Sooke Region Farmland Trust
District of Sooke Position Paper
Given that:
· Vancouver Island, with its mild climate and rich soils, is a prime location for food production;
· Vancouver Island grows only 5% of its own food, and Sooke even less than that;
· Vancouver Island imports 95% of its food supply, and Sooke even greater than that;
· California currently supplies 70% of all BC imported fruits and vegetables, and California agriculture is seriously compromised by concurrent years of drought and crop losses;
· In an abrupt disruption, natural or economic, Sooke store shelves would be empty within three days, due to limited island warehouse storage capacity and vulnerable transportation networks;
· High land values, increasing losses of ALR land, and the loss of processing and distribution infrastructure on the island have all undermined the viability of local food systems on Vancouver Island and in the Sooke region;
· Therefore, local food security and community resilience in the Sooke region are threatened...
As such, we call on all our elected district officials to:
1. Save and protect farmland in our regional foodshed. This will ensure the continued production of fresh and healthy food in the local area for the benefit of local Sooke residents and a more food secure Sooke, while at the same time, create opportunities for the development of a vibrant local food economy, attracting more food business ventures and employment to Sooke;
2. Secure a permanent location for the Sooke Farmers Market. This will ensure that Sooke region farmers have vital access to local markets, which will help to make community-based farming a viable business endeavour, and in doing so, will contribute significantly to a vibrant and sustainable circular economy in the Sooke region;
3. Fund a Food Security Coordinator position for the Sooke region; and
4. Implement the District of Sooke’s 2012 Agricultural Plan. There are many positive commitments and proposals in this plan that would support Sooke food producers and enhance Sooke food security. Short term priorities need immediate enactment - one of which is consultation with the Country Market folks. And a timeline for the implementation of the medium and long-term priorities needs to be defined.
* A foodshed is the geographic area that produces food for a particular population. The term describes a region where food flows from the area in which it is produced to the place where it is consumed, and includes everything in between - the land it grows on, the water systems that feed it, the people who cultivate or gather it, the routes it travels, the processing facilities it passes through, the markets it trades in, the tables it ends up on, and the people who are nourished by it. Source Wikipedia.
First published: October, 2014; revised: March, 2015
District of Sooke Position Paper
Given that:
· Vancouver Island, with its mild climate and rich soils, is a prime location for food production;
· Vancouver Island grows only 5% of its own food, and Sooke even less than that;
· Vancouver Island imports 95% of its food supply, and Sooke even greater than that;
· California currently supplies 70% of all BC imported fruits and vegetables, and California agriculture is seriously compromised by concurrent years of drought and crop losses;
· In an abrupt disruption, natural or economic, Sooke store shelves would be empty within three days, due to limited island warehouse storage capacity and vulnerable transportation networks;
· High land values, increasing losses of ALR land, and the loss of processing and distribution infrastructure on the island have all undermined the viability of local food systems on Vancouver Island and in the Sooke region;
· Therefore, local food security and community resilience in the Sooke region are threatened...
As such, we call on all our elected district officials to:
1. Save and protect farmland in our regional foodshed. This will ensure the continued production of fresh and healthy food in the local area for the benefit of local Sooke residents and a more food secure Sooke, while at the same time, create opportunities for the development of a vibrant local food economy, attracting more food business ventures and employment to Sooke;
2. Secure a permanent location for the Sooke Farmers Market. This will ensure that Sooke region farmers have vital access to local markets, which will help to make community-based farming a viable business endeavour, and in doing so, will contribute significantly to a vibrant and sustainable circular economy in the Sooke region;
3. Fund a Food Security Coordinator position for the Sooke region; and
4. Implement the District of Sooke’s 2012 Agricultural Plan. There are many positive commitments and proposals in this plan that would support Sooke food producers and enhance Sooke food security. Short term priorities need immediate enactment - one of which is consultation with the Country Market folks. And a timeline for the implementation of the medium and long-term priorities needs to be defined.
* A foodshed is the geographic area that produces food for a particular population. The term describes a region where food flows from the area in which it is produced to the place where it is consumed, and includes everything in between - the land it grows on, the water systems that feed it, the people who cultivate or gather it, the routes it travels, the processing facilities it passes through, the markets it trades in, the tables it ends up on, and the people who are nourished by it. Source Wikipedia.
First published: October, 2014; revised: March, 2015