As I sit in the Committee of the Whole debate for the Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act I listen to an all familiar debate about the value of agricultural land in British Columbia.
It goes back to my first day as a municipal councillor in the District of Central Saanich.
How much food do the villagers need?
What is the value of food producing land? There was a time not so long ago that each and every village was surrounded by the land and the water that produced the food for the people who lived there. Other than a little trade, villagers needed to produce as much food as the villagers needed.
But, as cheap transportation options provide quick and easy connections between major centres, food production is centralized. Industrial food production increases economic pressure on the family farm. And, as the economics of keeping the family farm become stretched, speculators begin to consider other land uses. So, the seemingly endless strawberry fields of the Saanich Peninsula become neighbourhoods.
Frittering at the edges
For as long as the Agricultural Land Commission has been in place, elements of the political establishment have attempted to erode it. They do not attack it directly. It is always just frittering around the edges.
It is only the past couple of generations of humans who have had comfort in letting food production go far afield. But, are we really comfortable? Because, every time another use is proposed for farmland, the public becomes very uncomfortable. They write letters and phone their local constituency office.
Food production and markets are complex. Despite increasing distances between farm and plate, protecting food producing land is prudent public policy. There is always a million different uses that might make more money than farming will. In the short-term. But, the long-term, I think we know our villages are vulnerable without the ability to produce food.
So, again I ask. What is the value of food producing land?
Over the past few days there has been increasing pressure to loosen proposed legislation to allow mega-mansions and non-farm uses. I think it is important to understand the short-term implications of our decisions. Despite that pressure, we need to ensure our children and grandchildren have the option to feed themselves.
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