Grant Metcalfe Dowdell (1949 – 2022)
	
Grant Dowdell arrived in the Yukon from Toronto in 1970. Ed Whithouse encouraged Grant to consider growing on an island near Dawson, as farmers had successfully done in the early 1900s.((“120th Annual Horticultural Exhibition: celebrating connections: 1903-2023.” Pamphlet. 2024 website: History & Seed Schedule | Dawson City Horticultural Exhibition))
	
Grant received an agricultural lease on an island in the Yukon River in 1973. He became a market gardener and when he brought his first produce to Dawson, 10 km downstream, the stores didn’t advertise that the produce was local, fearing it wouldn’t sell. Grant’s garden grew with his reputation, and at the height of production, Grant was supplying two grocery stores and six restaurants with local vegetables. He hauled the equivalent of two to three truck loads to Dawson by boat three times a week. His partner, Karen Digby, also appeared at the local Saturday market with more fresh produce. Grant retired in 2017 and, as a parting gift, created //Grant Dowdell and Karen Digby’s Seed Guide// sharing knowledge of Grant’s best seed varieties gained over forty years of farming in the north.((“Grant Dowdell Shares His Best Seed Varieties.”  //First We Eat: Food Sovereignty North of 60,// 2 February 2017. 2024 website:  Grant Dowdell Shares His Best Seed Varieties | First We Eat.))
	
Grant Dowdell was purposeful, provident, and courageous. A man of humour, great charm and few words. The end of Grant’s life was complicated by multiple sclerosis.((“Grant Metcalf Dowdell.” //Yukon News// (Whitehorse) 16 September 2022.))