COPE supports the creation of community gardens wherever possible and encourage community supported agriculture across the city. COPE has called for permanent infrastructure support Vancouver’s burgeoning farmers’ markets and plans to create an urban farming hub to support markets year round. COPE is also calling for the Avalon Dairy lands to be preserved and not turned into a large market condominium development. COPE would support having some of the lands protected as Vancouver heritage, as well as asking the province to include the 1.26 acres in the Agricultural Land Reserve.
@leaguetomorrow
Lessons & supplies to turn lawns into gardens. Lower fees for businesses with local/CSA food.
I’ve worked on organic farms, and am an avid gardener. Without community gardens and urban farms we can never achieve the food self-sufficiency that I feel will be essential in the near future. As such, my party will look at reclaiming unused land like “brownfields” around light industrial areas and having them turned over to community gardens. I’d have at least one permaculture specialist working for the city, planning out periennial high yield gardens that can feed many with litte upkeep; I’d make gardening expenses tax deductable and tax lawns that tax the earth, and allow community centres to serve as distribution locations for CSA’s and the site for workshops on gardening, home canning and home fermenting.
We must return to “livability” instead of “regional growth” as the core guiding principle in planning, and respect for neighbourhood plans and current zoning in land use decisions. There is sufficient capacity within current zoning to accommodate growth. The shift to high density spot rezoning is poor public policy: it undermines land use plans, creates social conflict and leads to land speculation. Greens support smart growth that’s based in complete, walkable neighbourhoods including more development near existing stores, recreation and transit routes. We support urban agriculture, more farmer’s markets and more parks and green space.
Vision Vancouver is committed to the concept of growing food in an urban setting and has built a community garden at City Hall and has established 450 new community garden plots in the city. This initiative enhances the City’s food security and reducing the City’s ecological footprint by reducing “distance to fork” through encouraging more locally grown, culturally appropriate and affordable food production. Over the last three years Vision Vancouver Council has approved several policies including: developing Urban Agriculture Design Guidelines for new private developments; passing a motion in support of Farmers Markets and supporting the Vancouver Food Strategy.
The NPA has a long track record of making sustainable land use decisions. This leadership is one of the reasons Vancouver is one of the greenest and best cities to live in the world. In addition to supporting community gardens and accessible parks, we will continue to make land use decisions that deliver affordable housing supply and world-class amenities including recreation and cultural facilities, child care, community police and fire services. Our NPA Park Board will also support developing an educational working farm to promote food sustainability.
Rick asks that you click HERE for a link to a (draft) SPEECH he is developing.
For NSV, the most important thing is to work together with the people of Vancouver to ensure growth at a scale and pace that is right for our communities. Currently, big developers provide a lot of funding for the major political parties here and, in return, are often favoured in land-use decisions. Communities should have an equal voice when it comes to these decisions. NSV would respect Community Visions or help communities to develop them. We are also supportive of urban agriculture.
