Excuse me for thinking... half of what you can see from
the CN Tower... IS WATER!!!
"David Suzuki: Are we paving over our natural wealth
in Canada?
by DAVID SUZUKI on FEB 19, 2013 at 4:15 PM
http://www.straight.com/news/353916/david-
suzuki-are-we-paving-over-our-natural-wealth-
canada
DESPITE ITS HUGE area, Canada has relatively little
dependable farmland. After all, a lot of our country is
rock, or buried under ice and snow. Fertile soil and a
friendly climate are hard to find. So it might seem like
good news that on a clear day you can see about half
the best agricultural land in Canada from the top of
Toronto’s CN Tower. To feed our growing urban
populations and sustain local food security, it’s critical
to have productive land close to where people live.
Some regions of the country, like the Golden
Horseshoe surrounding Toronto, have an abundance of
class 1 soils—the best there is for food production. But
there, and in most urbanized regions of Canada,
increasing proportions of these superior soils now lie
beneath sprawling housing developments, highways,
strip-malls, and other infrastructure. As urban
communities have grown over the years, agricultural
lands and natural areas have been drained, dug up and
paved over.
Only five percent of Canada’s entire land base is
suitable for growing food. According to a study by
Statistics Canada, our spreading cities sprawl over
what was once mostly farmland. Urban uses have
consumed over 7,400 square kilometres of dependable
agricultural land in recent decades—an area almost
three times the size of Prince Edward Island.
Almost half of Canada’s urban base now occupies land
that only a few generations ago was farmed. Most of it
can never be used for agriculture again, despite city
peoples’ efforts to grow food in community plots, on
green roofs and by guerrilla gardening.
Though there are strong, sprawl-busting policies in
provinces such as Ontario, with its Greenbelt Act and
Greater Golden Horseshoe Growth Plan, and British
Columbia, with its renowned Agricultural Land
Reserve, sadly, our urbanizing ways aren’t slowing.
A recent study by the David Suzuki Foundation
examined threats to farmland in a 94,000-hectare
patchwork of farms, forests and wetlands circling
Toronto and surrounding suburbs called the Whitebelt
Study Area. The report warns that this productive
mosaic of green space and rich farmland is at risk
from the blistering pace of urban expansion in the
Golden Horseshoe.
Municipalities there propose developing more than
10,000 hectares of the Whitebelt over the next three
decades, in addition to 52,000 hectares of land the
province already approved for development before new
policies to curb urban sprawl came into effect.
Together, these lands are more than twice the area of
the City of Mississauga.
Paving over prime farmland and natural assets like
wetlands is foolhardy. Studies show that near-urban
croplands and farms contribute billions of dollars in
revenue to local economies each year, producing a
cornucopia of fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, dairy,
and award-winning wines.
As the Foundation report shows, near-urban farmland
and green space represents a Fort Knox of natural
benefits that we typically take for granted: trees clean
the air, wetlands filter water and rich, productive soils
store greenhouse gases.
Today, most of Canada’s towns and cities are at a
crossroads. Down one path is continued low-density,
creeping urban expansion. We know how this well-
worn route looks: endless pavement, long commutes
and traffic jams, not to mention the high social and
ecological costs associated with such a wasteful form
of urban design. Simply put, continued sprawl
threatens the health and well-being of our
communities and the ecosystems that sustain us.
In the other direction is an extraordinary new path:
ending sprawl using the principles of smart growth
and creating compact, higher-density communities
serviced by public transit, bike paths and walking
trails, surrounded by local greenbelts of protected
farmland and green space.
Our political leaders and citizens must seize this
opportunity to embark on a visionary path to grow our
communities smarter and protect Canada’s near-urban
nature and farmland.
If we value local food and want to maintain the critical
benefits that nature provides, we must put food and
water first. That's why we're calling on municipalities
and provincial governments to redouble their efforts to
protect our remaining farmland and green space from
costly, polluting urban sprawl.
You can contribute to the conversation yourself on
Twitter at #FoodAndWaterFirst."
the CN Tower... IS WATER!!!
"David Suzuki: Are we paving over our natural wealth
in Canada?
by DAVID SUZUKI on FEB 19, 2013 at 4:15 PM
http://www.straight.com/news/353916/david-
suzuki-are-we-paving-over-our-natural-wealth-
canada
DESPITE ITS HUGE area, Canada has relatively little
dependable farmland. After all, a lot of our country is
rock, or buried under ice and snow. Fertile soil and a
friendly climate are hard to find. So it might seem like
good news that on a clear day you can see about half
the best agricultural land in Canada from the top of
Toronto’s CN Tower. To feed our growing urban
populations and sustain local food security, it’s critical
to have productive land close to where people live.
Some regions of the country, like the Golden
Horseshoe surrounding Toronto, have an abundance of
class 1 soils—the best there is for food production. But
there, and in most urbanized regions of Canada,
increasing proportions of these superior soils now lie
beneath sprawling housing developments, highways,
strip-malls, and other infrastructure. As urban
communities have grown over the years, agricultural
lands and natural areas have been drained, dug up and
paved over.
Only five percent of Canada’s entire land base is
suitable for growing food. According to a study by
Statistics Canada, our spreading cities sprawl over
what was once mostly farmland. Urban uses have
consumed over 7,400 square kilometres of dependable
agricultural land in recent decades—an area almost
three times the size of Prince Edward Island.
Almost half of Canada’s urban base now occupies land
that only a few generations ago was farmed. Most of it
can never be used for agriculture again, despite city
peoples’ efforts to grow food in community plots, on
green roofs and by guerrilla gardening.
Though there are strong, sprawl-busting policies in
provinces such as Ontario, with its Greenbelt Act and
Greater Golden Horseshoe Growth Plan, and British
Columbia, with its renowned Agricultural Land
Reserve, sadly, our urbanizing ways aren’t slowing.
A recent study by the David Suzuki Foundation
examined threats to farmland in a 94,000-hectare
patchwork of farms, forests and wetlands circling
Toronto and surrounding suburbs called the Whitebelt
Study Area. The report warns that this productive
mosaic of green space and rich farmland is at risk
from the blistering pace of urban expansion in the
Golden Horseshoe.
Municipalities there propose developing more than
10,000 hectares of the Whitebelt over the next three
decades, in addition to 52,000 hectares of land the
province already approved for development before new
policies to curb urban sprawl came into effect.
Together, these lands are more than twice the area of
the City of Mississauga.
Paving over prime farmland and natural assets like
wetlands is foolhardy. Studies show that near-urban
croplands and farms contribute billions of dollars in
revenue to local economies each year, producing a
cornucopia of fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, dairy,
and award-winning wines.
As the Foundation report shows, near-urban farmland
and green space represents a Fort Knox of natural
benefits that we typically take for granted: trees clean
the air, wetlands filter water and rich, productive soils
store greenhouse gases.
Today, most of Canada’s towns and cities are at a
crossroads. Down one path is continued low-density,
creeping urban expansion. We know how this well-
worn route looks: endless pavement, long commutes
and traffic jams, not to mention the high social and
ecological costs associated with such a wasteful form
of urban design. Simply put, continued sprawl
threatens the health and well-being of our
communities and the ecosystems that sustain us.
In the other direction is an extraordinary new path:
ending sprawl using the principles of smart growth
and creating compact, higher-density communities
serviced by public transit, bike paths and walking
trails, surrounded by local greenbelts of protected
farmland and green space.
Our political leaders and citizens must seize this
opportunity to embark on a visionary path to grow our
communities smarter and protect Canada’s near-urban
nature and farmland.
If we value local food and want to maintain the critical
benefits that nature provides, we must put food and
water first. That's why we're calling on municipalities
and provincial governments to redouble their efforts to
protect our remaining farmland and green space from
costly, polluting urban sprawl.
You can contribute to the conversation yourself on
Twitter at #FoodAndWaterFirst."
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