Growing Community at Soleil’s Farm About 30 minutes west of Charlottetown and a few kilometres down the S. Melville Road, you’ll happen upon a big purple and gold sign that reads ‘Soleil’s Farm’. You’ve arrived at one of Prince Edward Island’s most beloved farms. This 6-acre certified organic mixed vegetable farm serves up a bounty of produce for Islanders hungry to support sustainable agriculture and enjoy delicious food. While growing good food and restoring soil are ambitious goals in their own right, Soleil Hutchinson’s vision has always extended well beyond what she’s growing in the dirt. Above all else, she’s dedicated to growing community. “I chose the crazy, unpredictable life of a farmer because I believe in the power and beauty of community. I believe that together, a community of committed farmers and eaters can create a better food system, where we can all enjoy good food,” she explains. For more than 15 years, Soleil has been quietly blazing new paths for farmers, food producers, and chefs to build community through collaboration. Her efforts have not only transformed Soleil’s Farm, but also helped reshape local food distribution on PEI. Just as importantly, many like-minded Island farmers have embraced her ‘better together’ philosophy, joining forces to grow food and community together. A Collective Approach Early on in her farming days, Soleil saw an opportunity to solve a headache for farmers and chefs while simultaneously building community. Island chefs have always loved showcasing the freshest and best ingredients from local farmers. What they didn’t love was placing orders with 10 or 15 different suppliers every week. On the flip side, farmers greatly appreciated the support from chefs, but making deliveries to individual restaurants was time-consuming and costly. Soleil reached out to several of her farmer friends and pitched the idea of partnering up to supply restaurants. Their enthusiastic response paved the way for a much more streamlined ordering and distribution system. It was a win-win for everyone involved and marked a major milestone in enhancing PEI’s local food distribution system. It also marked the beginning of the farmer collective that Soleil had envisioned. Connecting Directly with Eaters In 2015, Soleil took the next bold leap towards bringing her community-building vision into reality by launching a Winter Food Box with the farmer collective. “I realized that my desire to help build a community of farmers and eaters wasn’t possible without a direct connection to my customers. I also wanted to make sure the food I was growing was accessible to the average Islander,” she explained. In 2018, Soleil launched a Summer Food Box alongside her new partner in life and farming, Lauren King. Today, Soleil and Lauren, with the help of their farm team, provide a Spring-Summer Food Box that runs from early June to mid-October. Additional opportunities to ‘Preserve the Harvest’ and ‘Bulk-It Up’, allow eaters to stock up on local ingredients for the winter months. Growing Above and Beyond The food boxes, similar in style to a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) model, have allowed Soleil and Lauren to continue their quest to build healthy communities through food. Summer Food Box customers are invited to discover the bounty of not just Soleil’s Farm, but all the other farmers in the collective. In any given week, their food box might include fresh Arlington Orchard peaches, hearty delicata squash grown by A-OK Gardens, greenhouse cucumbers from Schurman Family Farms, and/or other delicious goodies from Philip Hamming, Craig’s Potatoes and Penny’s Farm. Soleil’s Farm customers can also select from add-ons at the beginning of each season. That includes farm-fresh eggs (Homestyle Flavours) Island-raised meat (Glen Lake Pasture Farm), sourdough bread (Receiver), local flower bouquets (Rachel Stolz) and soap (Sun and Green Herbery) For her fall Bulk-It-Ups, she collaborates with more local producers, including Canoe Cove Honey, Island Crest Maples, Crystal Green Farms, and Nature’s Route from nearby New Brunswick. Through her constant efforts to bring more producers into the collective, Soleil has been able to introduce her customers to many farmers and makers they may otherwise be unaware of. As you can imagine, sourcing all these products is quite a feat. And while Soleil took that task on herself for many years, she is now delighted to get help from Grower’s Station. Grower’s Station is PEI’s first local food hub, and its creation in 2021 was spearheaded by three local farmers – Ann Higgs (now the ED of Grower’s Station), Jen Campbell, and Soleil. It now serves 67 farmers and food producers on PEI, providing a one-stop shop for restaurant and retail customers to order local products, which are then distributed by Growers’ Station instead of the individual farmers and food producers. More Than Just Another Farm The story of Soleil’s Farm is still being written. The overarching theme, however, remains a constant – strengthening the fabric of our communities through the power of collaboration, hope, and healthy food. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Soleil’s Farm and the collective of like-minded farmers and food producers who are helping build a robust local food system here on Canada’s Food Island.
