Dear Editor,
Richmond Food Security Society is working to inspire a robust Richmond food system through education, advocacy, and community building initiatives.
As such we support strong regulations to limit the size of homes and the farm home plate on Richmond’s ALR, and ensure farmland is used to produce food.
The City of Richmond recently endorsed the Richmond Food Charter, which was created through years of public engagement with hundreds of Richmond residents and community organizations. The Charter says that as a community we will use policy and regulations to strengthen the city’s food security, work with all members of our community to ensure a food secure future, and preserve and strengthen land resources that support food production.
The bylaw amendments currently under consideration go against our city’s commitment to food security. It will allow homes to be built on agricultural land that are more than twice as large as Ministry of Agriculture guidelines for Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) land. This will weaken Richmond’s agricultural land base, contribute to increasing land costs, and set a precedent for neighboring communities to allow more residential development on agricultural lands.
For anyone concerned about this issue, please attend the public hearing on May 15 at 7 p.m. and make your concerns heard
Anita Georgy
Richmond Food Security Society
