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STRANGE TIMES land for 31 years, but diminishing returns on his apples and consecutive years of losing money have forced him into a desperate situation. "In the last four years, we've got such low prices that we just can't make it anymore," D A documentary film explores the reasons why B.C. orchardists are struggling to survive. by Terry Edwards Complex In the film Strange Fruit, a documentary by Okanagan College instructor Marc Arellano, the plight of the apple industry in the Okanagan is exam- ined, and the findings were not encouraging. "It's a very complex issue," Arellano says. "It's the end of an era, the end of family orchards in the Cen- tral Okanagan as we've known them, because now the farmers have to take a second or third job. They can't just farm alone; they can't make ends meet." Lee Cartier, college professor at the Okanagan School of Business in Kelowna, has been studying the tree fruit industry in the Okanagan Valley for more than 30 years, and he's witnessed the decline. "When I started with the tree fruit industry, there were about 23,000 acres of tree fruits in production," he says. "If you look at the numbers now, I think they're talking about 14,000. You've seen a major reduction in the acreage. What you have left is a much smaller, leaner industry that is trying to differ- entiate itself from commodity-type producers in China and Washington State, and they're also using the most advanced technologies they can in order to make themselves as efficient as they can. Will it work? The trouble with this type of technology is it's readily duplicated because anyone else can learn how to grow apples with the high-density format as well. "I think the industry is going to have to evolve, and you're already seeing that," he added. "They took a number of steps a couple years ago of a having a comprehensive strategic plan prepared for them. That report was, in my view, on the right track. 34 NOVEMBER 2011 GOOD FRUIT GROWER Robert Stearns of Kelowna is cutting his apple trees because he can't afford to replant them. They needed to take a look at how to improve the quality, focusing on this differentiation." Emergency funding Joe Sardinha, president of the B.C. Fruit Growers' Association, has been busy beating the drum for apple growers, urg- ing consumers to buy B.C. brands and the government to help growers financially. He points out the average price for last Marc Arellano's film, "Strange Fruit: A Changing Landscape in the Central Okanagan," illuminates the plight of apple growers in the area. fall's apple crop is 12.6 cents while the cost of production is 22 cents. "We made more on our fruit ten years ago," he said in an interview with Black Press. "This is the third year in a row where prices are falling below production [costs]. You don't have to be a math genius to know this isn't sustainable. www.goodfruit.com he says. "We didn't even pay ourselves a wage last year. My cost last year was Can.$157,000 and if we make $56,000, we'll be lucky. Isn't that ridiculous?" Stearns is attempting to subdivide his property and sell half to keep himself afloat, but, since it's in the Agricultural Land Reserve, he faces the almost impossible task of convincing the Agricultural Land Commission to allow him to do so. On July 11, he went before the Kelowna city coun- cil, and the council voted not to support his appeal, meaning that the request will go the land commission without the city's endorsement. Stearns says he is removing apple trees from his orchard because they have reached the limit of their productivity and he can't afford to replant them. "After 31 years of this, it's hard to find incentive to get up in the morn- ing," he says. "My wife and I do all the pruning, we do 90 percent of the picking; it's a total family operation here. We're stuck. I don't know what we're going to do. I don't think we can afford a couple more years like this, that's for sure." uring a scene in the film Strange Fruit: A Changing Landscape in the Central Okanagan, Canadian orchardist Robert Stearns struggles to contain his emo- tions as he explains why he is knocking over apple trees on his 30-acre orchard. The 59-year-old Kelowna, British Columbia, grower has been working the terry edwards