Namaste,
As you know, Yasodhara Ashram is located on Kootenay Lake at the northern end of the Creston Valley Regional corridor. As a community, we are strongly committed to sourcing our food locally because local food reduces our carbon footprint, strengthens regional economies, builds communities and just tastes better.
Proposed amendments to Bill 24 threaten the very farmland
we’ve come to depend on for our locally sourced food.
Just this past Saturday we made one of our regular runs to Creston Valley where we picked-up 100lbs of asparagus, 20lbs of rhubarb, 24 dozen eggs, 25lbs of honey and 40lbs of flax. Creston Valley is one of the last relatively undeveloped Class 1 soil regions in the Province. It grows great food and it is a gem.
At the Ashram, 40% of the food that goes into the 55,000 meals we serve annually comes from within 100 miles of the Ashram, land that under Bill 24 will be considered Zone 2 and therefore subject to new considerations in the name of ‘economic, cultural and social values’ and ‘regional and community planning objectives’. Farming cannot compete with economic opportunities of oil and gas or the real estate valuing of development. Food production must be and has been valued on its own terms.
Prior to the amendments of Bill 24, the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) protected land for the sole purpose of growing food and its related activities through the creation of the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). For 40 years the ALC has been used to protect and preserve farmland and now as we face increased threat of climate change, rising prices of food and severe drought in California, the Government is looking to pass a law that will change that legacy.
And perhaps the most distressing part of this process is that the Bill 24 has been negotiated without public consultation, without British Columbians having a chance to fully understand the impact of the proposed changes and express their opinions.
For the last 5 months we have written letters, attended rallies, made phone calls, and now we are reaching out to you.
How you can help in 5 minutes:
- Email Premier Christy Clark and Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick, calling for more public consultation and a review of changes in the proposed Bill 24 before it is passed.
- Email your MLA and have a say before the Government dismantles something of great importance for our shared future.Take action today or tomorrow; Bill 24 is being debated in Parliament this week.
For more information:
- Find your MLA
- Bill 24 — 2014 Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act, 2014
- Corky Evans: How YOU can help save the ALR in 5 min (Corky also supplies the Ashram with garlic, squash and potatoes)
- Agricultural Land Reserve Changes Make Way for Pipelines: Conservationist
- Metro Vancouver calls on province to delay changes to ALR Growing revolt by municipalities challenging Bill 24
Thank you for your support.
Paris Marshall Smith
Garden & Procurement Manager
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