Cavalry FC midfielder Charlie Trafford looking to make a difference on the food front

While playing soccer in Europe, Charlie Trafford found himself disappointed during trips to the grocery store on visits home to Calgary for Christmas.

“You’d eat the tomatoes or something and there’s just no flavour in them, no taste,” he said. “And out of a kind of frustration, I started to look a little deeper into it.

“And you realize that there’s a ton of issues in the (agriculture) world at the moment with the nutrient levels in the produce, how far they’re transporting it. Spoilage. How disconnected we’ve become from our food system.”

Trafford started discussing the issue with his sister Sya Trafford, who has a degree in business with a focus on sustainability. She was working at KPMG in Vancouver at the time, while Trafford was playing in Wales for Wrexham.

The talks turned into a plan and the siblings moved back to Calgary, founding Trafford Farms in November 2023. Within a year, their mushrooms were in more than 40 grocery stores with a “ton more on the way.” 

“My sister and I are having so much fun,” Trafford said. “It’s super busy obviously, balancing it with a football career. But it’s been a pretty cool adventure.” 

Trafford is currently in Mexico, attending to his day job.

The 32-year-old Cavalry FC midfielder takes on Pumas UNAM at Estadio Olimpico Universitario in Mexico City in the return leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup first-round series on Thursday. The Calgary-based Canadian Premier League champion upset the Mexican powerhouse 2-1 in the first leg last week with Trafford scoring.