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EDITORIAL: South Surrey farmland’s value can’t be overstated

Supply-chain issues have taught us the value of locally sourced products
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‘Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.”

If Mark Twain’s famous quip were updated to reflect what’s happening in South Surrey today, it would go something along the lines of, “Preserve land, they’re not making it anymore.”

It’s advice the federal government would be wise to heed in the case of 220 acres of high-yield farmland in Campbell Heights.

Owned by the Canadian government, but leased by the Heppell family, the property is reported to be some of the most productive farmland in the region, if not the entire province.

The land along 192 Street north of 36 Avenue is among the first to produce fresh vegetables, including potatoes, squash, carrots and parsnips, each spring and the last still producing in the fall.

It’s estimated that 50 million servings of vegetables are harvested off the property each year. We’ve seen in the past two years how drastically supply chain issues affect what we can and cannot buy.

Waiting for a new car is an inconvenience; lack of access to fresh food is a crisis.

Even if there weren’t a supply-chain problem, why do we look to California and Mexico for fresh produce that can be grown right here in our own backyard?

There are no unanswerable questions about how it’s grown and the money stays here to be reinvested in B.C.

So it’s beyond perplexing that the federal government would choose this specific site to develop for industrial purposes.

As fifth-generation farmer Tyler Heppell points out, buildings can go anywhere. For his family, which has farmed the property for 50 years, it’s not a simple matter of picking up and moving.

Surrey council, led by the mayor’s SSC slate, is making an effort to help preserve the land and for that, they deserve credit. But until the federal government commits to leaving it as farmland, there are no guarantees.

In an age when more of our food is being produced on massive factory farms, if this is what family-run operations can expect, why would anyone choose a career as a farmer?