Massive crowds expected to grab FREE produce at Metro Vancouver farm

If you truly only care about what’s on the inside, you will not be disappointed with what one local family farm calls “Ugly Potato Day.”

Heppell’s Potatoes is once again giving away free produce considered “ugly” this weekend in Cloverdale, Surrey. A variety of potatoes will be given away along with parsnips from Canadian Farms. 

About 1,600 loaves of bread from Olivier’s will be up for grabs.

“This year, our goal is to donate over half a million pounds of ugly vegetables to our community,” production manager Tyler Heppell said in a video posted to TikTok. 

@heppellspotato One of our last Ugly Potato Days on the farm! This year our goal is to donate 500,000 meals to the fraser valley. Let me know if you can come 👇#uglypotatoday #potatotiktok #farmtok #agriculture #farmer ♬ Bank Account – Instrumental – B Lou

Since the first “Ugly Potato Day” in 2022, Heppell told Daily Hive it drew out just 12 people but has gradually grown. During the last giveaway in December 2023, 4,000 people flocked to grab free produce and even created some ugly conditions on the road for people just trying to drive through. 

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While the event was a major success, Mounties responded to a complaint regarding the heavy traffic as vehicles backed up roughly half a kilometre from the farm property. 

Ahead of this weekend’s event, Heppell assured, the family farm has learned from their mistakes and “buffed up our security and parking team.”

Ugly Potato Day events expanding

After this weekend’s event, Heppell said “This is probably going to be one of the last events on the farm because these events are getting too big.”

Heppell previously said that in 2024, he hopes to expand “Ugly Potato Day” by hosting it in a bigger venue and inviting more farmers to participate. 

He told Daily Hive that the event will be expanded this summer and fall to a new location (which is yet to be announced) to host over 15,000 people each day.

The fall event will take place on National Ugly Produce Day (October 19).

“We are working with dozens (even hundreds) of farms across North America to all be hosting an Ugly Produce Day on October 19, and my goal is that farmers across North America can feed the 20% of the population that is food insecure,” Heppell said.

“We expect to have 200 Ugly Produce locations across the continent. We are working on getting food trucks and live music from top Canadian artists.”

If you attend the event on Saturday, March 30, Heppell’s Potatoes encourages folks to bring their own bags and donate what they can to the local food bank. 

Heppell’s Potatoes 

Address: 4945 184th Street, Surrey

Date: Saturday, March 30

Hours: 9 am to noon

Phone: (604) 576-1727