Workshop One - Food

1. Workshop One - Food “If we don’t get sustainability in agriculture first, sustainability will not happen.” Wes Jackson, Land Institute

2. Workshop One - Food Goals – Working Group on Food • To investigate food production, transportation and security in the Metro Vancouver region. • To identify the driving forces propelling regional food production and consumption trends • Explore key indicators that help to define the relationship between food and urban form • Propose recommendations on how the regional food system can contribute to the provincial target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

3. Food & Resources: Modern Agriculture = Cheap Energy 1910: 1 BTU fuel energy = 1 BTU food Today: 20 BTU fuel energy = 1 BTU food Implications of Peak Oil & Peak Water Workshop One - Food Source: SEFC Urban Agriculture Study

4. Workshop One - Food Industrial Agriculture • Modern agriculture = monoculture • 12 plant species provide three-quarters of the world’s food. • 50% of the world’s food energy comes from varieties of rice, wheat, and maize. • Concentration Farm Ownership • Number of Farms in Canada • 1951 - 623,087 • 2002 - 246,920 Source: International Development Research Centre, SEFC Urban Agriculture Study, Statistics Canada

5. Food Miles & Globalization weighted average source distances (WASD Between 1968 and 1998, world food production increased by 84%, population by 91%, while food trade increased 184 %. Estimated amount of food imported into the US (2001) – 39 % of fruits, 12 %t of vegetables, 40 % of lamb, 78 % of fish and shellfish WASD – Weighted Average Source Distance Source: Leopold Institute, Iowa State University, 2003

6. Context of Food: Metro Vancouver Amount of food consumed in Lower Mainland produced locally: 20-60% Considering population projections, production will need to expand by 60% to meet current levels of food security Between 2002 and 2006 70% increase in the number of farmer’s markets in BC Typically a 3 year waiting list for a community garden plot in the City of Vancouver

7. “Clearly, our present ways of agriculture are not sustainable, and so our food supply is not sustainable. We must restore ecological health to our agricultural landscapes, as well as economic and cultural stability to our rural communities…. For 50 or 60 years, we have let ourselves believe that as long as we have money we will have food. That is a mistake. ” Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson NY Times, January 2009

8. Number certified organic producers in Canada • Drivers Increased Sales of Organic Food • Increased consumer emphasis on health and nutrition • Consumer concerns about food safety, environmental protection, GMOs • Entry of mainstream food marketers General Mills, Heinz, Kellogs and McDonalds Source: Certified Organic Production reports 1992-2005, Anne Macey for Canadian Organic Growers

9. Redesign, re-structure, and reform local food systems De-centralize - Move to integrated, dispersed, stable systems. Minimize transportation distances Build food production in and around urban areas Rebuild the cultural basis of food production Sustainable Local Food Supply Israeli Kibbutz Agricultural Urbanism

10. Questions What does a strong regional food system mean to urban development/ redevelopment in Metro Vancouver? Are there optimal urban forms or patterns that support a strong/resilient food system? Workshop One - Food Rooftop Garden, Waterfront Hotel Center for Urban Agriculture, Seattle Food Production Transect: Southlands Design Charrette

11. What opportunities/ obstacles does urban design in Metro Vancouver present to enhancing a strong regional food system? Are there regulatory barriers – political/social/ economic/ technological? Workshop One - Food

12. What synergies exist between regional and urban agriculture, and other sustainability goals? Are there development conflicts between supporting regional and urban agriculture, and other sustainability goals? Food & Community Workshop One - Food Source: SEFC Urban Agriculture Study

13. “By beginning to make agriculture sustainable we will have taken the first step forward for humanity to begin to measure progress by its independence from the extractive economy.” Wes Jackson

14. Workshop One - Water Living Water Smart in Metro Vancouver: Alignment of Regional Actions with Provincial Goals image Kim Stephens, MEng, PEng Program Coordinator Water Sustainability Action Plan for BC Chair Metro Vancouver LWMP Reference Panel Chair Sustainability by Design Water Group “What the Cell is to the Body, The Site is to the Region”

15. Workshop One - Water Presentation Outline Provincial Goals Provides Direction Regional Regulation Drives Action How SxD Can Make a Contribution

16. Workshop One - Water ‘Living Water Smart, BC’s Water Plan’ is a visionary document • It encourages local governments to: • do business differently • prepare communities for change • choose to be water smart Provincial Goals

17. Workshop One - Water Green Communities Project complements and supports Living Water Smart Key Messages: The Province is fostering partnerships, collaboration, innovation and integration The Province is leveraging change through grants Provincial Goals

18. Workshop One - Water Regional Regulation Key Message: The LWMP is a powerful regulatory tool that has the potential to truly effect change for the better on the ground

19. Workshop One - Water The Reference Panel identified these theme areas for structuring the Plan Elements:: NATURAL ENVIRONMENT: protection and/or improvement of stream habitat and marine receiving environment SEWAGE TREATMENT: technology choices, level of treatment and innovation BUILT ENVIRONMENT: asset management, cost control & greening of urban landscape Regional Regulation

20. Workshop One - Water The ‘theme areas’ have evolved into a ‘model for integration’ in the region Regional Regulation

21. Workshop One - Water We have informed the Metro Vancouver Board that a ‘Design with Nature’ approach and re-use of resources are key to climate change adaptation which must be part of this plan Regional Regulation • Develop compact, complete communities • Increase transportation options • Re-use and recycle water, energy and nutrients from liquid wastes • Protect and restore urban ‘green’ space • Strive for a lighter ‘hydrologic footprint’ • Achieve higher levels of stream, wetland and receiving water protection

22. Workshop One - Water SxD participants can help advance THE NEW BUSINESS AS USUAL by… • Championing the Living Water Smart Vision, in particular these objectives for doing business differently: • STREAM HEALTH: By 2012, all land and water managers will know what makes a stream healthy, and therefore be able to help land and water users factor in new approaches to securing stream health and the full range of stream benefits • WATER USE: By 2020, overall water use in British Columbia will be 33% more efficient • Advocating use of the Water Balance Model to establish watershed-specific targets that achieve the stream health objective SxD Contribution

23. Workshop One - Water SxD Contribution