Agricultural land more than just dirt
NIAGARA VOICES
Niagara’s agricultural land is facing a sort of environmental terrorist attack, if you will.
Simply said, “farmers feed cities” (Farmers Feed Cities, 2014). The loss of farmland is one of the greatest threats to our local food production and to farming in Ontario. The proliferation of urban sprawl, aggregate pits and quarries continue to eat away at our agricultural spaces.
Of increasing concern is the invasion of non-farm rural development, such as the human waste storage facility being proposed in Lincoln and the biodiversity offsetting project in Niagara Falls. Such initiatives that buy-out local agriculture land and attempt to petition government to change zoning to permit industrial operations are unethical to our current and future agriculture responsibilities.
Initiatives like these place Niagara’s agriculture and environmental future in serious jeopardy.
Niagara boasts an incredibly unique and sensitive ecological system.
Being situated between two Great Lakes and an escarpment makes for a unique environment, hosting a diversity of ecosystems and prized agriculture soils. Without our unique soil compositions and environmental features, Niagara would not be the largest wine-producing region in all of Canada, nor would it harvest such an array of tender fruit varieties - a sole income source for many local family operations.
Over the next 25 years, Niagara’s growth rate projects a minimum 170,000 new residents and 80,000 new jobs. And an expanding economy requires sustainability. Consider the potential impacts: The agriculture and agrifood industry employs one in eight (2.2 million) Canadians. To support and sustain such growth, there are already heated discussions on food security in order to preserve and strengthen the food security landscape in Niagara.
An estimated 18 per cent of Ontario’s farmland, equal to more than 2.8 million acres, has been lost over the past 30 years. Only one per cent of all farmland in Canada is rated Class 1, the most productive land.
Soil is a non-renewable resource that requires a thousand years to produce just one centimetre of topsoil. It hosts one quarter of the world’s biodiversity, mixes with water and air and hosts tens of thousands of micro organisms that boost the quality of our food sources.
It also plays an essential role in the carbon cycle and in controlling flooding and drought.
Selling off of our agriculture soils jeopardizes our national food stability and undermines the viability of the productive and diverse farming sector in Ontario. The need to protect farmland is at an all-time high in Ontario, Niagara specifically, as we face intensified population growth and land use conflicts.
According to Statistics Canada, between 2006 and 2011, 350 acres of farmland was lost per day. Despite the implementation of
Sources
Farmers Feed Cities, 2014. Retrieved from the Farmers Feed Cities website: www.farmersfeedcities.com Stats Canada Ontario Farmland statistics www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/ stats/agriculture_summary. htm#farm several land use plans in Ontario, like the Niagara Escarpment and the Greenbelt Plan, Ontario continues to lose agricultural land at an alarming rate. These actions are irreversible. Soil is more than just dirt, and we’re taking it for granted.
Sadly, it remains highly unmonitored in its protection against high levels of municipal, commercial and industrial pollutants released locally and globally. To continue feeding and fueling Ontarians, we must preserve every acre of farmland and voice our concerns for the long-term preservation and protection of our soils, including closer monitoring to reduce pollution and contamination.
As taxpayers footing the bill toward some questionable projects disguised by “revenue generating” labels, we must improve our ecoconsciousness. It’s irresponsible to rely on free trade to replace the food supply we can produce locally.
Our farmland’s bread and butter depends on this limited resource. It is time for wiser decisions that support sustainable programs and enforce protective regulations. If we care about growing vibrant local food and farming systems, we must do more to protect our irreplaceable agricultural lands. Nothing is more fundamental.
Niagara’s sustainable agriculture future depends on our vigilance. We must be our own watchdogs and guardsmen, because who else can we trust? A mindset of “it won’t be seen in my generation” is a perspective no one can afford. Laura Johnson is a Beamsville resident who owns and operates the Fonthill Massage Therapy Clinic. She can be reached at laura@fmtc.ca