Re: “Mayor calls CRD proposal for farmlands trust unfair,” April 13.
The health of a nation starts with food. Having a “foodlands trust” in the most biodiverse and rapidly growing region will have amazing community benefits. Supporting new food growers and existing landless growers to use existing municipally owned arable lands for food production would add value to the region.
Properly managed food-growing not only enhances human health with access to fresh, quality vegetables and fruits, but also increases biodiversity by supporting bees, frogs, birds and countless other invertebrates, which are critical to the health of our planet. Abundance fosters abundance. Scarcity breeds desertification.
As a community, we need to infuse our youth with the notion of care and stewardship of land, rather than the self-entitled right of ownership to destroy land.
I am so inspired as I watch some of the up-and-coming growers in our region who have been able to secure short-term leases on whatever land they can. The amazing thing about getting older is watching what youth does when given opportunity.
Let’s hope as we reach the age when we sit in one of the region’s many care homes, we don’t hold our quivering fork regretting not supporting a foodlands trust.
David Chambers
Madrona Farm
