What are the future of agricultural land use and the needs of farmers in British Columbia?
Agricultural land in British Columbia is protected through the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), and FAI has conducted extensive research on the evolution of the ALR and efficacy of land-use regulations in the province. Building on this work, FAI plans to conduct research that (1) examines successes and challenges of the regional agricultural land-use system around the Lower Mainland, (2) compares these with successes/challenges of regional agriculture in other places in the country and across the world, and (3) explores new (and potentially effective) land-use planning and policy approaches for these case studies.
FAI also aims to explore the implementation of ‘agricultural-industrial zones’ in British Columbia, where food is grown through methods such as indoor, and it will examine the potential these zones have for contributing to sustainable food and farm systems.
Learn more about the FAI's agricultural land research projects:
• Bertrand Creek Watershed
• The Flood Stories
• Innovative Crops
• Maximizing the ROI
• Understanding Agriburbia
Publications
Harris, G., Nixon, D., Newman, L., & Mullinix, K. (2016). Delineating the Southwest British Columbia bioregion for food system design and planning: A practical approach. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 6(4), 71-86. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2016.064.010
Newman, L., Powell, L., Nickel, J., Anderson, D., Jovanovic, L., Mendez, E., Mitchell, B., & Kelly-Freiberg, K. (2017). Farm stores in agriburbia: The role of agricultural retail on the rural-urban fringe. Canadian Food Studies, 4(1), 4-23. https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v4i1.211
Newman, L., Powell, L., & Wittman, H. (2015). Landscapes of food production in Agriburbia: Farmland protection and local food movements in British Columbia. Journal of Rural Studies, 39, 99-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2015.03.006
Newman, L., & Nixon, D. (2014). Farming in an Agriburban ecovillage development: An approach to limiting agricultural/residential conflict. SAGE Open, 4(4), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014562389
Nixon, D., & Newman, L. (2016). The efficacy and politics of farmland preservation through land use regulation: Changes in Southwest British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve. Land Use Policy, 59, 227-240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.07.004