Food used to be a community affair. Now it’s all about global control by super-sized businesses and commodity values on the stock market. Many communities are trying to grab back some of this control by launching “eat local” campaigns. One of the key issues for most communities, Salt Spring Island included, is that we don’t actually have enough local food anymore to feed ourselves. A study of commercial produce production, conducted in 2005, shows that Salt Spring Islanders are dependent on more than four million pounds of food that are trucked into our community every year.
The study which was undertaken for Island Natural Growers (ING), the Gulf Islands chapter of Canadian Organic Growers, provides detailed information about commercial produce production on Salt Spring Island. [ Link to Salt Spring Island: Local Produce Study] We learned a lot from the study about the amount of land in commercial production, the farming practices on Salt Spring and the type and volume of each crop that is being grown. We learned that we grow enough vegetables commercially on Salt Spring to feed only about 420 people—4% of the population—in a year. There is enough fruit to feed a few more, about 675 people. Most of this food, however, is available only seasonally, presenting yet another dimension to the problem of eating local year-round. And we’re no better off when it comes to meat. A study of commercial animal production on Salt Spring, conducted by the Islands Farmers Institute in 2004 for the purpose of assessing abattoir needs, estimated that meat production was in the range of 5% of the total amount of meat eaten by Salt Spring residents. This study further estimated that local meat production is declining due to the increased costs of animal processing.
Increasing local food production and processing, then, is key to the “eat local” campaign in our community. There is much to do in this regard and we’re off to a good start with workshops for producers on winter growing, business practices, marketing options and opportunities. The two studies mentioned above provide valuable baseline information for tracking production increases over time and planning various strategies that are consistent with farming needs. The ING study, for example, showed that only about 6% of farmland is currently in commercial produce production. Assessing farmland potential and capacities is part of a larger area farm plan project that has recently been initiated on Salt Spring. The project is being undertaken by Island Natural Growers, the Farmers Institute and Salt Spring Islands Trust Committee in collaboration with the ministry of Agriculture and the Capital Regional District. We believe that this kind of broad-based collaboration is necessary in order to address the host of factors involved in regaining control of our local food production. Factors such as managing land costs through creative tenure options, developing skilled farm labour, ensuring sustainable land use and water practices are all part of the community food picture.
To broaden the discussion about food even further, Salt Spring Island is in the early stages of implementing a food security plan that involves a wide range of activities. The project, which is funded by the Vancouver Island Health Authority through the Community Food Action Initiative, began with an assessment of the status of food security in our community. The indicators that we used in doing the assessment fall into four general categories: 1) food production and processing; 2) food distribution and marketing; 3) food policy and food safety; and 4) individual and household access to nutritious, culturally appropriate food. The assessment and the food action priorities are presented in a discussion and planning paper. [ Link to Salt Spring Island Food Security: A discussion and planning paper ]The first steps in going forward from the plan include community-wide public awareness and education activities, facilitating coordination of charitable food programs, and facilitating discussion among different groups to clarify roles and identify opportunities for coordination and shared actions.
In the next edition of this newsletter we’ll provide more information about the progress of our food security activities.
Prepared by
Patricia Reichert
Salt Spring Island Food Security Coordinator
250-537-4282
Back to main page