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Yk man makes an organic meat voyage

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Wade Friesen shows off his haul at the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool parking lot on Sunday after returning home from Edmonton. Michael Hugall/ NNSL photo

A local contractor has returned after a quest to find quality organic food and deliver it to 60 residents.

Wade Friesen packed up his car and set out Jan. 9 at 6 a.m. for Edmonton, where he picked up orders from an Alberta grass-fed meat farm and brought back the product for Yellowknife residents to enjoy.

He arrived on Sunday with boxes stacked one on-top-of the other, filled with organic meat products. His voyage has sparked a conversation about the lack of organic choices in Yellowknife.

"I feel the demand is increasing," said Friesen. "When they renovated the new Yellowknife Co-op they made sure to include more organic sections, I believe that was the start of the want in the community."

Francois Larouche, left, pays Wade Friesen for his organic meat order at the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool parking lot on Sunday.
Michael Hugall/ NNSL photo

This is the second consecutive year Friesen has driven to pick up orders for residents who crave organic meat.

Friesen arrived in Yellowknife in 2001 after living in Whitehorse. Being an organic food shopper, the idea of helping the community obtain quality meat began when he noticed limited organic options.

Organic food enthusiast Kimberly Reynolds said she is thrilled to be on this order. She adds people like Friesen are needed now more than ever.

"It's easy to do these things for yourself," said Reynolds. "If there were more Wades in this world, it would be a better place."

Reynolds is the owner of Lily's Pad child day home and says because of Friesen's influence, people are starting to ask questions about where their food comes from.

"Wade is really good at putting bits of information in his Facebook posts to make people think," said Reynolds. "I try to feed the children at my day home organic food as much as I can. I don't force the idea on them but I slowly try to get the thought of organic food in their heads."

Although the thought of having a wider variety of organic items is welcomed by some, Yellowknife Co-op manager Justin Nelson said his sales don't reflect a demand for the product.

“I think it was just a fad that sort of went away,” said Nelson. “We tried selling the TK Ranch product in our store but it didn't last, we had to throw a lot of it away.”

Organic products still appeal to a certain customer base says Northern Fancy Meats owner Terry Greene.

“I sell more to cancer patients,” said Greene. “They are among many people who don't want the added hormones.”

Greene, a butcher in the city for over 35 years, said there was a time where he tried converting the store to a strictly organic butcher.

“The product just didn't sell like I thought it would,” said Greene. “Everyone kept asking me why I changed and said they thought my original meat was fine.

However, Friesen argues the lack of organic product is due to the shipping costs and the restrictions instituted by the Government of Alberta, Greene disagrees.

“There's not really any concern when it comes restrictions,” said Greene. “There is more of a concern with cross-contamination but that's only in the grass which is being eaten.