{The Hustla Series highlights the amazing people who are taking their careers into their own hands and killing it. It is important to note that the purpose of sharing these stories is not so we can imitate their paths (because we all know that’s impossible), but instead hopes to serve as a source of inspiration to keep hustling.}
My pal Katie Robinson wants to help people eat well. We went to Acadia University together and although I thought we spent all of those 4 years being incredibly silly, she was actually spending those hours getting a degree in nutrition. She then went on to do a one year internship to become a registered dietitian. And after years of helping old and young people be healthy, her incredible soul still didn’t feel it was enough. Katie decided it was time to get her hands dirty and she wanted to look at the bigger picture when it comes to our food system. So she enrolled in the Richmond Farm School, part of Kwantlen Polytechnic University. She learned how to farm and tested out her chops at home, but her skills quickly grew beyond her apartments small garden patch.
Then came the giant leap of faith.
With two other amazing women in her class (Ashala Daniel and Esther Amezcua), they decided to lease half an acre of land to test out their farming abilities on a larger scale. THAT IS A SHIT TON OF LAND (about 20,000 square feet). I don’t think us city dwellers realize what kind of balls-to-the-walls undertaking that is. Then with all their crops, these 3 ladies – who decided that even though they reside in the city, they can still become bonified farmers – started a canning CSA called Three Feet Below. They now sell a range of heavenly canned goods from vegetables they PLANTED, HARVESTED AND CANNED. So I just wanted to take this moment to salute Katie and the ladies of Three Feet Below, because many of us talk about “going back to the land”, but very few people have the chutzpah to really do it. And when the apocalypse hits, I’ll be running to Katie to teach me how to survive!
Three Feet’s Below delicious jams, pickles and more will be on sale at the Blim Market this Sunday at Heritage Hall. If you live in Vancouver, do NOT MISS THIS.
[All photos (except the last one) from Three Feet Below’s instagram – follow them!]
