By Calli Forbes
The Agricultural Service Board (ASB)
presented Strathcona County council with its annual report at a spring meeting,
which included a list of activities that the board will be focusing on in 2012.
The ASB is a board of council that considers
all agricultural matters that are pertinent to Strathcona County in accordance
with the Alberta Agricultural Service Board Act and makes recommendations to council.
The board is comprised of four public members and four councillors who
represent rural areas of the county, including Bonnie Riddell, Linton Delainey,
Peter Wlodarczak and Ward 5.
During 2012, the ASB will provide input into
the Land Use Bylaw review process, said Jackie Christie, the board’s vice
chairperson.
“We took a look at the 2003-2004 Future in
Agriculture Report here in the county, and it has a number of really
interesting recommendations and information in it,” Christie said.
“We thought it might be timely to take
another look at that and look at an update and see if the predictions then have
come forward or if we perhaps need to look at some new information.”
She said the board will also be working to
improve awareness of agriculture in the county.
“We’re looking at bringing more of an
understanding and frequency of local markets into Strathcona County,” she said.
“There’s a social movement and an economic
movement in terms of eating local and also the 100-mile diet and a number of
our residents are very interested in that,” Christie said.
”So we’d like to take a look at our bylaw
situation to see if there’s any barriers in there that perhaps we’re not aware
of, and how we can promote and encourage that sort of activity within the
county.”
Christie stated that one of the challenges to
this is that the board cannot conduct farmers markets because those markets are
under a provincial program, which prevent community leagues from hosting such
events at community halls around the county.
The ASB is also promoting urban gardening
within Sherwood Park where people plant fruits and vegetables on their own
properties.
The board believes county residents should
have more local sources for produce, rather than sources from abroad, Christie said.
“It’s also a great tourist attraction and
it’s very popular that people come and visit farms,” she said. ”So we’re
looking at maybe doing a three-year pilot with some of the entrepreneurs and
the producers in the county to get their opinion on what works and doesn’t
work.”
Christie added the board will also make a
concerted effort to promote community gardening.
“Community gardens take it beyond just the
agriculture and the food and they move into family activities and social
activities and they strengthen the community, so we’re a very strong supporter
of that.”
The board will also continue its review of
Club root procedures to ensure the program is effective.
The ASB is participating in the Classroom
Agriculture Program, where board members discuss agricultural topics with
students, such as how youth can grow their own fruits and vegetables from their
homes.
Mayor Linda Osinchuk asked if the board has
looked into bringing forth a business plan to council for constructing a
livestock arena in the county.
Joel Gould of the county’s Transportation and
Agriculture Services department stated that the construction of this type of
facility is being considered and will be discussed by the ASB when it
re-examines the Future in Agriculture Report.
calli.forbes@sunmedia.ca
twitter.com/calliforbes
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