Our Vision

Happy farmers nurturing resilient communities through sustainable food systems

Our Mission

Grown Locally,

Produced Responsibly.

Our mission at Farm Or Die is to provide customers with quality local food grown in a responsible manner. This means your food is never traveling by boat, plane, train, or long haul truck. We grow food in the community for the community, harvesting food that is properly ripened, flavourful, and appropriate to our growing zone. We believe farmers share a crucial responsibility in preserving and protecting our agricultural land. This is why we practice regenerative agriculture methods including deep mulching, permanent raised beds, and minimal tillage. It is our duty as stewards of the land to protect and build arable soil for future generations. We strive to build strong communities through increasing food literacy and strengthening our customers' bond with their food and local growers.

Our Story

Farm or Die was founded in 2018 by Garrett Simon and Ben Kjernisted, two friends with a shared passion for good food, live music, and the great outdoors. While studying music in Vancouver and gardening during every moment of spare time, we both felt a strong desire for a deeper, more meaningful lifestyle. As we began to draft plans for an urban agriculture business, we received a fateful call from Ben’s family that changed the course of our lives forever. Ann Marie, Ben’s grandmother caught wind of our interest in agriculture and graciously invited us to develop a market garden on her five acre North Saanich homestead called Whiteoak Farm. Without any hesitation we loaded all our belongings into a single truck bed and moved straight to Whiteoak farm, never looking back. A month later Farm or Die was registered, garden beds were laid out, and crop maps were drawn for our inaugural season. For five years we farmed full time, providing the best food we could grow to markets all over the southern island. These were humbling years that taught us grit, humility, and a deep respect for the farmers who came before us. Now we are using our acquired knowledge and teaming up with other like minded farmers and organizations to produce a food box program that will feed many families in our community. We want to demonstrate the power of small scale farming and community supported agriculture to inspire a new generation of farmers focused on land stewardship, quality growing, sustainability, and community.