This request was received by sister NGO Village Vancouver, but is of equal concern to the VPO:

Hi Village Vancouver Folk:

As some of you know, the farm at UBC is in a precarious situation and may be eliminated. This would be tragic as it is the only working organic farm at a Canadian university; hosts a number of innovative community-based programs including an intergenerational youth garden with senior mentors, a native community kitchen garden, a traditional Mayan garden; conducts much-needed research on rare heirloom poultry that can actually live outside and on traditional and experimental organic farming methods; has significant student and volunteer involvement, and a marvellous Farmer’s market.

Unfortunately, the farm has been classified as land that is available for development, and a decision will be made soon about whether that will happen.

Some Village Vancouver folk had a tour of the farm last week, and five of us volunteered to form a task team to help save the farm.

I’m checking to see if any of you who weren’t on the tour would be interested in being part of our taskteam or are in helping in any way.

If you’re interested in helping, please e-mail me ASAP. We’re getting a wish list from the farm people, and we’ll try to help them with as much as we can.

Time is very short — the farm is preparing a proposal this month, and there will be a public hearing in October.

So,,,, if you’re interested in helping, please let me know.

Jill (604) 608-0384
jg3weiss@smartt.com

Some background about the farm, based on my faulty memory of what was said at the farm tour, is below.

Here’s background information:

There has been a farm at UBC for almost 100 years. The farm started out as a very central part of the UBC — in fact, it was physically centrally located approximately where the library is now.

Over the years, as priorities have changed at UBC, the farm has moved farther from the center, both physically and in terms of priorities.

The current farm was established at its present location about 10 years ago (I’m doing this from memory, so the exact length of time may be different). A group of faculty members worked very hard to improve the soil to make it farmable.

Then, due to lack of funding/priorities, the farm became inactive and was neglected.

About 5-6 years ago, students revived and saved the farm.

In its current location, the farm has the following programs/characteristics:
It’s a working organic farm. UBC provides no direct funding, although it does provide water and electricity. The farm sells produce and eggs at its weekly Saturday Farmer’s market, and the proceeds help to cover costs (they also fundraise)
There a huge number of programs, including:
Youth garden
Several schools participate in this program. Each participating school sends children to the program, ~14 times in the school year
Each younger child is paired with an older child and 1-2 seniors, who are volunteers and experienced gardeners
The children, with their mentors, take a specific bed through all the seasons, including planning, improving the soil, planting, maintaining & harvesting
The youth garden is organic, and has raised beds
There is a summer camp in July and August, so the beds are tended when school is out
Native people’s garden
This is a very large garden which is tended by native people from the downtown Eastside
This garden has a dual purpose, as the people who work the garden, also cook together in the community kitchen on the farm
Mayan garden
There are a number of Mayan immigrants in Vancouver, who were displaced and longing for their land, which they lost.
They have an area on the farm where they use traditional Mayan farming methods & crops
They are teaching these methods to the other people working on the farm
Heirloom “real” free range chickens
The farm has several flocks of heirloom chickens, that are “really” free range
Ok, so here’s the explanation
Over the years, chickens have been bred to lay huge numbers of eggs in small cages & then die
These in-bred chickens don’t do well in an outdoor environment & they tend to get sick &/or die
Most of the free-range or organic chickens and eggs available on the market today are from the bred-for-cages-egglaying-inside breed. Also, often the chickens with eggs labelled free-range, have access to pasture, but the door is usually closed, and the chickens are bred for indoors, so don’t go out when they have the opportunity
The farm has gotten an older breed, very hard to find, and is raising & studying them
There’s a researcher studying them behind a blind - all animals at the farm have to have a research component
On the day I was there it was pouring rain, but these heirloom chickens were happily plucking for food in the rain (they did have a small shelter, but they preferred to be outside!)
The chickens are rotated - where they are now, there will be a crop next year - where some crops are, next year will be chickens
There are many more programs, but our tour ended before getting all the info
The arable land is surrounded by a huge buffer of large trees, which are left wild
More salient facts
The University has classified the land the farm is on as available for development
Decisions about how to use the land and social/community issues are made separately by UBC, so that the benefit of the intergenerational program, the native programs, the community programs etc, are not considered when considering the future of the farm - it’s a different department
There’s huge pressure to build condos/townhouses where the farm is
UBC doesn’t have enough money, and building on the endowment lands is a way for them to generate their own funds
There’s a public meeting planned in October I think. UBC will present 3 options for the land the farm is on, but it’s believed the options that will include keeping the farm will be unpalatable in other ways (eg high rises with high densities)
The farm & friends of the farm are preparing their own plan to present - one that keeps the farm, and builds reasonable density of housing without high rises (this would be build on land that is not part of the current farm)
A group of us who are organising an umbrella to facilitate local environmental/neighbourhood organizing/eco-villages (we’re called “Village Vancouver”) have formed an action group to help the farm - this includes Mel Lehan, who has been gathering petitions about the farm for several months.
The farm desperately needs help, and the reason I was contacting you was I thought you might be able to help find them a lawyer
PS I think the farm at UBC is the last working farm at a Canadian University. In the states, they are building farms quickly at universities — for example, Princeton has recently built a farm

But in Canada, we’re going in the other direction

*****
Again, if you’re interested in helping, please let me know.

jill