many farmers though this transition time and now enjoy their wonderful certified organic produce.

Share Organics has always grown to meet the demands of the time. Many customers requested a more complete product line to make home shopping easier. We have added many locally made products; bread, tofu, cheese, canned goods and more.

Susan, while continuing to run Share Organics, has gone on to develop a web portal Home Delivery Management with E-commerce specialist Pam Sallaway. This system helps run Share Organics. Home Delivery Management has allowed us to offer you fully customized Boxes, and to easily increase the number of products we can offer you!

It is also available to other companies interested in providing fully customized online organic shopping in their region. Getting local food to the local community has been Susan's personal goal and now she has made this option available to other communities.

In 1998 the Capital Regional Community Social Planning Council developed the Capital Region Food Charter. Much of what we work towards is encapsulated in this handy pdf!

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