Visioning Project (1999)

As part of marking its 25^th anniversary, the Agricultural Land Commission asked five professionals to prepare discussion papers on a number of themes around the Commission's mandate to preserve agricultural land and encourage farming. The purpose of the papers was to help identify:

• emerging trends which impact on the Commission's mandate and operations;
• challenges to farmers and farming in BC associated with these trends, and;
• opportunities to maintain and enhance agriculture in the face of these trends.

The papers provide considerable insight into what the future may hold for our resource needs in general in the face of a growing population, and the prospects for BC agriculture in particular. Some of the issues raised are speculative, some are "best guesses", and some are based on trends calculated from currently available data. Regardless, these authors challenge us to think of the big picture and to think long term and strategically.

While it is impossible to generalize consistent themes, there are several important messages which can help illuminate a vision for British Columbia agriculture and our urban and rural communities in the year 2025. Some points to ponder are...

In conclusion, several writers recognized a number of challenges to continued prosperity and growth; in particular the emergence of real biophysical limits at the global level and resulting competition for increasingly scarce resources. While agriculture faces serious challenges in the short term, the prospects for the long term are bright. Food is a necessity and there are no substitutions — as there are no substitutes for the basic inputs of nutrients, water and light (energy). As the population of our province and the other areas grows, so do our markets. If this is coupled with a decline in supply from traditional food supply regions (regardless of cause), locally based agriculture faces a future of opportunity.