UBC Farm on the Map: Is the Farm Finally ‘Saved’?

The vexing battle of protecting UBC Farm is about to come to a close. A year after the Board of Governors (BoG) made its infamously vague South Campus announcement, the ‘future-housing’ decision regarding the UBC Farm is currently in-effect. However, the future is looking secure for UBC Farm. “For the first time ever, the Farm appears on the official map!” says Academic Coordinator at the Farm, Andrew Rushmere. The story of how this place appeared on the radar is as complex as a human ecology web.

Friends of the UBC Farm member, Marina Nogueira, advocates for full preservation of the 24 hectacre organic farm by saying that, “it serves as a model for moving towards a locally food secure Vancouver by acting as a hub for environmental education.” The battle over preservation began in 1997 with the release of the Official Community Plan that designated the Farm as a ‘future housing reserve’ likely to be relocated or downsized by a third.

Community participation in the planning process sparked in the Fall of 2008. The publication, by Campus and Community Planning, displayed three options for South Campus none of which included an intact 24 hectacre farm. Since then, a wealth of influential support amassed which eventually led to a December 1, 2008 media publication by the BoG.

“The Board stipulated that no market housing will be pursued on the 24 ha parcel, which contains the UBC Farm, as long as the university’s housing, community development and endowment goals can be met through transferring density to other parts of campus.”

Accompanied with that was a promise of decision within a year. At this time, President Stephen Toope has not kept that promise. As a result of the Save-the-Farm campaign was the creation of a participatory-based document. The new Sustainability Academic Strategy (SAS) was completed as of October 17. On December 3rd the Board received the SAS. A decision to keep the Farm or not is expected soon.

The SAS document includes many recommendations. Several of interest to this article are that: “(One,) UBC should substantially upgrade its communication activities. (Two,) should work with the provincial government to…make it possible for UBC to be able to invest in sustainability projects without being constrained by the provincial government debt capital cap. (Three,) by 2010, design and commence the implementation of a targeted, campus-wide behavioural and organizational change program that supports the resource conservation goals.”

Peter Rosset said this about the relation between resource conservation and small-scale organic farms, in an interview with the Multinational Monitor, “Smaller farms are anywhere from 200 to 2,000 times more productive per unit area. The myth of greater productivity on larger farms stems in part from the confusing use of the term ‘yield’ to measure productivity.”

But alas, counterarguments exist. A leader of the first Green Revolution, Norman Borlaug, at a 2002 conference, said “We aren’t going to feed 6 billion people with organic fertilizer. If we tried to do it, we would level most of our forests.”

In this case, it seems contradictory that farming would level forests. A section of the Endowment Lands forests was wiped out by by development of the University Town housing. It’s vision outlines a goal that conflicts with what’s actually happening. U-Town seeks to “creat(e) a compact community”. In contrast, 5,000 new residences are now situated on the outskirts of campus and on top of forest-land.

Campus and Community Planning has continued to develop expensive non-student housing, senior living and Sauder-students-only apartments, on top of carbon-storing forest land, in the past year. They also rearranged Walter Gage Residences to fulfill student hostel housing needs of commuter students.

As the Globe and Mail reads, “ Compared to urban universities such as McGill or the University of Toronto, Vancouver’s UBC is decidedly land rich. At more than four square kilometres, the campus is one of the biggest in Canada.”

As reported by the Ubyssey, Jim Frankish, professor in the School of Population & Public Health, argues that “[i]f we truly wish to ‘secure a sustainable and equitable future for all,’ then the price of rental and market housing on campus could be tied to the incomes of employees and faculty.” With such a large campus, it seems the there must be space available to create a stronger community.

At the same time building vertically is completely viable according the the SUB Renewal Plan.

Within the SUB Renewal project, the AMS spear-headed a housing-density transfer. Their survey data proved that housing densities can be shifted towards the center of campus. It also proved that the current Gage Residence hostel was too expensive for most. Whether its by building on Endowment forest land or by building vertical, both sides of the debate have proved that housing-density requirements can be met outside of the 24 hectacre Farm.

Student initiatives have instigated the development of the SAS, affordable campus housing and most recently putting the Farm on the map. In their first release of an updated South Campus map, Campus and Community Planning failed to put the Farm on the map. Tracy Baines, public consultant for CCP, explained why this was the case, “I created the tour to focus specifically on the neighbourhood of Wesbrook Place, highlighting the mix of housing and services available in the area. UBC Farm is not part of this neighbourhood and, consequently, not labeled on the map.”

As a result of a student-directed seminar, one anonymous student called for clarification of the future Mundell Park and it’s relation to the Farm. Another student created a WordPress blog article that called attention to this vague map. UBC Student Media writer and class participant, Rodrigo Nunes, says “the document pretends the UBC Farm does not exist, which is an offense to the community and the spirit of the Great Farm Trek.”

The map has been updated since to include the Farm. Tracy Baines had this to say, “I have added a label for the 24 ha area that includes UBC Farm and a brief description of the status of the area As the community progresses, I hope to update the actual tour itself. At that time, I will look at how to incorporate UBC Farm. If you have any suggestions on an alternate route or how to integrate it into the tour, then I’d love to hear from you.”

After the creation of the SAS document, the denunciation of unaffordable housing and the addition of the Farm to the campus map, it is clear that student activism played a major role. It seems that the glacial rate of bureaucratic change is now in favor of preserving the Farm. However, the next hurdle is funding.

One of the barriers to receiving stronger funding is an uncertain future. With the Farm now on the map, donors can expect that any changes to its future health are uncertain. Perhaps it is time to pitch in to the Farm’s recent rapid growth bearing in mind their financial constraints. For example, the Straight reports that “the market cooler is broken, the tractor is nearing the end of its life cycle, and the caretakers are ‘paid’ in free rent.”

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