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Grow & Connect Interior

Home grown tools for stronger food networks

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About the Project

What is Grow and Connect?

Grow & Connect is a collaborative pilot project designed to strengthen regional food networks across BC. By improving communication, coordination, and distribution between producers, carriers, retailers, and other local food stakeholders, Grow & Connect supports a more efficient and resilient food system. At the heart of the pilot is a user driven platform with interactive tools and data that make it easier to share logistics and spark new opportunities. By bringing together businesses and organizations across the region, Grow & Connect is fostering practical, community-based solutions that improve local food access and secure regional food supply chains.

What is the platform?

The Grow & Connect platform is a community-driven ecosystem of tools built to support the food and agriculture sector. Powered by real-time, from producers, carriers, retailers, and other local food stakeholders, the platform offers an interactive and collaborative B2B environment. Users can easily discover businesses, post or browse shipping routes and loads, and connect with others to share or coordinate unique opportunities. . Whether you're looking to coordinate shipments or deliveries, build new partnerships, or gain insights into regional supply chains, the platform helps rural communities plan, connect and strengthen relationships around local food logistics. As part of this pilot project, the platform is actively evolving. New features and refinements are being added regularly and your participation helps shape and fine-tune its future.

How to Join

Ready to get started? Join Grow & Connect by registering your business. Immediately gain access to logistics tools, discover regional food partners, and be part of a growing network strengthening local food systems together.

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FAQ

Grow & Connect is a collaborative pilot project designed to strengthen regional food networks across BC. By improving communication, coordination, and distribution between producers, carriers, retailers, and other local food stakeholders, Grow & Connect supports a more efficient and resilient food system. At the heart of the pilot is a user driven platform with interactive tools and data that make it easier to share logistics and spark new opportunities. By bringing together businesses and organizations across the region, Grow & Connect is fostering practical, community-based solutions that improve local food access and secure regional food supply chains.

  • Grow & Connect is currently free thanks to the generosity of our funders!
  • You can invite others to join Grow & Connect! The more users on the platform, the more useful it will be, so let others know about the platform and share our youtube videos with them.
  • Want to keep up with new tools, success stories, and opportunities in your local food network? Subscribe to the Grow & Connect newsletter to get project updates, upcoming events, and practical tips, delivered straight to your inbox. It’s the easiest way to stay in the loop and be part of the growing local food movement.
  • Reach out to growandconnect@ckfoodpolicy.ca if you have any questions, whether it’s about asking for support with the platform, providing feedback, or providing insight into what would be helpful in future development, we’d be happy to hear from you.

  • Head over to our YouTube channel for step-by-step instructional videos. (links to youtube & Instructional manual to be added)

  • Yes! Organizations can have their information removed from the food model at any time. As with any other component of the project, meeting the needs and expectations of our local organizations takes priority. If you have any questions or concerns, we will be happy to address them within 24 hours. This can include the removal of supply chain links, organization details, or your presence on the models altogether. Feel free to email, support@trugis.ca for assistance.
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About Us

Why We're Doing This

Local food systems are full of potential, but contain complex barriers that make it challenging to realize this potential. In rural regions like B.C.’s Southern Interior, producers, carriers, and buyers often work in isolation,because connecting and coordinating is labour intensive and inefficient. Food distribution is impeded because transportation costs are high, logistics can be complicated, and many of the tools that exist for managing supply chains are either too complex, too expensive, or simply not built with small-scale or rural communities in mind.

Grow & Connect was created to change that.

We’re developing practical, community-led tools that strengthen how food gets from producer to table. By making your local food system networks more visible and easier to navigate, we help small producers reach new markets, reduce duplication, and uncover missed opportunities. Our approach is grounded in collaboration. From early design to testing routes and gathering feedback, local producers, carriers, nonprofits, and retailers have helped shape every stage of Grow & Connect. Together, we're mapping out the regional food distribution system, identifying gaps, and designing solutions—like a community “loadboard,” interactive food system maps, and real-time order tracking—to respond to the challenges rural food actors face every day. Ultimately, we’re building more than a set of tools. We’re building stronger relationships, more efficient logistics, and a regional food system that works better for everyone—from independent farmers to institutional buyers. By investing in shared infrastructure and removing barriers to participation, Grow & Connect is helping communities take control of their food systems and make them more resilient, inclusive, and economically viable.

Why Join Grow and Connect

In rural food systems, it can be hard to know who’s out there, how to move your product efficiently, or where the opportunities to fill those gaps lie. That’s where we come in. Grow & Connect gives you tools to simplify logistics, reduce transportation costs, and build strong connections with others in the local food system. Post or find deliveries on the loadboard, track orders in real time, and explore shared routes or storage options—all in one place. You’ll also gain access to an interactive map of regional food actors, so you can discover new partners, markets, and solutions.

Join us in creating a stronger, more efficient food system, ready for the future

About the Organizations that formed Grow and Connect Association (Our Team)

Kamloops Food Policy Council (KFPC)

The Kamloops Food Policy Council works to build a just and resilient local food system through community programs, policy advocacy, and partnerships. Their initiatives include the KFPC Food Hub, Stir, urban farming, gleaning, and supporting local food entrepreneurs. https://kamloopsfoodpolicycouncil.com/

Kootenay Food Council (KFC)

The Kootenay Food Council is a community-led organization that unites local government, producers, nonprofits, and citizens across the Central Kootenay region to build a just, resilient, and food-secure regional food system. They foster collaboration through research, public education, policy guidance, and tools like their Farm & Food Directory and regional distribution map to strengthen coordination across food production, access, and sustainability.

Boundary Community Ventures Assn.

At its foundation, Boundary Community Ventures Assn (BCVN) is an innovative non-profit dedicated to promoting economic growth within the Boundary area through various initiatives, with the Boundary Food Hub being its flagship program. This venture uniquely combines business acumen with social and environmental objectives, functioning as a socially responsible enterprise.

TruGIS

TruGIS is a community-focused geospatial and web development firm, offering everything from asset mapping and land inventory systems to custom web platforms. Having built the platform, they play a central role in Grow & Connect; they developed the food supply chains model and our application loadboard and directory to help stakeholders visualize networks, streamline connectivity, identify inefficiencies, and build resilience in local food distribution.

Selkirk College

An interdisciplinary research team from across North America is studying the resilience of these emerging alternative networks. As part of this project, a BC-based study aims to explore and better understand the role of Food Hubs in the resilience of regional food systems.