The Aunt Farm

Yes folks, there’s a farm on campus. The last working farm within Vancouver’s city boundaries, in fact. It has a farmers market, educational projects, outreach programs, and a great sense of accessibility and generally welcoming attitude.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that it’s, surprise surprise, threatened by development, as the ever-growing university says its mandate doesn’t include running a farm.
Let me leave you with some good news. The UBC farm now has its own blog!

Some interesting developments in the US’s new Farm Bill, which Bush is apparently set to veto, from this NY Times article:

Millions of Americans, for instance, will see slight increases in their food stamp benefits and about 100,000 families will now be able to deduct child care costs from their income and qualify for substantial increases in food stamps, averaging $40 a month.

The bill also provides a big increase for food banks and other emergency food distributors, $250 million a year up from $140 million. The bill raises foreign food aid, creates a healthy-snack program for schoolchildren, and increases spending on land conservation and rural development.

And there is a provision that will benefit endangered species, including the red-cockaded woodpecker in Georgia. In addition, the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, inserted a tax break for racehorse owners, and Ms. Pelosi, of California, added $170 million for the struggling Pacific salmon industry at the request of West Coast Democrats.

And a complementary editorial here.

Vancouver’s farmers markets are at a tipping point, starting to buckle under their own success.  At this season’s first Trout Lake market, I remarked how squished everything felt. I can’t help think of Portland’s farmers market, which has a beautiful venue. It’s not permanent, but it’s more than ample, centrally located, and full of green space for hanging out.  Maybe we’ll be able to reclaim some leftover Olympic venues in 2011…

Ahhh, so growing my own food saves me money—no wonder I like it!