5. Food Systems in British Columbia
Case Study 1: The Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR)
The Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) is a provincial land-use zone that recognizes agriculture as the priority use for approximately 4.6% of the land base of British Columbia (ALC, 2013). Established under the provincial Land Commission Act of 1973, the ALR is one of the earliest examples in North America using regional zoning laws to permanently preserve farmland and promote local food production.
The ALR is administered by the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC),[1] an independent administrative tribunal that currently consists of no less than seven appointed members including a chair and members representing six regional panels. The purpose of the ALC is to preserve agricultural land; to encourage farming on agricultural land in collaboration with other communities of interest; and to encourage local governments, First Nations, the government and its agents to enable and accommodate farm use of agricultural land and uses compatible with agriculture in their plans, bylaws and policies. The ALC reviews all applications for exclusion, inclusion, subdivision and non-farm use applications under the Agricultural Land Commission Act of 2002 and ALR regulations.
ALR regulations outright permit many farming activities such as raising livestock, creating greenhouses and producing poultry, dairy, horticultural plants, vegetables, grains and tree fruits. ALR regulations allow local governments to restrict but not prohibit other uses such as farm retail sales, storing, packing and processing, agroforestry, timber production, equestrian facilities and compost production. ALR regulations also outline permitted non-farm uses that can be prohibited by local governments such as agritourism accommodation, temporary saw mills, pet kennels and breeding facilities, education and research, and road construction with right-of-way.
Geography of the ALR
When first delineated, the ALR was estimated to include 4,716,516 hectares. As of April 2013, the ALR includes approximately 4,621,700 hectares consisting of both private and Crown (federal and provincial) lands. The ALR is distributed over six administrative regions:
- North (2,210,783 hectares, 49%)
- Interior (1,528,968 hectares, 33%)
- Kootenay (392,557 hectares, 8%)
- Okanagan (224,977 hectares, 5%)
- South Coast (148,207 hectares, 3%)
- Island (116,207 hectares, 2%) (ALC 2013)
Establishing the ALR
Urban sprawl poses many challenges to agricultural land preservation and local food production, particularly in environments that have limited land suitable for agriculture. In BC, only 5% of the land base is considered suitable for agriculture and 2.7% capable of growing a reasonable range of crops (lands ranked as Class 1 through 4 by the Canadian Land Inventory) (Smith, 2012). Prime agricultural lands (1.1% of provincial land base) are often located in narrow valleys near densely populated urban areas and subject to heavy competition w