Thank you to everyone who was able to come out to city hall! It was humbing and energizing to see so many concerned citizens exercising thier democratic rights. Based on news reports there were between 550 and 600 of us there! Not since the decisions about expanding West Edmonton Mall have there been that many people at city hall.
It seems as though our presence and presentations have had an impact. Three city councilors have asked for further information and a specific plan for preserving high yield farmland.
Thanks to everyone who made passionate and intelligent presentations in favor or preserving the agricultural areas and pointing out the need for gathering more information about how Edmonton can be sustainable in the decades to come.
There has been a good amount of press on this issue and awareness is growing about what is happening in our city - which is great. I have put links to media stories and to updates from the Greater Edmonton Alliance facebook group. If you know of any others you think people would want to see, send to me to add to this page at maureen@e-sage.ca
We will keep you posted on any other developments. This is only a beginning, but it is a great one.
Thank you again for your support!
Maureen, Terra & Tad
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Media
Edmonton's defining moment (pdf)
Edmonton Journal - Nov 13/08 (pdf)
Edmonton Journal - Nov 14/08 (pdf)
Edmonton Journal - Scott McKeen (Nov 14/08) (pdf) or click here (link)
Global TV - Nov 13/08 (link)
This Land is our Land (GEA Facebook Group)
E-sage (facebook group)
Friday, November 14, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Important Upcoming Event!!
The city council hearings on the Municipal Development Plan next Wednesday night at 7pm. One of the items to be discussed are the plans for rezoning of the agricultural lands surrounding the city. If you haven't heard about this yet - there is more information below.
If you have heard about it, you may be confused about all the different information you are getting. Some people have said there never were any evening public hearings, some have said they were cancelled, and others have said that they were rescheduled.
The latest information we have from the city clerk's office is that a recommendation has been made for city council to extend the hearings on Wednesday until 9:30pm to allow working people to give their input on the Municipal Development Plan.
Should you be at City Hall next Wednesday, Nov 12 at 7pm? The answer is YES!!
We have handed out 5000 flyers about this event, and sent out hundreds of emails and invitations through facebook and other groups. We need to have hundreds of citizens there to show council that we expect them to do some research before making such an important decision.
Why should you be at City Hall next Wednesday? Here are some reasons...
- The city of Edmonton and surrounding areas is home to over 1 million people
- studies show that it takes approximately 640 acres to grow enough food to feed 1000 people, so based on our population, we would need 640,000 acres to be self-sufficient.
- the farmland in the NE is 12,000 acres, the farmland in the SW is about 6,000 acres
- this land is considered THE BEST soil in the province, it is a microclimate that gives an extra 2 week growing season, and it is right near the river for easy irrigation if required
- farmers and market gardeners like Riverbend gardens and Kuhlmans are located in that farmland. They own some of the land and rent some from from land speculators who have bought up about 40% of the land
- even at current limited production levels, they supply about 5% of Edmonton's fresh produce market
- We import about 80% of our food
- Imported food needs to be processed, packaged and preserved to survive shipping. All of these processes reduce its nutrient value.
- We have about 3 days worth of food on the grocery store shelves
- Most produce/fruit is picked at least 2 weeks before we buy it at the store
- Most of our food is transported a minimum of 1500 kms The average Canadian food item travels 2000 km from field to fork
- most transport trucks run on diesel fuel, which is being rationed in Alberta, (in some places truckers are limited to buying 250 litres at a time)
- multinational corporations that control the global food supply depend on healthy credit markets to finance their operations which includes shipping the food. Credit collapses are becoming more frequent of late
- 40% of the farmland in the NE is owned by land speculators. These people buy land, wait for it to go up in value, then sell it - usually to developers or corporations. The only way they can see to make money on this land is to use it for something other than farming.
- the land speculators we met with had no interest in working with us to find ways to preserve farmland
- City council is considering rezoning the agricultural land to industrial or for residential development
- City Council has never turned down a request to rezone agricultural land
- The municipal Development plan is over 120 pages. Food security is mentioned in 3 sentences.
- Many of the City Councillors we met with did not think protecting farmland was their concern
Do you understand our concern?
If so, we hope to see you at city hall next Wednesday, Nov 12 at 7 pm. It occurs to me that this is the day after Rememberance Day, there has to be some irony in there somewhere.
If you have heard about it, you may be confused about all the different information you are getting. Some people have said there never were any evening public hearings, some have said they were cancelled, and others have said that they were rescheduled.
The latest information we have from the city clerk's office is that a recommendation has been made for city council to extend the hearings on Wednesday until 9:30pm to allow working people to give their input on the Municipal Development Plan.
Should you be at City Hall next Wednesday, Nov 12 at 7pm? The answer is YES!!
We have handed out 5000 flyers about this event, and sent out hundreds of emails and invitations through facebook and other groups. We need to have hundreds of citizens there to show council that we expect them to do some research before making such an important decision.
Why should you be at City Hall next Wednesday? Here are some reasons...
- The city of Edmonton and surrounding areas is home to over 1 million people
- studies show that it takes approximately 640 acres to grow enough food to feed 1000 people, so based on our population, we would need 640,000 acres to be self-sufficient.
- the farmland in the NE is 12,000 acres, the farmland in the SW is about 6,000 acres
- this land is considered THE BEST soil in the province, it is a microclimate that gives an extra 2 week growing season, and it is right near the river for easy irrigation if required
- farmers and market gardeners like Riverbend gardens and Kuhlmans are located in that farmland. They own some of the land and rent some from from land speculators who have bought up about 40% of the land
- even at current limited production levels, they supply about 5% of Edmonton's fresh produce market
- We import about 80% of our food
- Imported food needs to be processed, packaged and preserved to survive shipping. All of these processes reduce its nutrient value.
- We have about 3 days worth of food on the grocery store shelves
- Most produce/fruit is picked at least 2 weeks before we buy it at the store
- Most of our food is transported a minimum of 1500 kms The average Canadian food item travels 2000 km from field to fork
- most transport trucks run on diesel fuel, which is being rationed in Alberta, (in some places truckers are limited to buying 250 litres at a time)
- multinational corporations that control the global food supply depend on healthy credit markets to finance their operations which includes shipping the food. Credit collapses are becoming more frequent of late
- 40% of the farmland in the NE is owned by land speculators. These people buy land, wait for it to go up in value, then sell it - usually to developers or corporations. The only way they can see to make money on this land is to use it for something other than farming.
- the land speculators we met with had no interest in working with us to find ways to preserve farmland
- City council is considering rezoning the agricultural land to industrial or for residential development
- City Council has never turned down a request to rezone agricultural land
- The municipal Development plan is over 120 pages. Food security is mentioned in 3 sentences.
- Many of the City Councillors we met with did not think protecting farmland was their concern
Do you understand our concern?
If so, we hope to see you at city hall next Wednesday, Nov 12 at 7 pm. It occurs to me that this is the day after Rememberance Day, there has to be some irony in there somewhere.
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