Beyond Protection: Delineating the Economic and Food Production Potential of Underutilized, Small-parcel Farmland in Metropolitan Surrey, British Columbia

Kent Mullinix,Arthur Fallick,Marc Shutzbank,Karen Ageson,Caitlin Dorward,Parthiphan Krishnan

doi:10.5304/jafscd.2013.041.005

Abstract

Surrey, British Columbia, is Canada's twelfth largest and fastest-growing city. Within its boundary, 8,692 hectares (21,478 acres) (25 percent of the municipality's land base) are protected by the province's Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). Local government intuits the long-term importance of ALR lands. In this region speculative land development for urbanization is routinely considered the greatest threat to agriculture land loss. However, our analyses reveal that use of ALR land in Surrey for non-agricultural purposes was the greatest contributor to effective agricultural land and thus poses a formidable threat to ALR diminution. Given that most of these underutilized parcels are less than 5 hectares (12.4 acres) in size, the Surrey government is interested in the potential of small-lot, community-focused agriculture to curtail their loss from agriculture while simultaneously contributing to community economic vitality. We conducted an inventory of 669 properties, covering 3,035 hectares (7,500 acres) or approximately 33 percent of the total Surrey ALR, which had been identified as underutilized for agriculture by the Ministry of Agriculture in its 2004 City of Surrey Agricultural Land Use Inventory. Our work revealed that at least 556 parcels amounting to 2,446 hectares (6,044 acres) (27 percent of Surrey's ALR) remained underutilized, and that within these parcels 1,351 hectares (3,338 acres) (15 percent) could still conceivably be farmed. We calculated that if brought into small-scale, human-intensive, direct-market production, these lands could satisfy 100 percent of Surrey's seasonal consumption of 29 regionally appropriate crop and animal products, create over 1,500 jobs, and have the potential to nearly double the current economic magnitude of Surrey's agriculture sector.

Highlights

Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), a “provincialSurrey, British Columbia, Canada, has a long and zone in which agriculture is recognized as a priority significant agricultural history
To identify historic patterns and trends of ALR land loss in Surrey between 1973 (ALR inception) and 2010, we reviewed and evaluated exclusion application documents held at the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC — the independent administrative tribunal responsible for administering the ALR in support of agriculture and adjudication of exclusion and nonfarm use applications)
We reviewed all available records of ALR land exclusion and change-of-use applications, approved and denied

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), a “provincialSurrey, British Columbia, Canada, has a long and zone in which agriculture is recognized as a priority significant agricultural history. 1800s the city grew up amid pioneer family farms which had been established in the fertile lowlands of the Nicomekl and Serpentine rivers (figure 1) These early farms produced a wide variety of agricultural products and played a key role in what was a relatively regional agrifood system use, farming is encouraged, and non-agricultural uses are controlled” In the City of Surrey, approximately 8,787 hectares (21,713 acres) were designated as part of the ALR These lands, part of the Pacific Maritime Eco-zone that extends along Canada’s Pacific Coast, typically have over 200 frost-free days (the most in Canada) due to the influences of the ocean (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2013a; Environment Canada, 2012). With proper drainage these soils are considered prime agricultural land due to their high nutrient content (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2013b)

Methods

Results

Conclusion