Urban food production and sustainability challenge notions of private property and home ownership
Dirk Becker’s Vancouver Island urban farm was ordered shut down last year by the District of Lantzville after a neighbour complained about farming-related activities. Dirk and Nicole Shaw had spent five years creating the rich urban farm and selling produce at Bowen Road Farmers’ Market—but Lantzville’s home business bylaws didn’t include ‘agriculture’ among its regulations.
In the weeks following the story’s publication, Dirk Becker and Nicole Shaw were contacted by hundreds of supportive people—and the story was reported internationally. Local advocates for urban agriculture asked that steps be taken to review the bylaw and amend it to accommodate urban agriculture. The Lantzville mayor later confirmed that the District wished to modify its bylaws.
We speak with urban farmer and food sustainability advocate Dirk Becker and Nanaimo Foodshare chairperson Marjorie Stewart about some of the challenges faced by urban food production initiatives.
Image: Dirk Becker and Nicole Shaw.
