AgriculturalLandReservemarks50years

Harold Steves

Contributing Writer

Fifty years ago, the Dave Barrett NDP Government passed legislation that changed B C Before the 1972 election I drafted a simple statement for NDP agricultural policy, to “establish a land-zoning program to set aside areas for agricultural production and to prevent such land being subdivided for industrial and residential areas. ”

The Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) was established in 1973

Only five percent of B.C. is arable. In 1973 B C was producing 86 per cent of the vegetables and small fruit we needed, primarily on 1 1 percent of B.C. land that is class one to three agricultural land. However, we were losing farmland at an alarming rate In the previous 20 years we lost 195,000 acres to development, including 57,000 in the Fraser Valley. By 1973 we were losing 15,000 acres of farmland every year

The ALR not only preserved the province’s limited farmland, but also shaped growth patterns over the next 50 years. Metro Vancouver adopted the ALR as an urban containment boundary creating more efficient and compact urban communities combined with parks, trails and rural green zones. It was called “Cities in a Sea of Green”

Land prices were high due to speculation and the original ALR concept had a land bank to get farmers back on the land. About 10,000 acres were leased or sold to young farmers in the first four years An Agricultural

Income Assurance programme, established to assist farmers in the lean times, saved B C blueberry farmers who were going bankrupt

The ALR also included the first allotment gardens, park and greenbelt preservation, and an Industrial Land Reserve These benefits were eliminated by subsequent provincial governments or downloaded to municipal government

Governments of all political stripes have removed prime farmland from the ALR, like the Site C Dam in the north, the Terra Nova lands in Richmond, and proposed port expansion in Richmond, Surrey and Delta. Now we have greater food insecurity than ever with wildfires, drought, atmospheric rivers and floods world wide, and crops being used for biofuel

Amazingly, the ALR has survived, but now we produce only 43 percent of the vegetables and fruit we need The BC Ministry of Agriculture predicts that “to produce a healthy diet for British Columbians,” farmland with access to irrigation will have to increase by 230,000 acres. We have the land to do this We can feed ourselves.

The ALR is still the most successful agricultural land programme in North America It has prevented urban sprawl and forced cities to develop walkable communities with parks, trails and habitat co-existing with expanded local food production. That was our original vision With courage and perseverance we can maintain that vision over the next 50 years

OnJuly24,2023,MayorandCouncilapprovedtheCityofDelta's newAgriculturalPlanwhichaimstosupportDelta'sagricultural sectorbyuncoveringpracticalsolutionstochallengesand identifyopportunitiestostrengthenthelong-termviabilityof localagriculture.ThePlanprovidesanoverviewofDelta’s agriculturesector,identifiesemergingissuesandopportunities, andrecommendsinnovativebestpracticeswithafocusonaction itemswithintheCity’sjurisdiction

FormoreinformationonthenewAgriculturalPlan, pleasevisitletstalk.delta.ca/agriculturalplanupdate.