I wish the best of luck to Ted Murphy and his move to wild rose country.
Being an editor of a newspaper is a tough job. There is no way that you can express the viewpoints of everyone all of the time. There is a certain amount of balance that has to be maintained in commentary and opinion and that has been a difficult task given the number of important issues that have come up in our communities over the years.
I was one of the first “community comment” writers and have been adding my voice for the community for 13 or so years, for good or ill, and I thank Ted for that opportunity.
I have written about all kinds of contentious issues over the years. Delta Port third berth, Tsawwassen Springs, transportation, densification and of course the Southlands.
As noted in this paper recently, the Southlands discovery centre and the first phase of the development will be ready this coming fall. I worked with Century Group and the Southlands Community Planning Team in the early stages of the project and chronicled the design process on the Southlands in Transition website.
I was clearly inspired by listening to expert urban planners, designers, architects, educators and urban agriculture innovators. People like Andreas Duane, Douglas Farr, Michael Ableman and others brought so much knowledge and vision to the intensive process.
This inspiration has guided me in my quest to educate youth about food and farming and to extol the benefits of community-generated food production. The concept of the Southlands was once described as a necklace of agriculture woven in to the community. From window box to courtyard and farmers’ fields and everything in between, food was to be the backbone and inspiration for the ambitious development.
I have written about, and have been an advocate for, the concept of the Southlands since day one. Although my support for the project has not been shared by all, I am hoping that we can collectively appreciate, especially now, that the need to keep food close and sovereign is as important today as it was for our pioneering forefathers.
Farmers big and small will be working alongside of apprentices and students to deliver fresh produce to the market square so that residents and visitors to the Southlands can enjoy the benefits of a community built around food and farming.
The neighbouring Farm Roots mini-school has just wrapped up its summer cohort and has been able to deliver fantastic produce to the community and to the food bank and is a fine example of how youth involvement in agriculture can benefit us all.
Well done Nicole for managing the student farmers!
Mike Schneider is founder of Project Pickle and likes to write about growing, cooking and eating food. He is a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution ambassador.
