About Urban Harvest

Urban Harvest started up in January of 2000, operating out of a rented garage space. We have kept our office home-based through the years, but we are currently operating out of our second warehouse space, at 806 Crowley Ave, in the North End industrial area of Kelowna.

We work hard to make the choice to eat organic both convenient and affordable for our customers in the Central Okanagan area, and through our weekly newsletters and community involvement, we aim to contribute to a local food culture that celebrates healthy, joyful eating.

We are also deeply committed to being part of a more sustainable food system, and as such, we work closely with Okanagan farmers to ensure that we are able to buy as much of our produce as possible locally (our annual average is approximately 50%), thereby reducing the distance from field to table. Leftover produce that cannot be sold is donated to the Kelowna Food Bank each week, and culled or spoiled produce is composted and recycled back to the earth.

Meet the Urban Harvest Team!

David Nelson and Lisa McIntosh are co-owners of Urban Harvest, and the proud parents of son Kynnan and daughter Neko Rose, our youngest members of the Urban Harvest team!

David manages warehouse operations and deliveries, and coordinates the weekly Saturday sales, food donations, composting, and recycling of waste materials. Many of you will have seen at least the tail-end of David as he makes your delivery… he is a speedy guy! David's time spent as an employee of an organic Echinacea farm, combined with his general interest in environmental and community-based alternatives to conventional markets, fueled his desire to start an organic food delivery service in Kelowna. Not one to fear hard work, he often dreams of taking the next step and becoming a farmer himself, as he would love to get out of the van and into the field! Despite long work hours on delivery days, David shows his personal commitment to the environment by commuting to the warehouse by bike whenever feasible, even if that means donning a ski mask at 5am on an icy winter morning! In his non-working hours, David enjoys being at home with his family, Frisbee golf and Ultimate frisbee, biking, music, and hosting food gatherings.

Lisa is the owl of the operation &ndash managing the business from her home office, often in the wee hours while the little ones (and the big one!) sleep. If you've ever wondered about an email reply sent from Urban Harvest at 3am, there is a good chance that was indeed the time it was sent! She can also be found in the office most weekday evenings and weekends when David is at home, and makes random daytime appearances as well (often with busy small people close by!). Lisa is responsible for business administration and marketing (website, newsletter, etc), customer support (together with Christine), planning and purchasing of food orders (including season planning with local farmers), accounting, and liaising with community groups seeking food donations and/or support. She occasionally covers for staff at the Urban Harvest Saturday Sale as well, and loves the opportunity to meet customers face-to-face! Lisa's interest in organic food goes back to university days when she studied and volunteered with various food-related community economic development projects such as farmers' markets, community kitchens, community gardens, and organic farms.

Garth started with Urban Harvest as a client, and was then referred to us by another client who heard that we were looking for help, in the spring of 2004 (we love word-of-mouth connections!)! Since that time, he has worked packing and delivering our evening routes, as well as assisting with prepping of produce, clean-up, bin washing, Saturday sales and weekly tasks such as recycling and composting. He has helped out in a variety of other ways as well, including assisting with our occupational health and safety plan, organizing special events such as the Urban Harvest Bike to Work Week and Commuter Challenge teams, and representing us at public events! His skills and experience in the area of biomimicry in human relations have contributed to a positive flow in the workplace, and his ongoing commitment to healing (in all areas of life) continues to challenge and inspire us!

Garth's interests include environmental restoration, and he has almost completed a Diploma from UVic in this field. He's a regular at our Brandt's Creek Stream cleans. He also works part-time in energy conservation. Meditation/Love/Healing is Garth's primary passion, and has occupied a central place in his life for the last 25 years. He likes to experience his work as simply an extension of this central life focus.

Christine had been a very happy Urban Harvest customer for quite a while before she began working for us on a part-time basis as our office and bookkeeping assistant. Christine now works in the office on Mon, Tues, and Wed from 9-2:30 (while her lovely daughter Haley is in school), and on Fridays from 9-5. If you have a question regarding your order or your Urban Harvest account status during these times, Christine is always eager for phone calls so she can put a voice to a name when it comes to Urban Harvest customers, and she is quick to respond to email queries as well! Christine and her daughter are still relatively new to the Okanagan and are loving every minute of it here, surrounded as we are by such a bounty of beauty and amazing local food and drink!

Michael worked his way through the UBCO education program while working at Urban Harvest, and is now working on his Master's degree. He makes his weekly appearance at the Urban Harvest Saturday Sale, and keeps us all up-to-date on culture and music! With a family history in both farming and the grocery industry, Urban Harvest's mandate of sustainability and high quality organic produce appeals to his strong ethical and gastronomic convictions.

Cheryl works together with Roslyn during the week, packing and checking your Harvest Boxes, to ensure that they meet high quality and accuracy standards. She is kind enough to fill in for other staff from time to time on Saturdays as well, so if you are a Saturday Sale shopper, you may have met Cheryl there. And if you've been a Kelowna resident for more than a few years, you may also remember Cheryl from her former downtown juice bar/café, Urban Oasis, which she owned and operated from 1996-2001. Apart from being a wonderful cook (food artist, really!), renovator and gardener, Cheryl is also a very dedicated mom to her young daughter Emily and her (much) older son Tyler!

Scott is the “new kid on the block”, having started with Urban Harvest in summer 2009. Scott delivers to our evening route, and also assists with packing orders, end of the day clean-up, and setting up orders for the next day's deliveries.