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Panelists

Policy & Governance

  • Adam Olsen reviews the background to the ALR designation zone
  • we chat the “highest & best use” of agricultural land
    • affordable housing discussion

Business of Farming / Agriculture

  • is it sustainable and affordable to operate?
  • we chat about local food supply chains, especially in this COVID based realty
  • we chat about freezer & processing capacity
    • we chat about a Peninsula based Abattoir
    • we need to investigate year-round food packaging & production capacity on the Peninsula
    • we referenced Bright Green’s Victoria operations as a successful example of year round food production (http://www.brightgreens.ca/home.html)
  • is the ALR designation hindering the ability of farmer’s to operate their business?
    • can employees live on the land with this zoning?
  • what are the agricultural economics, e.g., wage levels & labour shortage issues barriers to sustainable businesses?
  • how much food is actually produced on the Peninsula?
    • much of the land is hayed versus food production
  • is the land too expensive to profitably run a farm?
    • is there enough land on the Peninsula for a sustainable Industry?

Marketing & Networking

  • who is promoting the Industry?
    • healthy local support despite lack of tourist business
    • how do we find local suppliers & vendors?

Education

  • why is agriculture / farming not taught in local schools?
  • why not a Farm academy on the Peninsula?
  • huge opportunity…plans for a farming school on the Sandown Lands
  • partnering with First Nations

Misc

  • we chat about the Sandown land development (Sandown Center for Regenerative Agriculture)
  • Vancouver Island Economic Alliance (VIEA) – Island Good (https://viea.ca/initiatives/island-good/)
  • new crop production (seaweed)
  • we need government regulations & support to help grow the sector
  • we introduce the “reef-net”

Links