Foodlands Access
A viable and resilient local food and agriculture system is important to the capital region's sustainability. Local food and agricultural production systems face many challenges, including the loss of farmland, cost of farm operation, age of farmers, and food prices.
A Foodlands Access Program is being developed to support new and young farmers by facilitating affordable access to productive farmland. This work delivers on recommendations from the 2019 Regional Foodlands Access Program Feasibility Study, which identified recommendations to help address farmland access and increase local food production across the region.
From 2020 to 2022, the CRD partnered with Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Institute for Sustainable Food Systems to develop technical site assessments and a business case. The business case provided information about parcel suitability and identified initial capital and operating costs to advance a foodlands access incubator program for new farmers on the three parcels.
The proposed Foodlands Access Program will focus on:
- Reactivating an underused portion of Bear Hill Regional Park for a five-year agriculture pilot project that will host an incubator program for 10-15 farmers to start or expand their farming operations.
- Providing grant funding to support farmers who participate in the B.C. Land Matching Program, pairing private landowners with aspiring farmers for long-term land leases.
On June 28, 2023, the CRD Parks Committee gave an initial indication of support for using the Bear Hill farm site for the program. In summer 2023, a Request for Qualifications will be released to identify qualified farm site operators to lead the program.
Once experienced operators are identified, the program proposal will be refined, and staff will canvas local governments and electoral areas for interest in service participation to finalize the funding approach. The target for establishing the new service is early 2024.
Regional Food and Agriculture Strategy
Food and agriculture in the CRD are part of a larger interconnected system that includes planting, irrigation, harvesting, processing, distributing, preparing, marketing and consumption. Managing food waste, soil nutrients, wildlife and invasive species are also integral to the food and agriculture system.
The Regional Food & Agriculture Strategy (RFAS) details regional food and agriculture objectives, issues and opportunities to guide action and foster leadership in developing a resilient food and agriculture system. The Food and Agriculture Task Force delivers on the first recommendation of the RFAS with regional, cross-sector relationships working together on identified priorities.
Thanks to the ongoing work being done by the CRD and community partners, the updated 2018 Regional Growth Strategy targets increasing land in food production by 5,000 hectares by 2038. The RFAS and the RGS work in tandem to guide planning and decision making in the region.