Agriculture & Food Security Plan

Agriculture and Food Security Plan – Targeted Update

As the Agriculture and Food Security Plan enters its ninth year, a targeted update is underway.  to ensure the Plan meets community needs, proactively addresses emerging trends, and continues to align with regional goals. The update will help make sure the Plan stays current and continues to meet community needs, respond early to new trends, and support regional goals.

The update will keep the Plan’s main vision, structure, and key content. It will focus on priority actions and actions that are still underway. Staff will review each action to decide if it is still useful, needs changes, or should be replaced with a new action.

The update will include focused input from people with knowledge of local agriculture and food security. This may include interviews or small group discussions with farmers, agricultural organizations, and agencies that support food security in the region.

New themes will be shared with the public for feedback. However, the update will not include a broad, multi-stage public engagement process for the whole community. See Proposed Update to the Agriculture and Food Security Plan for more information.

If you have any feedback on possible Plan updates and additional priorities for action, please email molly.rose@saanich.ca

Overview

The Agriculture and Food Security Plan (2018) lays out clear actions to enhance agriculture and food security in the District of Saanich over the next 10-15 years.

Key components of the Plan include:

  1. Vision Statement provides the desired scene for the future of agriculture and food security in the District of Saanich and the successful outcome from Plan implementation;
  2. Seven Themes flow from the vision statement and reflect public input heard during the planning process. The themes convey the issues and opportunities facing agriculture and food security in Saanich;
  3. Objectives are found under each theme and refer to desired outcomes;
  4. Actions are found under each objective and focus on activities that the District of Saanich can take a lead or supporting role on;
  5. Implementation Strategy provides a framework for accomplishing the objectives of the Plan; and
  6. Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy helps to assess the effectiveness of plan implementation.

See Agriculture and Food Security Plan 2018 and Staff Report

Current Progress

The 2023 five-year progress staff report can be found 2023 5-Year Progress Report.

History

The Agriculture and Food Security Plan Task Force and Saanich staff began the project in February 2016. Upland Agriculture Consulting Ltd. was hired to manage the planning process and facilitate the task force in the development of the Agriculture and Food Security Plan. Public engagement throughout the project provided input on key issues, opportunities, and priorities to be addressed. Stakeholder and public input gathered during the project was based on an engagement strategy, developed with assistance from the Task Force, to connect the community and stakeholders effectively and collaboratively. A variety of public engagement tools were used, as detailed in the Engagement Strategy. 

Additional resources on the Planning and Engagement Process can be found below:

2016

2017

2018

Other