Thoughts on Agriculture
As I pick plums, tomatoes, pears, apples, squash and broccoli this fall, I taste the scarily nostalgic, fresh flavours that I’m certain can only come from truly local vegetation. If you haven’t had the time for reading Focus Magazine, I encourage you to at least skip to the last page and read the work of Trudy Duivenvoorden mitic (https://www.focusonvictoria.ca/profile/16-trudy-duivenvoorden-mitic/).
In BC our agricultural agenda is to: GROW, FEED and BUY B.C.
GROW B.C is an incentive to get budding farmers access to land and help existing growers and processors expand their operations. FEED B.C. is the initiative to use more BC grown food in government facilities like schools and hospitals. BUY B.C. is intended to be the marketing program for BC producers incorporating brand licensing, technology and facilitating export opportunities.
Agriculture and land are age old partners. As a province, my grandparents generation had the forethought in 1973 to allocate some of our land as reserve and establish a commission to administer its protection. These systems are continually refit and it is vitally important that we head off unnecessary development and protect the very land that is productive in feeding our communities. https://commonsensecanadian.ca/new-interactive-map-reveals-largest-farmland-exclusion-in-alr-history-for-site-c-dam/
The budget for the Ministry of Agriculture is just over $80M. Given that this represents over 44000 square kilometers of land reserve beyond the very ambitious aforementioned goals, then I think giving it approximately the same monetary consideration as the Legislative Assembly ($83M) seems a bit out of line.
In Oak Bay Gordon Head, we have two pieces of ALR land within the electoral area. Both of these are currently golf courses. What ideas do you have for agricultural opportunities locally here? What should be our focus in the coming four years? Do you garden at home or in a community space?
Never forget, we are what we eat.
Sincerely,
Ryan (rjgisler@hotmail.com)
