WHEREAS British Columbias food security has become increasingly vulnerable through a growing dependence upon the global market, which in recent times has experienced significantly fluctuating food prices and availability due to a large number of factors which are beyond our local control, including but not limited to: - rising oil costs for food production and transportation - climate change causing more severe weather phenomena such as droughts and floods - increasing global market concentration of food production and stocks - loss of farmland to urbanization, and less farmland being available for the average farmer; AND WHEREAS locally grown, community based agriculture can provide for food sustainability and food security, create local jobs, reduce the carbon footprint and enhance economic well being by retaining more money in our local communities: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities urge the provincial government to create a program to promote and develop local food production on farmland and in greenhouses sufficient to meet the needs of communities throughout the province of BC.
Ministry of Agriculture There are several components to food security including food access, affordability and availability. The Ministry of Agriculture MA develops policy, regulations and programming that support the preservationenhancement of the local supply of food availability. As British Columbia is not self sufficient in all foods, part of the food supply is satisfied by importing food to meet our demand for fresh foods out of season, foods not grown locally and foods that are more economically grown in other regions of the world. With less than 5 of the provincial land base capable of food production, MA policies and programming aim to support farm land, farm businesses and farmers to maximize the supply of BC food using sustainable practices. These include: 1. The Agriculture Land Reserve to preserve farm land and water resources. 2. Financial programs to reduce risk to farm businesses and improve the viability of food production in BC. 3. Employment, education and youth programs to meet the demands for farm labour and ensure future generations of farmers. These are but a few examples of governments commitment to ensure BCs capacity to supply food to British Columbians is maintained and productivity is increasing. This can only occur if federal, provincial and local governments continue to support the preservation of farm landwater, profitability of farm businesses and encouragement for the next generation of BC farmers.