1. Agriculture By Oliver Ng

2. Intro How has farming affected BC’s economy Farming has been a major product in BC for many years Major source of money for the economy Hires many people in farming and food production Main source of income for parts of BC today

3. History of agriculture 1800s farming begins in BC Fort Fraser first town farmed by non aboriginal people Started to provision fur trade Commercial demand because of gold rush Railway helped to open up a domestic market 1880s Okanogan begins orchard development BC fruit organization made 1889

4. Importance of agriculture 2.6 billion in revenue 2011 In Surrey farming employs 3,000 people Agriculture employs 280,000 in BC One in seven in the workforce is employed in agriculture or agriculture related work in BC It is a local product and helps feed the population and supports local families Helps lessen the need for global imports Local food is fresher because it has had less transportation time

5. Agriculture disappearance Farm land is being replaced for manufacturing and housing Governments are under pressure to balance commercial growth at the expense of farmland Only 5% of land in BC is farmable land 1% is high quality BC has to import 50% of our food from other countries Only a few provinces have laws protecting farmland

6. Pros to development Manufacturing makes more money for the economy than farming and hires more people We can buy imported food Development allows for more housing We can grow more on smaller plots of land today because of technology Allows for more commercial development

7. Cons of disappearing farming In BC farming is disappearing for non-agricultural development. This is affecting our demand on global supply Making BC and Canada less self reliant than other countries Importing from overseas adds more carbon into the atmosphere More expensive to grow on a small plot of land

8. Global BC is relying on global supply to support population 50% of food we consume is imported BC ships large amounts of produce to China and Taiwan The international price for food is rising faster than ever because of the price of oil, a weak Canadian dollar, and a drought in California This is costly for consumers in BC because we import most of our food products Lesser fortunate Canadians are finding it harder to buy food at increasing prices

9. National In other provinces agriculture is also being rapidly replaced for business and manufacturing and only three provinces have any protection for farmland (BC, Ontario and Quebec) Even though Canada is large it has very little agricultural land. 94% of land cannot be farmed Provinces with no farmland like the northwest territories have much more expensive food products as a result

10. Solution Some provinces are trying to protect farm land in Canada The BC government has the BC agricultural land reserve law which protects Canadian land, although very restricted Putting aside land for farming is a good way to keep local agriculture alive Buying local product from farmer’s markets helps to support local farmers

11. Solution In BC we need manufacturing to help bolster our economy and create jobs… BUT we must not completely forget about local agriculture and let it all disappear or we will have to continue to rely more and more on international imports We need to find a balance between commercial growth and agriculture

12. THE END THANKS FOR WATCHING

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