City Council Took a quantum “Green Leap” into the locally grown food movement recently when councilors officially approved the Agriculture Plan.
The steering committee, of which I am a member, formulated the plan and recommendations for a strong agriculture sector to be developed in Campbell River.
It was a great moment for our team.
A year has passed since we received funding from the Agriculture Foundation to retain a researcher and a soil specialist to assist city staff and our committee to prepare a plan.
Readers of this column were surprised to learn that one third of municipal land is designated ALR (Agricultural Land Reserve). The research has now confirmed that there are specific areas in the community including the Willis Road, Duncan Bay Road and Airport South areas that have high soil values.
These are equivalent to rich agricultural lands in the Vancouver delta area.
As well, there are very accessible areas for possible commercial greenhouses.
Vancouver Island once produced more than half of the region’s food requirements.
In the past 50 years this number has dropped to an average of less than 10 per cent. The sad stats for local production show that we produce less than one per cent of our food needs in Campbell River.
Agriculture is now re-establishing itself on the Island and the Agriculture Plan committee’s vision is that Campbell River become more sustainable with the production of local food, grown on it’s own land.
This is an exciting time to be setting new directions and looking at new ways to strengthen our economic diversity and become part of the exciting locally grown food movement on Vancouver Island.
Did You Know that you will never have to throw away a half used lemon…ever again.
It is a terrible thing to find a lovely lemon turning soft and mushy in the fridge fruit tray. To avoid such waste all you need to do is take the balance of your unused lemon, cut it into slices and pop those in a freezer bag.
The next time you need just one slice for a garnish or to chill a drink you can reach for your freezer bag and there’s a perfect slice.