[BCFSN] Rachel Parent Visit to Summerland, BC

[Toni Boot]

Farmers need a Basic Livable Income so their risk load is lightened.
See A Basic Livable Income for Alberni Clayoquot on facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/blincomealberniclayoquot

We are working on some actions to influence the federal election.
All farmers need to be looking at climate change, their farming  
challenges and the Basic Income.

Jen Fisher-Bradley
Women's Food and Water Initiative


>
> MEDIA RELEASE
> For Immediate Release
> April 9, 2015
>
> Opposition committee hears agricultural concerns in Cariboo
>
> Williams Lake, BC - The Opposition Standing Committee for  
> Agriculture and Food heard from Cariboo farmers and ranchers that  
> government policy and regulations are limiting opportunities for  
> agriculture in B.C.
>
> This week’s visit to Williams Lake was the inaugural meeting of the  
> newly established committee. “The Cariboo was chosen as our first  
> stop because we recognise that this region must be a critical part  
> of a long-term agricultural plan for our province,” says committee  
> chair MLA Lana Popham. “The food production capacity of the Cariboo  
> is enormous, but its potential is being thwarted by a government  
> focused on other things.”
>
> “The government is ignoring critical economic development  
> opportunities in the Cariboo,” says Popham. “The minister was  
> touting B.C.’s agrifood export numbers this week, but many  
> presenters we heard from told us that there are policy barriers to  
> domestic production.”
>
> Presenters spoke on issues including challenges facing young  
> farmers, predator control not being addressed, unworkable  
> irrigation dam regulations, and the need for improved agricultural  
> education in our schools. Other presenters spoke about the negative  
> implications of dividing the Agricultural Land Reserve into two  
> zones, stating that the Cariboo, Zone 2, should be considered just  
> valuable for BC's food security as Zone 1.
>
> Other presenters spoke about the tens of thousands of acres of  
> farmland being taken out of agricultural production for foreign  
> carbon sequestration projects, which have left local ALR land with  
> no opportunity for economic return for B.C. for a century.
>
> “The government knows about these problems,” says committee vice- 
> chair and Independent MLA Vicki Huntington. “But the reality is  
> that for many farmers in the Cariboo, things aren’t getting easier.  
> They’re getting harder.”
>
> Popham says meat regulations are one issue where the government has  
> yet to find working solutions for this region.
>
> “The Minister of Agriculture thinks they’ve fixed BC's meat  
> regulations, but we heard the opposite,” says Popham. “There are  
> incredible problems for meat producers and processors. People are  
> still walking away from meat production or sending the  
> opportunities outside our province. Skilled labour is needed but we  
> hear nothing about that in the government’s jobs plan.”
>
> “We've also heard from young farmers who are trying to succeed, but  
> they’re finding that there are not just barriers to entry, but  
> barriers to success. The government could be doing so much more to  
> support a long-term vision for agriculture in B.C.,” says Huntington
>
> “What we saw this week is that there is an incredible appetite in  
> the agricultural community to have their voices heard,” says  
> Popham. “There are a lot of positive community agricultural  
> projects in the Cariboo, but if the government is serious about  
> agriculture in B.C., there are policies that need to be fixed  
> today. Our committee is looking forward to bringing the issues of  
> the Cariboo into the legislature over the coming weeks."
>
> The committee's next stop will be in the Comox Valley in May.  
> Details of that visit will be released soon.
>
> -30-
> Contact:
> Aldous Sperl
> 250-952-7596
>
>
>
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