Pender Island, B.C., couple vow to eat what they grow and forage permanently after year-long challenge

A Pender Island, B.C., couple took on a challenge to live off the land for a full year. Now that they have completed the challenge, they are going to live that way for good.

Stef Lowey and Chris Hall produced all their own food for a year. Last August, they achieved that one-year goal, then gorged on everything they missed.

Coffee, booze and processed foods were a shock to their systems, but what shocked them the most was a trip to the grocery store.

“Just seeing the increases in food prices and how much they scaled up,” was one of Hall’s biggest revelations.

"To see that was jaw-dropping," Lowey added. "A pound of bacon is like 14 bucks or something ridiculous.”

Bacon is dirt-cheap when your supply chain is the path between the house and the pigpen.

Their love of the land has only grown with the challenge, saying nature's menu never ceases to amaze them.

“We have a 35-pound prosciutto hanging in the basement," Lowey said. "[It] should be ready in like two years.”

Their appetite isn’t the only thing they have satisfied. They are pleasing the palates of almost 50,000 subscribers on YouTube who are following their journey.

“We just made some stinging-nettle pesto," Lowey said.

One cheat item they have agreed to give themselves going back off the grid is flour.

Lowey and Hall started their original one-year challenge in August 2020, when they decided to move to Pender Island and only eat what they catch, grow, harvest or raise for an entire year.

CTV News checked in six months into the challenge, and it turned out they were thriving.

"We feel a lot healthier," Hall said. "Energy levels have balanced out, weird things like that, but it makes a difference. Clearer skin I think for both of us too."

The pair has been making videos showing what creative foods can be made in B.C., like coffee made from dandelion roots.