The brick giant silhouetted against Brandon’s skyline has presided over the city for over a century. The building’s story is one deeply engrained in Brandon’s community, as well as Brandon University itself. A. E. McKenzie and his family moved to Brandon in 1882 when he was twelve years old. He took over his father’s seed and grain business in 1896 and started selling garden seeds, quickly growing the company to over one-hundred employees here in Brandon. He needed a space to house his growing company, and an office building was constructed in 1910 that still stands today next to the 1918 addition we recognize as the second tallest building in our city. With his success, McKenzie provided a large endowment to Brandon University (then Brandon College) in 1939 and the university’s “McKenzie Building” was named in his honour. McKenzie’s company still exists to this day, but they moved from the historical site in downtown to their new building on Parker Boulevard in 2008. The company’s former building has sat vacant ever since… until now.
In the middle of October, a new company called Brandon Fresh Farms announced their plan to invest $30 million to restore the historical McKenzie Seeds building into a controlled environment agricultural farm. Brandon Farm Fresh is anticipated to employ twenty to thirty-seven full-time and twenty-five to eighty part time employees to produce a variety of fresh produce year-round. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and herbs are the main plants they intend to grow. The produce will be sold directly to the community, and overflow will be sent to local grocery stores and food banks. The company is set to officially open its operations to the public in 2025.
Just as the McKenzie seeds company helped the university all those years ago, Brandon Farm Fresh will benefit our students here at BU. The first prospect the project will bring to our students is the opportunity for jobs. Current students pursuing certain science degrees, like biology, might find it interesting and helpful to work a part-time position at the artificial farm for experience relevant to their field of study. Furthermore, the company’s full-time positions will provide an opportunity for our graduating students to find permanent work in Brandon instead of being forced to move to Winnipeg or other provinces to pursue their desired career.
Additionally, the project could help revitalize our city’s downtown area. In a previous Quill article, junior reporter Abdul Nadeem Myireh wrote about how we as students can help revitalize our downtown by supporting businesses in the area. Brandon Farm Fresh will be one of these businesses. If they are supported and manage to run a successful business in downtown, other businesses will look to them as a leading example. More companies might buy older or historical buildings in our downtown and give them new life, in addition to diversifying Brandon’s downtown community.
The largest impact, however, of Brandon Farm Fresh’s project to BU students is that of the student diet. We all know Harvest Hall can be… unreliable… at times, when it comes to offering a nutritious meal. Additionally, the skyrocketing grocery prices deter students, both searching for food outside of Harvest Hall and those renting apartments or houses, from the fresh produce aisles of our grocery stores. The artificial agricultural farm could change this, as one of their plans is to make fresh produce more affordable for the citizens of Brandon. The project could provide an opportunity for students to add healthier foods into their diets for a cheaper cost, and a healthier diet will give students more motivation and clearer thoughts to properly thrive in the university environment.
As promising as the project is, the McKenzie Seeds building is notorious for creating false hope within the community. While Brandon Farm Fresh’s project would certainly revolutionize the city and help our students – with the new economic prospects and the potential to help in the revitalization of downtown – the deal has not been completely finalized yet. If Brandon Farm Fresh’s project is followed through to completion, we as students can be the first to show our support and ensure the project is a success that helps our community, and students, flourish.
All of the historical information for this article came from Historic Sites of Manitoba: A. E. McKenzie Building (30 Ninth Street, Brandon) (mhs.mb.ca), and the information about Brandon Farm Fresh came from the Brandon Sun’s article BFF plans $30M McKenzie Seeds building overhaul – Brandon Sun.
