Early in December I attended an information night hosted by NEAP- Northeast Edmonton Agriculture Producers. I first came across the group in October, when buying produce from Riverbend Gardens, at the Strathcona Farmers Market. The grower asked that we help save the farm and slipped a flyer into our bag. It seems that Riverbend Gardens, along with a handful of other producers is at risk of losing their land to a large scale suburban development project. This area of Edmonton, they say, has a particularly long growing season (three weeks longer than the rest of Edmonton) and fantastic soil.
The fight for this land has been a long project. They have been fighting for it for over 4 years. The issue and its development seemed quite complex to me, which is the main reason that is has taken me so long to write about it.
It seems that come Fall 2012, the city council will be presented with a land proposal drawn up by a company which was hired by a few land development groups. These types of proposals are almost never turned down and rarely modified.
What NEAP hopes to do is have a large showing of people at city hall to oppose this plan. What NEAP would like to see is a food HUB. They want to take not only their existing farms, but the surrounding area and make it a local producer haven. In this way Edmonton could work towards sustainable eating.
This seems like a really good idea to me. I just get confused with all the politics. Here is the link if you would like to learn more and be their friend
www.friendsoffarmers.ca
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