Shuswap Food Action Co-op (SFAC) is promoting an initiative to connect landowners and prospective growers with no access to land.
Here in the Shuswap, we have a huge local land inventory that is under utilized or fallow.
This initiative creates a triple-win opportunity; participating land owners could qualify for agricultural tax status, young and new farmers could begin producing and more local products could be available.
SFAC is planning to help local landowners and growers link into a national program called Landshare Canada. The project, announced in 2012, is run by the Canadian Organic Growers, and works to create a database of landowners and landless growers.
The purpose of the database is to facilitate connections between these two groups to bring together unproductive and under utilized land with those desiring to work land in an environmentally sustainable way.
More information can be found at landsharecanada.com/.
Rather than build a similar local site, SFAC members decided that using the already available national resource would be a wise use of time, and would also provide more opportunities for local participants due to its wide audience.
Growing a land/farmer inventory is a first step in building a more vibrant local food economy. This could lead to opportunities such as year round storage and marketing for local producers.
For more information, contact sfacoop@gmail.com. People can be added to the co-op database to receive updates and meeting information.
The Shuswap area is fortunate to be home to such diverse natural resources and bountiful agricultural land.
Remember a healthy local food economy relies on support from the local community, so this season search out your local food sources.
Check http://shuswapfood.ca/directory.php, for a listing of local produces and processors.
Submitted by the Shuswap Food Action Co-op.