Sustainability experts urge protection of B.C.’s ‘precious’ arable land as real estate, industry pose threat – A white paper released Tuesday urges B.C. to protect what little farmland it has, arguing that sprawling estates and businesses are glutting up “precious” arable tracts that future generations will require to survive.
Kent Mullinix, co-author of the paper and sustainable food expert with Kwantlen Polytechnic University, says the rising price of land is preventing fertile areas protected under the province’s Agricultural Land Commission Act from being used for their designated purpose: producing food.
And that misuse will directly impact food security in years to come, Mullinix says.
A double-whammy of population growth plus climate change means the province will be “challenged to produce food in the future,” he toldB.C. Almanac‘s Michelle Eliot.
Fraction of land used for food
Vast swathes of mountain and ice make 95 per cent of the province unsuitable for farming, the paper reports. Of the five per cent left, only half is currently used for crops and livestock.
Malone Mullin – CBC News – March 07, 2018.