Supporting food and agriculture in Squamish

The lands and waters of present-day Squamish have been used and occupied by Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), providing food and medicine since beyond recorded history. Not recognizing the abundant food already here, settlers planted their own crops, and so colonial agriculture took root in Squamish.

Hayfields in the estuary, hops and cattle in Brackendale, a twenty-acre potato farm in the Garibaldi Estates, and the vegetable gardens and livestock of homesteaders¹.

Despite having a climate suitable to growing food, today we are dependent almost exclusively on food imported from around the world. Reports indicate that the areas we rely on for the majority of our imports will become less suitable to growing food due to climate change, while our climate is projected to benefit.

This is one of the reasons for the development of the Squamish Valley Agricultural Plan (SVAP), which took place over 2019-2020.

The SVAP is a strategic planning document that provides an overview of the current food system in the District of Squamish (DoS) and Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) Area D and provides an implementation strategy to support the growth of agriculture and food lands over the next 10 years.

This community planning initiative was led by DoS and the SLRD in collaboration with the Squamish Food Policy Council, a Steering Committee of local producers and members of the public, Upland Agricultural Consulting, the Whistler Centre for Sustainability and the BC Ministry of Agriculture. Public input and feedback was gathered through surveys, public meetings, and open houses.

The four specific objectives of the SVAP are to:

1. Identify opportunities and actions to strengthen agriculture within the community of Squamish

and Squamish-Lillooet Regional District Electoral Area D.

2. Protect and increase the productivity of foodlands and the Agricultural Land Reserve.
3. Contribute to the long-term environmental and social health and economic sustainability of the community.
4. Integrate Indigenous knowledge, perspectives, and considerations for supporting Indigenous food sovereignty within Traditional Lands and food systems in the region.

In spring of 2020 the DoS and SLRD endorsed the plan which consists of 38 recommended actions presented under 6 goals. A joint approach to implementation was agreed upon, with responsibilities split between the DoS, SLRD, and the Squamish Food Policy Council (SFPC). At that time $22,500 from the SLRD and $2,500 from DoS were allocated to the SFPC for implementation.

On January 12, Kryste tenBrink and Constance Wylie, staff of SFPC presented an update to Squamish council on the implementation of the plan since it’s endorsement and plans for the next year; a similar presentation was made to the SLRD board on December 16th. On Jan 27th the SFPC was awarded $40,000 from the Southern PILT fund for implementation in 2021.