Pre Conference Tour
August 8th, 2018
9:30am - 430:pm
Pick up and drop off in Richmond, BC.
Attendees can meet the tour at one of two locations
1- 9:30 at the Pacific Gateway Hotel
2- 9:45 at Garden City Lands (intersection of Lansdowne and Garden City at the entrance to the teaching and research farm)
More details re parking, tour schedule, things to bring etc will be circulated to participants via e-mail prior to August 8th.
On this tour we will visit three teaching farms that specialize in sustainable, small scale, community focused, urban and peri-urban farming and direct marketing, and underpin the novel place-based food system focused extension and undergraduate education programs of the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems and the Sustainable Agriculture Degree Program, respectively, at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Garden City Land Teaching and Research Farm
The Garden City Lands are an extraordinary 55.2 hectares (136.5 acres) of open space located within the Agricultural Land Reserve, just east of KPU's Richmond campus. KPU's Department of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems is working with the City of Richmond to develop a Teaching and Research Farm on eight hectares (20 acres) of the site. The farm will highlight diversified, sustainable, regenerative, and organic production practices adjacent to the population centre of downtown Richmond. Students will study and practice at the Garden City Lands while working toward their Bachelor of Applied Science in Sustainable Agriculture.
Richmond Farm School
This 9-month, one day a week program has been designed to focus on small-scale, high production, cost efficient, lean urban farming. Throughout this hand-on program, students will learn how to grow within an urban environment such as front lawns, backyards, and small plots of land up to approximately 1/4 acre. Production is be focused on vegetables that are high in demand and value, have a quick turn around and are relatively easy to manage. Lean urban farming focuses on efficient and cost-effective practices, minimal infrastructure and low capital investments. The Richmond Farm School is a fully integrated, innovative, and is highly experience-based program.
Tsawwassen Farm School
The Tsawwassen Farm School (TFS) is a collaboration between the Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) and the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems (ISFS) at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU). First of its kind, the school fuses sustainable agriculture and traditional indigenous food systems as tools to build community and create dialogue around land stewardship for the future. The school program is open to all with curiosity on how to feed a growing population while restoring the land. The program takes place at our 20-acre certified organic working farm on traditional TFN lands. The farm boasts a traditional medicine garden, a mixed fruit orchard, a market garden, livestock including chickens, pigs and ducks, and incubator plots on which program graduates can launch their farm businesses. The Farm is a gathering place to learn about human scaled alternative food production systems.
Farm Incubator Program
Upon completion of Farm School, students are eligible to access up to ½ acre of land to start their own farm businesses as part of the Incubator Program. The Incubator Program supports aspiring farmers in starting their own businesses and creating their own networks/markets by providing access to farm infrastructure, knowledge, networks and affordable land.