Things got a little uglier than usual at a Heppell farm food giveaway on Saturday (Dec. 16).
During the potato farming family’s 13th Ugly Potato Day event – where they offer “ugly” produce deemed unsuitable for grocery stores to the public for free – so many people showed up, it snarled traffic along 184 Street, to the point that the police were called.
Tyler Heppell, popular for showcasing local farming on his TikTok and Instagram accounts, noted he only posted once about the Dec. 16 South Surrey event on both social media platforms, which was supposed to happen from 10 a.m. to. 1 p.m.
“It was quite crazy! We had over 4,000 people come out. It was (supposed to be) from 10 to 1 and it was just a constant stream of people from 9:30 to 1:30 – there were no breaks,” he said.
Heppell and his family initially started the Ugly Potato Day events in June of 2022 as a way of helping local families fight food insecurity, with 12 people showing up for 250 pounds of potatoes at the first one.
On Saturday, the thousands who showed up came away with 35,000 or so pounds of potatoes, 20,000 pounds of carrots donated by Canadian Farms, and 3,000 pounds of beets donated by Sprangers Farms, as well as several thousands of pounds of Heppell-grown squash.
But it also meant parking was a little hectic, Heppell said, noting that four people who he had scheduled to help with parking cancelled at the last minute.
“I only had two parking guys and I was supposed to have six parking guys – that was part of the reason,” he said, adding traffic was backed up all the way to the train tracks about a half a mile down the road from their property at 4945 184 St.
Despite the parking issues and police showing up, Heppell said it simply demonstrates that he and his family are doing the right thing.
“I think this goes to show how much Canadians are hurting right now to feed their families,” he said.
“We put out one post and more than 4,000 people showed up.”
READ ALSO: South Surrey farm’s Ugly Potato Day aims to take bite out of food insecurity
They are looking at different venues to host the “ugly” produce events moving forward in the new year, he confirmed, and while they have one in mind, he’s waiting for confirmation before announcing it.
“We are definitely looking at going to different venues, especially in the summertime when they’re larger… I’d like a venue that’ll allow us to have 10,000 people,” said Heppell.
The “ugly” initiative also benefits the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, Raphael House in Langley and the Cloverdale Community Kitchen, with many who come to collect free produce also bringing cash or non-perishable food items to donate.