RED TAPE ENTANGLES GREEN THUMBS
A trend toward community gardening is withering in Burnaby and Surrey because of civic indifference
A trend toward community gardening across the region is wilting in Burnaby and Surrey because of civic indifference.
That’s the conclusion of a report by the Burnaby Food First non-profit group, which plants the blame on civic governments that are stingy with municipal land.
Study author Grant Rice said the situation has implications for food sharing among low-income families.
“Growing food can do a great deal of good. Very little investment is needed,” said Rice, a longtime food advocate. “Beyond the social connections, there is a real need for immigrants. Many of them come from farming backgrounds.”
A hunger count by Food Banks Canada found that 100,000 people used food banks in B.C. in March 2015.
The study reported that Burnaby and Surrey have six community gardens apiece on civic land. Vancouver has 45.
“Other cities don’t like to be compared to Vancouver. They think it makes them look bad,” Rice said. “Surrey doesn’t have anywhere near enough community gardens for its size. Burnaby has also lagged.”
Obstacles include mounds of bureaucracy at city hall and lack of information about where vacant city plots are located.
Efforts by residents in Metrotown have not borne fruit at city hall in Burnaby.
“Given the recent emphasis on local food security, we are concerned that the city is missing an opportunity to engage residents,” Metrotown resident Rick McGowan said.
For example, city officials required a freedom-of-information request for details about an existing civic-community garden before sharing them.
“Burnaby wants to put the onus on gardeners to reach their own deals with developers of new properties,” McGowan said. “The city has 400 properties for resale, but says revealing where they are could ‘hurt the municipality’s economic interests.’”
Officials in Vancouver, Richmond and the three North Shore municipalities seem more amenable to making things work, Rice said.
Vancouver has more than 4,000 ‘garden plots’ and two social planners who deal with food.
“Another thing which shines is the $2 million given out under Vancouver’s Greenest City initiative.”
Richmond, which has a lot of agricultural land, has a special role in training farmers for the future. There is a farm school at Kwantlen University, where wannabe harvesters practise on half-hectare plots.
“The average age of farmers in B.C. is 57. Young people are returning to the land,” Rice said.
The North Shore doesn’t have much farmland, but received points for allowing produce to be sold at farmers markets.
City staff also has a willingness to get things done, Rice said, providing a small site which was overgrown with blackberries for a sharing garden in Blueridge. Firefighters charged the water storage tanks and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers were grown for those in need.
Rice said Surrey’s agricultural committee is a product of an old-school environment which doesn’t have the political will to ease the way for volunteer groups.
“There are a variety of city hall departments to approach, such as engineering, parks and planning, and many forms are required.”
Surrey offered a farmers market free space at city hall, but required a $2,000 damage deposit.
Surrey Coun. Mike Starchuk, who chairs the agricultural committee, said conditions in Vancouver are much different.
“Surrey doesn’t promote community gardens; a lot of people garden in their backyard. There are a lot of condos in Vancouver and you don’t have the ability to do that,” he said. Water is another challenge. “Often there is no water on cityowned properties and a water licence is needed,” he said.
Another difficulty is the size of the city, which has 9,300 hectares of farmland.
A food forum will be held June 8 in Burnaby, with details to come. Go to burnabyfoodfirst.blogspot.ca to find out more.