Food Security is not a significant issue in this part of the World

From the Delta Optimist.....

Believe it or not I support the right to farm and I respect farmers immensely, but when we hear about the assault on our farmland we should keep a few numbers in mind.

There are 98,187 acres of farmland in the GVRD. Delta farmland accounts for approximately 20 % of this with a farming area of 19,372 acres.

When we talk about 1000 acres of farmland being removed in our region for the TFN treaty, rail yards, gateway infrastructure build-out and real estate developments, we should also consider that this 1000 acre “assault� amounts to about 1% of agricultural land in the GVRD and about .016% of farmland in the province, excluding land in the ALR. (Ministry of Agriculture and Lands 2006 Fast Stats).

I think I can understand philosophical aspects of food security and it is pretty plain to see that food security is being used as a political football, but what about food security in practical terms? Are we in imminent danger of famine or hunger? Of course we are not.

Although there are literally hundreds of definitions of what “food security� is, the most generally accepted one used by the United Nations, the USDA and other respected international organizations is: “When all people at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a productive and healthy life.�

In general, the vast majority of Deltans and British Columbians have physical and economic access to food. There are no local risks on the horizon for broad based famine or hunger - the two main consequences of food insecurity.

So when food security is posed as a main argument for maintaining all farmland, as it is, I really have to wonder what people are talking about. I took a drive down 27B Street toward the Port the other day and marveled at the site of several prime parcels of land growing nothing but weeds yet we still manage to survive. We are not using our lands appropriately and it is time that we did, for food production or otherwise.

Factoring vague global warming scenarios or potential political instability in to land use equations is a little like calculating the odds of being hit by lightning as you ride your unicycle to Safeway. To suggest that we live our lives in fear of food insecurity is a nasty way of spending what could be a few relatively happy decades on this planet.

Are we so guilt ridden from our highly regarded position in the developed world that we have to come up with new ways to circumvent our potential? Penance for building a successful society?

We have always had access to food from either growing it or securing it from trade. We will always have this access.

We are the benefactors of efficiencies in trade and commerce that have been finely honed over the years to the point where Canada now falls in to fifth place in the world in an economic stability survey of 141 countries. Food security is not a real worry in this part of the world and I am thankful for that.