Richmond Rallies for Urban Farm Plan
MAY 25, 2007--What if you had a public meeting and . . . everybody came? It was standing room only at a town hall meeting calling for an urban farm of 55 hectares (136 acres) in the core of Richmond, BC, on May 23. The plan could place Richmond at the forefront of sustainable communities in North America.
Sound radical? In actual fact, it is meant to protect the status quo. The "Garden City Lands" are already in the Agricultural Land Reserve, a provincial program put in place in 1973 to protect farmland near rapidly growing urban areas. However, thirty years later the dollar signs are becoming irresistible as property values have soared, and Richmond city council is pushing to have the land removed from the ALR. This is a disturbing trend, and one that is unfortunately supported by the current provincial government.
"If it wasn't for the ALR, all of Richmond would be paved already," said one resident in the crowd. Fifty years ago, Richmond was Vancouver's farming hinterland; now it is a city in its own right. Even a provincial government report - though one they held back from the public until after a citizen filed a Freedom of Information request - highlights the need to protect farmland near cities. At current growth rates, "B.C.'s Food Self-Reliance" states, the province will have to double agricultural production by 2025 just to maintain current levels of food self-sufficiency - which is only 48 percent right now.
The urban farm envisioned by the Richmond Food Security Task Force and other grassroots groups has all the bells and whistles: a farmers market, apiary, community gardens, affordable lease-land for farmers, an apiary, a Musqueam native food garden, a community kitchen, heritage orchard, food bank, and a local-food restaurant. All in the heart of the city, within walking distance or short bus journey for Richmond residents. This is the future of local eating - people want to do it, and this is how they can.
Certainly, the 24-hectare (60-acre) UBC Farm in Vancouver proper was a crucial resource during my 100-Mile Diet year. Going there was like a trip to the country in the heart of the city, and nourished my soul as well as my belly. Surrounded by cool fir forest, watched over by eagles, James and I always looked in on the happy chickens before lining up to buy their eggs. It was a one-minute walk from the gardens to the market stalls. Fossil-fuel free foods! As gasoline prices rise, this will become an ever-more valuable resource. Every city should have at least one farm.
As mentioned in an earlier blog on this site, new LEED eco-certification guidelines, presently used for individual buildings in North America, is now in the trial phase of extending to entire neighbourhoods. Richmond could be one of the first. -ADS
