JULY 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


35


Municipalities committing to urban farming Connecting available land with eager growers boosts food security


by TAMARA LEIGH LANGLEY – The Lower


Mainland and Fraser Valley is an increasingly crowded landscape. For farmers looking to get their hands in the dirt with access to urban markets, the challenge of finding farmable land can seem overwhelming. Projects underway in Surrey and Langley are helping to address the gap. The City of Langley is


working to bring 23 acres of land into production as an urban farm. The land runs beneath BC Hydro lines between 200 Street and 204 Street, near a popular off- leash dog park. With funding from the


Metro Vancouver Sustainability Innovation Fund and logistical co-ordination and planning from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the Langley Urban Agriculture Demonstration Project is assessing the site and consulting the community to come up with a detailed plan for development.


Meets goals “We’ve been looking at this


site for a long time and wanting to make better use of it,” says Roy Beddow, deputy director of development services and economic development with the city of Langley. “Our 2010 Sustainability Framework identified increasing local food production as a goal. We’re also looking at it for education purposes – connecting residents to food production.”


Kent Mullinix sees the


project as a perfect fit for Kwantlen’s Institute for Sustainable Food Systems. “One of the institute’s big


focuses is to work with and support local and regional governments in their efforts to advance agriculture and food systems, in particular smaller scale, community focused agriculture,” says Mullinix, director of the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems. “We see this as a demonstration project, not just for Langley, but for all of Metro Vancouver and the province.”


The sheer size of the site


makes it unique for a new urban agriculture project. “Twenty-three acres is nothing to sneeze at,” says Mullinix. “It can’t all be put into production, but it can demonstrate the confluence between habitat enhancement, ecosystem services, small-scale farming, and community engagement in food production and agriculture. It has the potential to really demonstrate some of the things that can be done.” The institute is gathering


information throughout the process, not just for the physical development of the site and operational plan, but


the processes of collaborating with the different partners and community engagement. This information can be shared with other municipalities considering similar projects. “We have to get more people involved in agriculture and understanding our food system and its relationship to society and the community. These kinds of projects are very tangible and very effective ways of doing that,” he says.


Connecting land to farmers While Langley is working


to make land available to urban farmers, the City of Surrey recently launched [FarmableNOW.ca], a land- matching website. “Our farmers in Surrey and


Metro Vancouver know it’s a pipedream for a young farmer to purchase a farm and make a living,” says Surrey councillor Mike Starchuk, chair of the Agriculture and Food


Security Advisory Committee. “While we’re in that time where land value is so intense, a program like this helps a person get access to the land to start producing, earning money, doing what they want to do.” It is estimated that 25% of


agricultural land in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley is not being farmed. The website and associated outreach activities are targeting the owners of under-utilized farmland, and getting their land back into production. In addition to showing


available farmland, the map shows the location of key infrastructure and resources like water and wells to help farmers plan for the needs of their farm business. It also connects new farmers with an online database, business planning resources, mentors, and information about production and equipment needs. FarmableNOW builds off


the U-Map tool developed by PUSHING THE LIMITS OF


the Young Agrarians as part of their Lower Mainland Land Matching Pilot. The latest phase of the project is support by VanCity’s Envirofund.


Help for farmers “Digital land listings on a


website do not make land matches,” says Sarah Dent, executive director of the Young Agrarians. “Digital land listings are 10% of the process of finding a property and making a connection with a land owner. Once the farmer finds the right spot, we have a matchmaker who helps with the negotiations and final legal contract.” According to Dent, the long-term vision for the project is to develop a land extension service funded by local governments to keep farmland in production. They are hoping to expand their matchmaking team from one to three over the next year, and expand their service to Vancouver Island and the Okanagan.


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