Minister Lana Popham's Message As the Minister of Agriculture for British Columbia, it’s my goal to help create opportunities for B.C.’s farmers, ranchers and food producers. One of these goals includes revitalizing our Agriculture Land Reserve. To do this, I have established an independent advisory committee to lead a public engagement process that will look at how we can begin to revitalize the ALR. Creating the ALR was an amazing decision that was made in the 1970’s to protect our farmlands, but we couldn’t have foreseen the pressures that were to come that would shape and influence the land in the ALR today. Now, the committee wants to hear from you. They will be looking at ways to make it easier and more efficient for the Agriculture Land Commission to fulfill their mandate of preserving farmland and encouraging farming. Please take the time to participate in the survey on this website, or if you prefer, contribute your feedback through the e-mail or mail options. We need to hear from you! Following the consultation, the advisory committee will provide strategic advice, policy guidance and recommendations on how to help revitalize the ALR and ALC. Together we are going to revitalize the ALR to preserve farmland and encourage farming and make B.C. better for farmers and ranchers. Lana Popham Minister of Agriculture Complete the Online Survey ALSO CHECK OUT - Richmond Farm Watch One of our elected officials once said that people were freaking out about a bunch of dirt. If you check out this map of B.C. you may be shocked to see how little of B.C. is preserved by the ALR (5%) and only 1.1% is suitable for growing a wide range of crops (i.e. fruit and vegetables). Look for the dark green patches. Look how far most of them are from the Lower Mainland. Look how little we have to preserve. Yes, this is what we are freaking out about as we allow mansions to be built on Class 1 soils. Please share. #saveoursoil #voteALR