The Martlet

A plot of land at UVic may be growing controversy between students and the administration in the coming months, but if one campus club gets its way, the land’s final planning stages could leave students looking forward to new opportunities for campus agriculture.

The old UVic farm, also referred to as the CJVI Lands, or the Cedar Hill Corner property, was sold to the university in the ’80s and is currently being used as a dog-walking park for the community.

While the land has historically received many proposals from the community for its use (both developmental and agriculturally-minded), it remains stagnant.

But a recent move by the university to solidify short and long-term planning for the land this April has one group concerned that students will be left out of the decision making process.

“The land is worth a lot of money. UVic had over two decades [to do something with it] and still doesn’t have a plan,” said Meaghan Kerr, a lead organizer of the Campus Urban Agriculture Collaborative (CUAC), who fears the goal will be to develop the land. “The timing here is what’s concerning. Other people get in the way when you want to make a decision.”

CUAC (lovingly pronounced “quack” by members) began as a small student club a few years ago. Now the group boasts a membership of over 70 people with the main goal to better utilize the patch of land.

“UVic’s strategic plan is to be a leader in sustainability, and right now it’s behind — at least when it comes to agriculture,” said Kerr. “We want to work with the administration to make UVic a leader not only in sustainability, but also food security and innovative learning tactics.”

Kerr believes that UVic is concentrating on accommodating the outside community in the land’s planning process (including dog walkers, residents and donors) as opposed to the student community.

However, UVic Sustainability Co-ordinator Sarah Webb says students were given an opportunity to have a say in what happens with the land by contributing to the Sustainability Action Plan, which was publicly available for feedback during its draft stages.

Now, as the plan goes through its third and final stage, those interested will be given more opportunities.

“The suggestion that students would not be involved is absolutely incorrect and contrary to the entire philosophy that we have been working with when it comes to the creation of [this action plan] for campus,” Webb said.

The Sustainability Action Plan currently includes a commitment to “develop a management plan for University Cedar Hill Corner that will guide its use in the short term and the process for master plan preparation.”

That management plan and the master plan would include consultations and submissions from stakeholders on campus and in the community, said Webb.

Miranda Cross, another lead organizer for CUAC, says that it’s important that the planning process be done at a time when everyone is available for input — and also before others have a chance to get their hands on the land.

“Our main goal is to see the process open to students and that those viewpoints get heard,” said Cross. “We’re not demanding anything from the university, just asking for involvement because we see the land as a golden opportunity. We want to create dialogue about the opportunities that exist.”

While CUAC hasn’t given the university any specific proposals, Cross says the club’s first tactic has been to network with the academic community.

This past month they’ve been recruiting the support of professors and students, and they plan to hold an event later in March to bring supporters together.

If the club does have influence in the land’s development, members are hoping to see projects ranging from garden plots to a maintained orchard, all focused in permaculture — permanent agriculture that melds with current culture to create a sustainable form of “farming.”

But that’s just the beginning, says Kerr.

“Thirty acres of property is bigger than your average farm on the lower Island,” Kerr said. “You can have dozens of projects going on at once — student housing, dog walking, fruit picking, teaching centres.”

Currently, about 250 orchard apple trees occupy part of the land. Trees which, Cross says, are in dire need of pruning.

CUAC hopes the university will grant the group a permit in the next few weeks to work with experts and prune the trees due to the seasonal need. Then, come fall, the group wants to work with the community to harvest the fruit.

One idea, according to Cross, is the adopt-a-tree program. Different classes, groups and individuals in the university community would be responsible for caring for one of the trees, then reap the fruity rewards.

While the group may need a shed, some tools and ideally a location for holding classes, Kerr says the mission is to otherwise be self-sufficient. She hopes the university will see this as an easy way to implement strategies already in place.

“It’s about taking courses that already exist and making them hands-on instead of classroom-based,” she said.

Kerr said CUAC has received offers for funding from a variety of groups, including Trees For Tomorrow and the Environmental Responsibility Committee of the UVic Students’ Society.

They’ve also been working with Campus Community Gardens to generate ideas for the use of land.

Kerr hopes the potential involvement will inspire a sense of community, among other things.

She sees CUAC’s role as being a facilitator in that goal.

“For one thing, we could be the ones holding workshops on how to make jams and jellies,” Kerr said. “It will enhance the academic experience of UVic and create a ‘living laboratory.’ We don’t have to go far to learn about our surroundings, and it’s adding to the greater community along with assisting in food security.”

Food security is one of the main reasons CUAC takes on its mission.

“We realized that food security is a major issue, especially living on an island where we import such a high percentage of our food,” Cross said. “Studies have shown that three days is all it would take to run out of food on Vancouver Island. That’s scary. We need to be more reliant on our own resources, and this land could be a model for that.”

Kerr says the first production goal for harvesting food off the land would be to participate in farmers’ markets, then produce food for the Student Union Building, then the university community.

But it’s up to the university how big the project gets, she says.

Kerr emphasizes that finding an appropriate use for the land will mean a lot not just to people in the community, but to current and future UVic students.

“As an Environmental Studies student I’m really interested in having an outdoor classroom and outdoor learning methods, as well as seeing a hub of activity for students,” Kerr said. “And UVic can make money off this. High schoolers are really interested in finding a university with these options. It is a great opportunity.”