1. South-west British Columbia
Bio-regional Food System
Design and Implementation Plan
Vancouver Food Policy Council
March 20, 2013
Kent Mullinix

2. Background

3. Economics
 2010- B.C. agriculture grossed $2.5 billion, lost $87 million
 B.C. lost 25% of its farms over last decade
 Agriculture can’t compete economically for land (despite the
ALR)
“Cumulatively B.C. [farming] is not
a healthy industry”
Garnet Etsell, Chair
B.C. Agriculture Council
Vancouver Sun, June 11, 2011

4. The trend
Ag of the Middle

5. Agriculture contributes 10- 25 % of
GHG emissions- up to 50% for the
whole agri-food system
Moreau et al. 2011
B.C. provincial government mandate-
all municipalities must reduce GHG emissions
by 80% by 2050

6. Food costs outpacing inflation
Canadian inflation 2008
Overall- 1.2 %
Food overall- 7.3 %
Cereal products- 12.4 %
Fruits/ vegetables- 26.9 %
www.conservancy.bc.ca/imagecatalog/UBC-Farm.jpg
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News, 2009

7. Energy intensive
dependent on fossil fuel
Agriculture’s EROEI = 1:5 on average
1:10 or greater for some
Formerly agriculture represented a net
energy gain (2.5:1 in 1940)

8. Hubbert’s Peak: Global Oil Depletion

9. “Resurgence of local agriculture,
bottling, canning, processing eminent”
M. Simmons
Global Oil Depletion and
Implications for the Pacific Northwest,
2006

10. Global vs. local?
The right question: What kind and
configuration of food system is appropriate
for my life place and what is its potential?

11. Agri-Foods Real Challenge
Substantial re-regionalization of agri-food to
compliment and balance the global system…
www.conservancy.bc.ca/imagecatalog/UBC-Farm.jpg

12. The opportunity
and in doing so capture a significant
portion of the food market
for regional economies.
$5.5 billion in south-west B.C.

13. Sister projects
Yukon and South-west British Columbia
Bio-regional Food System Design and
Implementation Plan

14. Bio-regions
Areas that shares similar topography, plant and
animal life, and human culture

15. Project goal
Engage communities of interest and broad
stakeholders in the design of a realistic, practical,
comprehensive bio-regional food system design
and implementation plan

16. Southwest British Columbia

17. The Yukon

18. Regional agri-food systems- maximize supply
predicated on ecology and environmental capacity
of place
Pre-production
Production
Indigenous foods
Processing/ storage
Distribution
Sales
Waste management

19. 3 phases over 3 years
Phase 1- resource and capacity
assessment
Phase 2- design of food system
Phase 3- implementation plan
development

20. Preliminary design directives
 Identify production and business opportunities
 Provide for indigenous foods
 Significantly enhance the regional economy
 Create good jobs
 Reflect diverse perspectives and needs
 Address critical environmental issues (GHGs,
biodiversity, nitrate leaching)
 Maximize regional food self-reliance
 Strengthen regional communities

21. Implementation plans
 Planning principles
 Policies
 Tools
 Strategies
 Governance
 Timeframe
 Evaluation methods

22. Stakeholder engagement critical
in all phases
 Indigenous and non-indigenous
communities and peoples
 Non- government organizations
 Municipal and Provincial Government
 Agri-food sector
 Business

24. A roadmap
 Clear
 Realistic
 Practical
 Doable
 Empirically based

25. Potentials fully delineated
 Contribution to regions economy
 Job creation
 SMS business opportunity
 Food self-reliance
 Ecological footprint reduction
 Community health and capital

26. The project team
 25 investigators
 7 universities
 Private sector
collaborators
 Yukon and BC

27. Committed to full transparency
 Advisory committee
 Funders and funds use fully disclosed
 Study team, objectives, methodologies
fully disclosed
 Ongoing status reports on ISH website
 All outcomes public domain/ open access

28. A 21st century, post-industrial vision
A global network of regional
agri-food systems

29. Our request of the
Vancouver Food Policy Council
 Endorsement of the project
 Assign a VFPC liaison
 Encourage the City of Vancouver
to support the project

30. Questions
1. How can the KPU Bio-regional Food
System project advance the Vancouver
Food Strategy and the Metro Regional
Food System Strategy?
2. What should a bio-regional food system
be like and achieve?