Photo by Roger Handling
What better place to launch a transformational social experiment than a place called Mission?
The search for the perfect town for The 100-Mile Challenge spanned the breadth of the Fraser Valley, a massive network of small towns and bedroom communities that covers some of the richest agricultural land in British Columbia.
Located 70 kilometres east of Vancouver, the town of Mission is nestled on a slope overlooking the mighty Fraser River, where several species of salmon swim and fishing enthusiasts can do battle with six-foot white sturgeon right under the Mission bridge. From rolling hills dotted with cows, to a manufacturing base that turns out $10 million yachts for wealthy American businessmen, Mission is a perfect petri dish of the modern-day push and pull between agricultural land and residential sprawl that faces Canadians daily. It's a struggle that affects all aspects of life, including what ends up on the dinner table, and where it comes from.
Mission has a rich agricultural history, and our 100-milers won't be the first to eat local. Rewind 10,000 years and the Sto:lo were trading wind-dried salmon and fruits on the Fraser River. When the founders of Mission, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, arrived, their settlement grew to include several acres of farmland. They had an apple orchard and, most importantly for our modern-day 100-milers, a grist mill that processed the grain that was once grown locally.
There's plenty more history for our 100-milers to rediscover. According to one hobby historian, Mission once produced more rhubarb than anywhere in BC. Berry farming was once so big that the city slogan in the 1920s and 30's was "Home of the Big Red Strawberry."
Mission is still home to commercial and hobby farmers who are no strangers to the arts of canning and preserving. Our 100-milers are going to need all the advice, support, and inspiration they can find to get them through the next 100 days.
network. A Paperny Films production.