BY KIRK STARRATT kstarrat@kentvilleadvertiser.ca NovaNewsNow.com We have become exporters of our investment dollars and the local economy, including the agricultural sector, is not as strong as it could be because of it. This was one of the key messages from the Investing Close to Home public meeting featuring guest speakers and a panel discussion hosted by Friends of Agriculture in Nova Scotia (FANS) at the Port Williams Community Centre Wednesday evening, June 17. FANS spokesperson Linda Best said enthusiasm for supporting the local economy was evident among the business people, community members and a good cross-section of farmers in attendance. Best said some of the farmers are doing fine while others are struggling in this economic climate. “When we’re producing 10 per cent or less of the food we’re consuming in Nova Scotia, given the changes in climate, the cost of transportation and the quality and safety of the food we get, it’s time to change those numbers,” she said. One way to help is to buy locally produced food, but Best said this hasn’t been enough so far. We have to provide other means of support and there is a movement growing throughout North America and Europe to invest at home to support the local economy. Put more money into local economy “If we’re going to protect our farmers and support agriculture, one way to do that is by putting more of our money into the local economy,” she said. For example, Nova Scotians invest about $600 million a year in RRSPs, but only about two per cent stays in the province. Every dollar we spend on imported food goes to large corporations in jurisdictions outside Canada where the food is grown and processed. Buying locally keeps more money at home and we benefit many times over from the multiplier effect by keeping more dollars in our local economy. About $40 million has been invested in Nova Scotia through Community Economic Development Investment Funds (CEDIFs) over the past four years. Best said a number of CEDIFs, which provide tax incentives to investors, are set up as a means to pool investment dollars for local businesses or organizations to draw from. Best said she would like to see a CEDIF established that would allow farmers to access funds for marketing, promotion and transitioning to new practices that would, at the same time, provide a secure home for local investment dollars. “There are several CEDIFs currently built around agriculture,” Best said. “My hope is to, as soon as possible, establish another one.” She said the CEDIF is unique to Nova Scotia so far, although there are similar community economic development tools in other jurisdictions. In a time when many people have taken financial hits on their RRSP portfolios and other investments due to poor market conditions, there are several examples of CEDIFs performing relatively well. Best said, to her knowledge, there have only been two CEDIF’s to date that haven’t been successful. Committee doubles to 10 As an outcome of the public meeting in Port Williams, FANS has added another five members to its committee, for a total of 10. The committee’s mandate is to determine which economic development tools, such as the CEDIF, would be of the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people.
Best said the committee aims to be able to report on what local economic development options are available in time for the Nova Scotia Food Summit 2009, coming up at the Old Orchard Inn in Greenwich from Oct. 18-20. She said the event would be educational for all stakeholders across the spectrum, including consumers, who need a better understanding of how the food system works.
Everyone from soil specialists to health professionals will be on hand to help plan for food security for all Nova Scotians as part of an economically and ecologically sustainable food system.
She said the level of enthusiasm for supporting the local economy and local food producers was made evident when the FANS “April Flavours” dinner sold out more than a month in advance. There is an increasing awareness of the necessity to leverage the advantages of good, wholesome, local food for health, environmental and economic reasons, which are all crucial to our long-term sustainability.
In three of the last six years, net farm income in our province has been negative and Best said this suggests strongly that change is needed. We’re spending only 10 cents of every food dollar at home and a lot of that money goes to transportation costs, the stores that carry the products and so on. She said we have to educate ourselves to the benefits of keeping our money at home. Raising awareness will help affect positive policy change.
“We outsourced the responsibility for our food and now it’s time to take it back.”
The guest speakers… The FANS Investing Close to Home public meeting featured several guest speakers, including Valley Credit Union CEO Mike Wark, who spoke in general terms about how to invest locally. “There’s certainly a benefit to dealing with the Credit Union because we know that money is being re-employed in the local community,” Best said. Chris Payne, CEDIF administrator, Nova Scotia Department of Economic and Rural Development, spoke about investing locally and gaining tax credits, as did Thomas Krausse of the Dandelion Community Investment Cooperative. Best said Dandelion is ready for investors and is selling shares for $500 each. Their aim is to mentor entrepreneurs and support local economic initiatives. Farmer Brian Newcombe spoke about the Kings County Land Trust, which Best said is close to being ready to accept donations of money and land. The purpose is to protect farmland for future generations.
Allison Kouzovnikov, representing the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia, spoke about her organization. Best said the foundation operates as a granting organization, distributing donated funds to community groups. The foundation is now working with Spirit Nova Scotia to establish a local food fund to help support producers.
Best said Janet Larkman of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), which now has a chapter in Halifax, gave a presentation about leveraging the power of local networks to help build economies that are community-based, green and fair.
Other speakers who made presentations in support of local investment included Edith Callaghan of Acadia University’s Arthur Irving Centre for the Environment and farmer Jen Scott, representing GPI Atlantic.
Biologist and researcher Janet Eaton moderated the panel discussion following the presentations.
Section 2 of 5
Friends of Agriculture are aware that as global circumstances change Nova Scotians will depend on Farmers to provide food security. We are also aware that:
·Agriculture is central to a strong economy in Kings County.
·Agricultural land increases food security - food is available and safe.
·Changes in climate may cause loss of agricultural land that we currently take for granted.
·Buying locally grown and processed food makes Kings County more self-reliant.
·Buying local food decreases “food miles” and reduces global wming.
· Farmers have not been fairly compensated for their work nor encouraged to continue and that must change.
·Even inactive land may be needed in the future.
In many areas agricultural land is threatened by development, so together with our elected representatives (municipal, provincial and federal) we must protect it.
Agricultural land in Kings County is diminishing.Agricultural land protection was greatly strengthened in 1979 when Council adopted a Municipal Planning Strategy prohibiting non-farm residential development on high capability agricultural lands. But the Municipal Planning Strategy included high capability soils within “Growth Centers.”And, in recent years Councillors have given serious consideration to applications asking that non-farm residential development be permitted on high capability soils in Agricultural zones.
Food security depends on:
Retention of farmers and farmland - appropriate policies at all levels of government
Increased opportunities for value-added activities at farms allowing farmers to produce and market products.
Increased presence of local farm products at large retail chains.
Improved infrastructure for local processing of farm products.
Increased direct sale opportunities for farmers (farmers’ markets and farm market destinations.
Increased incentives for farmers to profit from farming activities rather than development opportunities.
Healthier physical environment for farmers and consumers.
Section 3 of 5
Supporting Agriculture in Kings County to Insure Food Security for Nova Scotians
•In 2004, NS agriculture created 6,600 direct PYE and 10,281 indirect PYE.
Total cash receipts = $481,580,000
•NS Beef – if we were to replace imports with local beef:
Current sales $22.5 million would increase to $107.3 million
Current employment 448 full time jobs would increase to 2,135 jobs
•Kings has only 0.07% of Canada’s crop land
•Agriculture employment 25% - 1800 (of 7200) jobs
•Generated household income in Kings County of $180M
•Every direct agricultural job creates 2.9 jobs in Kings
•Total annual impact from food processing in Kings County is $347M - 50 per cent of all processing in NS
•The county’s primary agriculture industry represents in excess of $160M of farm gate receipts, or over 30 per cent of Nova Scotia’s total production
Section 4 of 5
ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY FOR NOVA SCOTIA: A CALL FOR ACTION
Scott Burbidge for Friends of Agriculture in Nova Scotia September 2008
Introduction
Events and developments at both the local and global level have led to an ever-growing public concern about food security. In Nova Scotia, this stems from an increasing public awareness of rapidly increasing costs of petroleum products, the prospect of major climate changes, concerns about the environmental and health implications of modern agriculture’s dependence on artificial fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, and specific incidents of serious contamination of both imported and processed foodstuffs. In response to these trends, there has been a remarkable development both locally and nationally of organic agriculture as well as of alternative arrangements for processing and marketing produce.
Preserving Agricultural Land
Protecting good farm land, and preventing agricultural land from being used for residential and industrial developments has been a very important challenge in Nova Scotia as well as in other regions of Canada, such as the Niagara region, the Holland Marshes and the Lower Mainland of BC. Good agricultural land is under threat in every region of Canada, as agricultural land is used for residential or industrial purposes. The Agricultural Zone in KingsCounty in particular contains much of the best farmland east of Quebec, so its preservation is essential for the future of agriculture in the region. To protect the invaluable agricultural land in KingsCounty, the Municipality of Kings County in 1979 developed a Municipal Planning Strategy, which included an Agricultural Zone comprising over 130,000 acres of prime farmland in the AnnapolisValley. This Agricultural Zone was created in recognition of the importance of agriculture for Nova Scotia, both for present and future generations. Almost 30 years later, in 2008, the Agricultural Zone is still in existence, has diminished to under 100,000 acres, and is under serious threat from both the development of over 1,000 residential building lots scattered throughout the Agricultural Zone, as well as repeated efforts to rezone large areas adjacent to existing residential communities or even areas in the midst of the Zone.
Farm Families and Farming Communities
The past decade has seen a steady decline nationally in the number of family farms, in farm income, and the steady growth of corporate agriculture. In Nova Scotia, there has been a precipitous decline in the number of family farms over the past decade. While the poultry and dairy sectors have flourished under a supply management, other sectors, with no protection from market forces, are seriously threatened, including hog and beef production as well as horticulture. Farm families are increasingly relying on non-farm employment in order to make ends meet. The average age of Nova Scotia farmers is 55-60, suggesting that there is a real risk that the present generation of farmers is not being renewed by a younger cohort.
Yet even as the family farm struggles to survive, Nova Scotia farmers continue to show their resilience and willingness to innovate. This is shown by such developments as the search for new crops, such as vineyards, and investment in value-added farm produce, such as dairy products and vegetable and fruit packing and processing. Farmers are also increasingly vocal regarding the buying practices of the two dominant grocery chains in the region, which often favour imported over locally grown produce.
Societal Recognition of the Value of Agriculture
Even as agriculture in Nova Scotia is under increasing threat, there has been a remarkable growth in public awareness of the importance of agriculture in our province. This has been manifested in several ways: a“buy local” movement, supported by the provincial government, strong participation by the general public in public debates over proposed rezoning of agricultural land, the growing public support for farmers markets and growing consumer preference for organic farming produce and agricultural products that involve value-added processing, packaging and marketing by farmers themselves. Regional research institutes, particularly the GPI and the Ecology Action Centre are also serving the vital role of ensuring that the debate over the future of agriculture is well informed.
The Decline of Government Support for Agriculture
Nova Scotia has not escaped the national trend towards balancing government budgets and the primacy of a free market economy. In Nova Scotia as elsewhere, this trend has led to the abolition of much of the government’s program in support of agriculture. For example, over the past decade, the provincial department of agriculture downsized, eliminating the positions of over 70 specialists in all aspects of agriculture, specialists who were available to assist farmers make informed decisions with respect to vital technical questions such as crop rotation, crop management and pest control.Farmers seeking expert advice today must pay independent agricultural experts for their advice. The provincial government has also adopted a hands-off attitude as local processing and marketing capacity has been dismantled and moved out of the province. Despite the importance of preserving agricultural land for present and future generations, the provincial government has shown little interest in introducing effective zoning laws province-wide that would protect good agricultural land from development.
The Food Security Imperative
There appears to be a growing consensus in Nova Scotia that the security and quality of our food supply has become an important public issue. Our food supply is at risk so long as we continue to rely on imported food to supply approximately 90 per cent of our requirements. Our provincial supply of food is at risk not only because of the ever-increasing cost of importing so much of our requirements, but also because of the lack of assurance that imported food meets high standards of health protection. No less important is the large carbon imprint generated by the fuel expended to grow, process and import our food. For all of these reasons, it is imperative that Nova Scotia move towards food security ensured through locally produced food provided by an agricultural industry characterized by agricultural practices and methods that are sustainable and environmentally responsible.In recent legislation (Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act, 2007), the government of Nova Scotia has recognized the importance of supporting the move towards sustainable methods in all sectors of our economy and society. This surely means moving from an agricultural industry where we import most of our food to one where we produce most of our food within the province, from a food production and marketing system with a large carbon footprint to one which leaves as small a footprint as possible, from a processing and distribution system involving many “middlemen” to a system where food products are distributed predominantly from farmers directly to consumers, where food is produced with minimal reliance on chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, and where there is a pricing system ensures a fair return to producers.
An Action Plan to Achieve Food Security through Development of Sustainable Agriculture in NS:
Local, national and global trends all underscore the urgency of addressing the challenges of climate change and sustainable development. Agriculture and food production is admittedly only one component of the overall challenge our society faces.Nevertheless, food security is of paramount importance for the survival and wellbeing of any society.
In order to achieve food security through environmentally sustainable agriculture in a rational and timely manner, it is incumbent on the government of Nova Scotia to constitute a task force, resourced with the personnel and resources to undertake the necessary information gathering and analysis, consultations with all stakeholders and preparation of a detailed action plan to achieve food security in Nova Scotia within a period of 10 years. The task force should strive to complete its work within two years at most.
The action plan to be created by the task force should address the following issues:
Protecting and enhancing agricultural land throughout the province
Promoting and sustaining farmers as an occupational group
Achieving a major shift towards organic farming methods and practices
Identifying agricultural methods and practices in support of food security which are consistent with the goal of combatting global warming
Restructuring the arrangements for the processing and marketing of food to ensure fair return for producers and maximizing direct sales of farm produce to retailers and customers
Developing public education to promote healthy eating and lifestyles
Identifying ongoing responsibilities of provincial and federal governments in support of food security initiatives
Coordinating changes in agriculture with ongoing changes in other sectors of our economy and society consistent with the goals of environmental sustainability
Addressing any implications of the move to food security for NAFTA and the WTO
Identifying opportunities for cooperation with other regional, national and international jurisdictions
Identify the mandate, structure and role of an independent authority representing all stakeholder groups, reporting to the Minister of Agriculture of N.S., with the remit to promote and ensure the timely implementation of the action plan, and to identify and address obstacles as they arise.
Section 5 of 5
Sprawl versus Smart Growth… Thinking outside the car
Jen Scott, November 2008
In order to save money, conserve lands for their best use, and make efficient use of public transit, it is time to re-think our tendency for ‘sprawl’.Sprawl happens when land is consumed for housing at a faster rate than population growth.The population of Nova Scotia as a whole is not growing, and yet in some areas of the province, land is being consumed for more housing development.‘Sprawl’ looks like a city or town is spreading out into the countryside. Suburbs take root where there were once farms and natural areas.Often housing is developed in a way that is very car-dependent.If work, shopping, schools, parks, and other services are not close by, people will use cars.If the development pattern is low-density, then transit systems will be difficult to maintain.Traffic congestion, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions are added to the sprawl picture.
On the other hand, what would ‘smart growth’ look like?Each community or urban area needs to carefully consider its most important needs and make sure these are incorporated in the planning process.Smart growth might include protection of water supplies, or designation of growth boundaries.There might even be plans for effective public transportation, downtown revitalization, or pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods.Recently, smart growth has included plans for increasing self-reliance in food as well as energy.
At a time when we need smart growth, Nova Scotia’s urban density is in decline.We know the days of unlimited growth, unlimited resource use, and unlimited pollution need to come to an end.Our challenge now is to get smarter and better -- not bigger.
Smarter and better means less pollution per person, and to achieve that, we need to live in places where we can walk, or bike, or take efficient public transportation to work.We’d have shopping, schools, and other services near to where we live.The neighbourhood grocery store will make a come-back. We’d have higher urban density and lower vehicles per capita than we have now.
In rural areas, the best agricultural land would be identified, and protected for farming.Farms would be clustered so that farmers could work together, and have close access to markets and other agricultural infrastructure.Likewise, housing would be more clustered in towns, close to services.There would be sidewalks in the towns, and designated bike-lanes on the roads.Rural jobs would be based in the towns or ‘at home’. Farmers and fishers have always worked close to home. Other people could telecommute rather than drive to the city every day.Efficient commuter transit could round out the picture.
Examining the farming issue a little closer, in Nova Scotia, we have very little prime agricultural land.In 2005, Statistics Canada estimated that we have 170,000 potential hectares of Class 2 land.It is the flatter, stone-free land that is best for growing crops; the best agricultural class of land that exists in this province.Most of what farmers would call ‘prime’ agricultural land’ might include the Class 2 land as well as the very well-drained soil that is good for growing vegetables as long as irrigation is used.
We do not know, or track, how much prime agricultural land has been lost to housing or commercial development.Immediate steps to monitor the situation are needed.Prime agricultural land in Nova Scotia should be targeted for protection as working farms through Conservation Easements or some other mechanism that would compensate farmers for giving up development rights. In the US, Conservation Easements (or development rights) are regularly purchased on farms to keep them as working lands.
The problem is, the best land for growing crops is often the most desirable land for development because there are fewer costs to developing a flat area than a sloped area.
Do we want farmers to be squeezed off the best agricultural land by sprawl, or do we adopt smart growth, and eat well?
