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DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: The Silent Death of Agriculture in Metro Vancouver – When Farmland Protection Isn’t Enough” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2025

Note to Reader:

Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. Stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway (REPRODUCED BELOW), Editor’s Perspective, and the Story Behind the Story.

The edition published on October 7, 2025 featured Christina Gemino. Her stunning research draws attention to how non-sanctioned industrial use on agricultural land changes the land base forever, with consequential impacts for food security in British Columbia. She worked part-time on the Agricultural Land Inventory program from 2022 through 2025 while attending Simon Fraser University. This experience lit a spark and inspired her master’s research.

 

ONE MINUTE TAKEAWAY for the extremely busy reader

The Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) saved the land for farming but the land is not that secure. BC is slowly losing land for growing food. It is not just because land is coming out of the ALR. Within the ALR, farmland is being lost to non-agricultural uses.

 

When farmland protection isn’t enough

Christina Gemino breaks new ground with The Silent Death of Agriculture in Metro Vancouver. Using data from the provincial Agricultural Land Inventory (ALI) program, she draws attention to the consequential impacts of non-sanctioned (aka illegal) changes in how agricultural land is used and abused.

 

Images are mostly from the Partnership’s library. A few are from the public domain and Creative Commons.

To Learn More:

Waterbucket eNews stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway, Editor’s Perspective and Context for Busy Reader, and the Story Behind the Story. To read the complete 3-part storyline, download a PDF  copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: The Silent Death of Agriculture in Metro Vancouver – When Farmland Protection Isn’t Enough.

 

DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/wcp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/10/PWSBC_Living-Water-Smart_Christina-Gemino-and-Silent-Death-of-Agriculture_2025.pdf