Gone to Weed
Published in Concrete Garden Magazine for the Summer 2018 issue
Will the Need for Weed Disrupt the Agricultural Land Reserve’s Roots in Food Production?
For something as cool as a cucumber, the production of recreational marijuana on B.C.’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) has turned into a blazing source of controversy. As legalization in Canada looms, farmers, cannabis growers, and food-security advocates all wait nervously to see what’s in store for the ALR. If the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) allows the production of pot on ALR land, British Columbia’s foodscape could drastically change.
Roughly five percent of land in B.C. is dedicated to food production, with about two percent on Vancouver Island. Not all the land within the ALR is classified the same; many of these plots have buildings on them, including mega-homes and sprawling greenhouses.