Strengthen the Greenbelt by Promoting a Sustainable Food System

Many across the province have lauded the Greenbelt Act for its ambitious commitment to the conservation of Ontario’s prime agricultural lands and natural heritage. Nevertheless, the Greenbelt Plan (GBP) has caught the ire of strident criticism from several priority stakeholders. The upcoming 2015 Greenbelt Review will undoubtedly be a politically charged process, with the ecological and agricultural values of the region hanging in the balance.

Progressive Greenbelt reform includes specific positions that align food producing and environmental interests in ways that strengthen the GBP. This can be achieved by promoting a broader vision of a more sustainable, regionalized food system. Land use regulations within the GBP need to be reformed to be more conducive to sustainable food and farming within the protected area, and emphasis on sustainable economic linkages between regional urban and rural communities is required.

Specific amendments to land use regulations can include, but are not limited to: 1) re-designating “secondary agricultural use” to “on-farm diversified use” as per changes in the 2014 PPS; 2) requiring public hearings for any new designations of “natural heritage features” within the protected area; and 3) providing a more precise definition of “key hydrological features” within the GBP. Overall, these are positive potential reforms that will help maintain agricultural land in agricultural use.

Moreover, throughout the review process there will be stakeholders vying to reduce the protected area of the GBP, or push back the boundaries of the GBP in the interests of urban expansion in the inner suburban ring. It is important that these interests are strongly opposed. Only 4.5% of Ontario is designated prime agricultural land (Class 1, 2, and 3 lands), a third of which is already dedicated to non-agricultural use. The objective of the GBP to protect farmland has to be emphasized, by calling for all Class 1, 2, and 3 lands in Ontario to come under Greenbelt protection, a bulk of which lies in the inner suburban area known as the whitebelt.

The Greenbelt is a central pillar of a vibrant food cluster in Ontario. Sustainable development not only depends on incentives for intensification of urban areas, but also on the development of a local, sustainable food cluster. In other words, sustainable development focuses on the flows and connections between urban, suburban, and rural communities, especially with regards to food production, processing, consumption and waste.

Throughout the Greenbelt review process it is important to emphasize and advocate for tangible visions of a green, healthy, and accessible regionalized food system. In this way ecological and agricultural values can align to improve and strengthen the GBP for a more sustainable future.