Growing the Urban Agriculture Capacity in the CRD Group 3: Christa Brown Matt Gordon

1. Growing the Urban Agriculture Capacity in the CRD Group 3: Christa Brown Matt Gordon Heather Polowyk Christine Sharuga Roberta Waddell

2. Introduction Urban agriculture is an industry that produces, processes and markets food and fuel, largely in response to the daily demand of consumers within a town, city, or metropolis, on land and water dispersed throughout the urban and peri-urban area, applying intensive production methods, using and reusing natural resources and urban wastes, to yield a diversity of crops and livestock. -United Nations Development Programme The City of Victoria recognizes community gardening as a valuable community recreational activity that contributes to health and well-being, positive social interaction, community development, environmental education, connection to nature, protection and use of open space and economical, nutritious food production and food security -City of Victoria community gardens policy

3. Four Case Studies India India has a high density of its population living in cities. A National food security mission is taking place where expand agricultural systems. England England has been using urban agriculture in mass contexts for almost a century despite the large population and small land area. Urban agriculture is not just a hobby; it is a right by law. Portland, Oregon In Portland, Oregon, the Diggable City Project produced an urban agriculture land inventory and made recommendations to improve urban agricultural production within the city. Vancouver, BC Vancouver has done well in fusing its sustainable food system goals and visions with governmental policy. The Action Plan for Creating a Just and Sustainable Food System for City of Vancouver provided the initiative to use land inventory methods to build a database of potential, and create a foundation to base further expansion of urban agriculture within the city

4. Potential Problems with Urban Agriculture in the CRD • Collaboration between the 13 municipalities can create issues surrounding by-laws. • There has been no previous land inventory created in the CRD which correlates to land not being protected for agricultural use.

5. Case Study: India Background info • Approximately 30 percent living in India can be found in cities • City dwellers in low-income countries, such as India, spend 50-80 percent of their incomes on food

6. Methods for Measuring agriculture productivity • Use 3 indexes • Labour productivity • Land productivity • Joint land and labour productivity

7. Policies • National Food Security Mission (NFSM) • Goal: to increase production of staple crops such as rice and wheat by 10 and 8 million tonnes respectively

8. Case Study: England and Wales • Background Info • WWII created a need for urban agriculture • Dense urban population make planning a necessity

9. Policies • Small Holdings Allotments Act • The Green Belt Act • Measuring Land Use • Aerial Photography and GIS

11. Case Study: Portland, Oregon, USA • In 2004 – Resolution introduced to Portland’s City Council directing city bureaus to conduct an inventory of city-owned land that may be suitable for community gardens or other urban agricultural uses • Inventoried properties included those under the management of the Bureaus of Environmental Services, Parks and Recreation, Transportation, and Water, generally without immediate management plans

12. Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) formed to assist with developing criteria to classify the parcels of land • Criteria: • tenure of land • water access • level grade • transit access • proximity to other agricultural activity • but NOT soil quality, as it was not tested • 4 types of potential agricultural uses: • community gardens • small-scale agriculture • large-scale agriculture • agriculture on impervious surfaces or poor soil • All sites identified were maintained in the inventory in order to maintain the maximum number of potential sites

13. Of the 289 potential sites, 24 were selected for site visits based on their geographic distribution, proximity to existing community gardens, and implementation potential • The 24 sites visited were of various sizes and had differing potential uses – 11 of these were selected as potential highlights • Meetings with the bureau owners of the 11 sites were conducted to discuss future plans and feasibility for use for urban agriculture • 5 were selected for the Diggable City Project as snapshots to highlight the range of lands existing within the inventory and their potential uses

14. Policies • Urban agriculture is sanctioned by Oregon state statutes as follows: • 197.752. Urban lands available for development • (1) Lands within urban growth boundaries shall be available for urban development concurrent with the provision of key urban facilities and services in accordance with locally adopted development standards. • (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, lands not needed for urban uses during the planning period may be designated for agricultural, forest or other non-urban uses. • Urban agriculture land inventory is supportive of a number of statewide land use planning goals • Many regional policies and zoning regulations also present challenges to the development of agricultural activities within the Urban Growth Boundary • Diggable City Project team recommended that the City of Portland conduct a comprehensive review of policy and zoning obstacles

15. Case Study: Vancouver Urban Agriculture: Land Inventory Methods and Policy

16. Vancouver's Policy: The Road to an Urban Agricultural Inventory • The inventory which took place in Vancouver is especially notable, because its formation was instigated and supported within the local politics of the City • Worked off of Portland Diggable Cities • July 8th 2003 Motion Approved to begin the development of a, • “Just and sustainable food system” • Food Policy Task Force (2003) • -Food Action Plan (2004) • -Food Policy Council (2004) • -Internship Project (2005)

17. Growing Space: The Potential for Urban Agriculture in the City of Vancouver • A Working Group was formed made up of food policy representatives, community members and city staff • Potential sites were collected from city departments and analyzed using Vancouver's GIS program VANMAP

18. Results • 77 Potential Urban Agricultural, 30 were selected for site visits, and this project initiated 5 for pilot projects • The criteria from the working group was applied including physical, social, and land use characteristics and the sites were scaled from 1-5 on their suitability for urban agriculture • The data collected from the Growing Space project is only a first step to a completely comprehensive urban agricultural inventory of the city, but it is an excellent tool for city staff to base future policy, and an excellent model to enable more extensive inventories

19. Recommendations • 1 – Identify Key Stakeholders and Create a Regional Urban Agriculture Organization • Key stakeholders identified and community partners engaged • CRD create a regional urban agriculture organization

20. 2 – Implement a Policy to Protect a Sustainable Ratio of Urban Agricultural Land to Built Land • Cities such as Victoria have regulations on their city boundaries, and space for agriculture within those limits is rapidly decreasing • A possible recommendation would be determining the amount of urban agriculture space required within an urban infrastructure to successfully create a sustainable and healthy environment for its inhabitants. • This ratio of Urban Agriculture to build environment could be deemed mandatory by the planning department, and regulated by the city.

21. 3 – Conduct a Comprehensive Review of Policy and Zoning Within the CRD • Create awareness to the community of the bylaws surrounding urban agriculture and promote this activity throughout the CRD • Create flexible zoning regulates for individuals that choose urban agriculture as a secondary home occupation • Create a committee of representatives for all thirteen municipalities to create common bylaws throughout the CRD • Review different policies implemented by other cities and identify obstacles that could be mitigated to improve the opportunities to realize urban agriculture

22. 4 – Future Recommendations to Support Urban Agriculture in the CRD • Rooftop Gardens • Under utilized space • Benefits: food security, healthy eating, energy savings • Education Programs • Help create demand for local food compete economically • Learn and share latest technologies • Mandatory Use of Local Food in Large Public and Community Institutions • Currently places like schools and hospitals are an untapped resource for • Supporting local food • Health benefits, and Healthy eating education