Tyler Griffin, The Canadian Press Posted Saturday, 18 June 2022 13:07 EDT Last Updated on Saturday, 18 June 2022 17:12 EDT
TORONTO – The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) says the province is facing an increase in the rate of agricultural land loss as urban sprawl engulfs land that was previously used for farming.
The farmer-led organization on Saturday called on municipal and provincial governments to better protect farmland and food production when planning new developments to alleviate the housing crisis.
Data from the 2021 Census of Agriculture show that Ontario is losing 319 acres of farmland per day, equivalent to the loss of an average family farm per day.
This is a sharp increase from the last census of 2016, when the rate of loss of farmland in the province was 175 acres per day. In Ontario alone, only five per cent of the land mass includes usable farmland.
“Most farmers would agree that it’s just not sustainable,” said Mark Reusser, vice president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
If the province continues to lose arable land due to urban sprawl and new housing developments, it is concerned that Ontario will have to depend on other countries for food, making it more likely to be affected by the challenges. of the global supply chain.
Reusser, who raises turkeys on a farm near Kitchener, Ontario, added that COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine have shown how easily supply chains can be disrupted and stressed the importance of independent food production. Canadians.
“If we don’t grow 1/8 food 3/8 here, we will have to import it from somewhere else. Do we as a society want to depend on someone else for our food?
Greg Fentie, who runs a dairy farm north of Springfield, Ontario, said there is a direct correlation between each acre of farmland in the province and the amount of food supplied to Ontarians.
Less farmland could mean fewer loaves of bread or bags of Doritos on store shelves.
“I’m a farmer, I’m not an urban planner … but I have to think that there is room in cities to fill and grow vertically,” Fentie said.
“Not everyone needs to have a subdivision house.”
OFA President Peggy Brekveld said the organization understands that the province must accommodate growth and does not call for development to be halted.
“What we’re saying is building in the right places through long-term strategic land use planning,” Brekveld said in a statement.
Ontario has a “pretty good” history and planning process, Reusser said, but Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs), which allow the government to speed up development and use land in any part of the province, can be used. to prevent processes aimed at protecting farmland.
The OFA would like the government’s use of MZOs to be done “very moderately, only when absolutely necessary, and most of the time, within the urban envelope rather than the countryside,” Reusser said.
Farmland itself is finite, but can be a perpetual resource for food, when treated well, he added.
“Corn, beans and squash have been produced here in Ontario soils for over 1,000 years by Indigenous peoples.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 18, 2022.