Saturday January 3, 2026 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc., Executive Lead, UFRIS
Every year in BC there is a minimum wage increase for workers who hand-pick various vegetables and fruits.
The specific list of 15 fruits, vegetables and flowers is: apricots, beans, blueberries, Brussels sprouts, cherries, grapes, mushrooms, peaches, pears, peas, prune plums, raspberries, strawberries and daffodils.
This is fair to the workers but there is economic impact on people buying food for households, restaurants and other food product production.
Other factors pushing up the cost of fresh produce include changes in climate, extreme weather events, and the embedded costs of food transport, packaging and storage.
Growing your own bit of fresh fruits and vegetables is not only helpful to your household or business budget but fresh produce also contributes to good health.
For years now, it has been recommended by cancer experts that people need a daily diet that includes seven to 10 fresh fruits and vegetables daily as a good way to help our bodies ward off cellular-level disease.
Also see:
Wage increase for hand-harvesting fresh produce in BC (January 2, 2026)