I didn’t grow up thinking I’d start a farmers market.

But I did grow up knowing what struggle looks like: watching my family stretch every dollar, making tough choices between gas and groceries. Later in life, I worked the land myself. Lived on a farm. Grew food. Got my hands dirty. I know what it takes to produce good food and how few people doing that work get the recognition—or support—they deserve.

I’ve seen both sides of the food system. And let me tell you something: the problem isn’t that we don’t grow enough here. It’s that we don’t connect what we grow with the people who live here. It’s a system full of barriers. And they’re unnecessary ones.

Why are we buying tomatoes from California when they grow just fine in Yarrow? Why is it easier to get a snack from a gas station than a head of lettuce from a local grower? Why are we shipping in food with thousands of food miles, while our own farmers struggle to make ends meet?

That disconnect lit a fire in me. So I got to work.

In 2020, I helped create the Downtown Chilliwack Community Market—Chilliwack’s first non-profit farmers market. We didn’t do it because it was trendy. We did it because it was needed. Because people in our community were hungry, and farmers were going broke, and no one was bridging the gap. So we built that bridge.

We worked with the BC Association of Farmers Markets to bring the Nutrition Coupon Program to Chilliwack for the first time. In just five years, this market has delivered over $100,000 in local food to families who need it most. That’s not charity. That’s community. That’s food justice.

We set out not just to sell carrots—but to build connection. To create a space where local growers, bakers, makers, gatherers, and Indigenous knowledge holders could come together and shape a market that reflects us. Not what a big city says we should be, not what a corporate chain wants to sell us—but what we value, grow, and make right here in Chilliwack-Hope.

We made space for traditional ways of being and future ways of being. We brought in musicians, artists, Elders, newcomers, and neighbours. We made sure low-income folks could access fresh food with dignity. And when tariffs started driving up food prices, we doubled down on our commitment to local solutions—because no imported policy should be allowed to starve our communities.

And this is what I’ll continue to do as your next MP.

Because this is what leadership looks like: identifying the problem, building local solutions, and lifting everyone up along the way.

The NDP understands that food is not a luxury—it’s a right. That local economies are the backbone of national resilience. That small businesses, family farms, and community co-ops deserve the same federal support that big box stores and corporations get handed without question.

Our plan is about keeping local dollars in local pockets, protecting our food sovereignty, and investing in the people who actually make our communities thrive. It’s about standing up to the greed of CEOs and corporate lobbies that see food as a commodity—not a human necessity.

As someone who’s been a farmer, a small business owner, a market founder, and now a trustee and advocate—I bring not just policies, but lived experience. I’ve been there in the early mornings, setting up tents in the rain. I’ve listened to farmers who can’t afford fertilizer. I’ve heard from families who’ve never been to a market because they thought they didn’t belong. And I’ve watched the pride on a child’s face when they use a Market Coin to buy their own apple from a farmer they can talk to.

This is the kind of politics we need—politics that grows from the ground up.

So when I say I’ll fight for you in Ottawa, I mean I’ll fight for the people who grow your food, who make your bread, who care for your kids and sweep your streets and staff your small businesses. I’ll fight for programs that deliver real impact, right here in Chilliwack-Hope—not another photo op or empty promise.

Because this isn’t just a market story.

It’s a vision for the kind of country we deserve. One where food is local, wages are fair, and everyone—everyone—has a seat at the table.

Let’s grow that future. Together.

—
Teri Westerby
NDP Candidate for Chilliwack–Hope
Local Food Champion | Advocate | Former Farmer
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