Bowen Island Undercurrent August 6 2020

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ALL ABOUT FOOD: learn about the ALR, root cellars and more in this edition

Thursday, August 6, 2020 • A1

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020

VOL. 46 NO. 31

BIUndercurrent

HOW BIG IS THIS CABBAGE?

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Find out on PAGE 5

Muni Morsels SPEED BYLAW, OIL DISPOSAL AND COMMUNITY CENTRE

BRONWYN BEAIRSTO

Editor

UNDERCURRENT PHOTO

BAKING LASAGNA: Susan Swift waters manure during a Bowen Island FoodResilience Society lasagna bed

making workshop in July at Grafton Agricultural Commons. What’s a lasagna bed? Find out on p. 3.

Resident priority on ferries ends SEAN ECKFORD

Coast Reporter

The province has ended resident priority boarding on BC Ferries but directed the company to “implement all procedures necessary” to give priority loading to passengers travelling for documented medical reasons.

Last week, Minister of Public Safety

NEW LISTINGS

and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth changed the ministerial order (MO84) that directed BC Ferries to give priority to residents and essential goods and services during the state of emergency.

The original wording in the order, first issued in March, was that BC Ferries “must implement all procedures necessary to ensure priority loading on ferries for the following: vehicles

carrying essential goods and supplies; residents of ferry sailing destinations.”

There was no mention of travel for medical purposes.

Farnworth confirmed in a media release that the revised order removes the requirement to give priority access for passengers sailing to their primary residence.

CONTINUED ON P. 11

We’re back! As the Undercurrent took a break last week, we’re covering last week’s news this week. The following are briefs from the July 27 Bowen Island Municipality regular council meeting: Need for less speed: Enforceable speed limits of 40 km/hr (and lower) across the island haven’t yet come to pass. Council rescinded and re-gave third reading to the speed limits bylaw (default speed limits in B.C. municipalities is 50 km/hr unless a bylaw says otherwise). Councillors asked the bylaw be amended to make the speed limit on Bowen Bay Rd. from the beach all the way down to the end of Windjammer 30 km/hr.

Planner Emma Chow has explained that the speed limits are to reflect the currently posted speed limits though under council direction Cape Drive will be bumped up to 40 km/hr (the wide roads with ample space on the sides for walking and biking were among councillors’ reasoning). While councillors discussed the possibilities of changing speed limits in other places, Coun. Rob Wynen said that that should involve more conversations with the neighbourhoods. The bylaw has now just to pass adoption.

Oily subject: Bowen Islanders will soon be able to dispose of used oil and lubricant in their runs to the Bowen Island Recycling Depot. Funded by the non-profit BC Used Oil Management Association, a sea can (containing five barrels) on the Bowen Waste Solutions lot will allow for collection of used oil and lubricants.

The non-profit will fund training BIM Environment Department and BWS staff. The expected cost to BIM is $500 to level the area where the bin is to go said a staff report. The staff report said that there are 70 similar collection facilities throughout the province, including on Gabriola Island.

CONTINUED ON P. 11

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Larrge and sunny deck along the south side of the home pro oviding excellent space for summertime living. Separate enttrance to the lower level and the perfect office space to wo ork remotely from home. Lifetime aluminum roof, built -in vacuum system, noise cancelling blinds in the master be edroom and a full house hepa air filtration system for e he ea e althy living. LISTED by DEE

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A2 • Thursday, August 6, 2020

Events August 19, 2020 6:00 pm Community Centre Virtual Open House

August 24, 2020 11:00 am Community Centre Select Steering Committee

August 26, 2020 6:00 pm Community Centre Re-Imagined!

Reception at the Hearth Gallery All meetings are online via Zoom and

open to the public, unless noted otherwise.

Help slow the spread of COVID-19:

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COVID-19: keeping safe in busy places One of the most important safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is keeping a safe physical distance between yourself and others who are not in your bubble. As things get busier on Bowen Island throughout the summer, it may feel stressful to go about our daily lives. Here are some some ways to reduce the stress of going out while lots of other people are also going out: Go at off-peak times: • Do your grocery shopping on weekdays, or take advantage of our local stores’ delivery options • Enjoy a meal out on a weekday evening and stay close to home on the weekends • Try a less popular beach or trail - there are so many to choose from on Bowen!

Wear a mask in spaces where you can’t maintain safe physical distance: • In stores and other indoor locations • In lineups while waiting outside and people are walking past • On transit and while hitchhiking • When getting on the ferry as a foot passenger Outdoor is better!

• Have your small gatherings in outdoor locations, it’s easier to maintain distance.

As always, we all need to continue the other safety measures that have gotten us this far: • Stay home if you’re sick - no exceptions.

• Clean your hands frequently • Cover a cough or sneeze In the words of Dr. Bonnie Henry, let’s be kind, be calm, and be safe.

Join us online and outdoors at our upcoming Community Centre events There’s lots of excitement about the Community Centre buzzing around Bowen Island. We know you want to learn more about the project, ask your questions and be informed for the referendum on September 12. That’s why we’re holding a few open houses, virtual and in person.

Virtual Open House Wednesday, August 19, 2020 6:00 pm Join in on Zoom Meeting ID: 851 4846 5262 Passcode: 666762 Or watch live on our YouTube Channel Learn everything you need to know about the Community Centre at our Virtual Open House. We’ll be going over the design, programming, expenses and revenues and a Question and Answer session with our expert panellists.

Community Centre Re-Imagined!

Wednesday, August 26, 2020 The Hearth Gallery 430 Bowen Island Trunk Road 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Join the Hearth for an outdoor summer evening reception, where you can learn about the Bowen Island Community Centre project, the upcoming referendum and celebrate achievements to date. Please note that a COVID safety plan will be in place. Please bring your mask - extras are available.

Stay home if you’re sick

Outdoor info booth at BICS Saturday, August 29, 2020 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Bowen Island Community School grounds (exact location to be announced) Clean your hands frequently

Bring the kids and come on down to BICS to learn about the Community Centre at our outdoor info booth. We’ll have info boards, experts to answer your questions and fun activities for the kids! Safe physical distancing and hand sanitization will be required, and masks are encouraged.

2 m or 6 feet

Wear a mask in spaces where you can’t safely distance

Frequently asked questions

Dogs on beaches in the summer Dogs are not permitted on Bowen Bay beach, Tunstall Bay beach and Sandy beach during the months of July and August. While welcome on all other beaches, please ensure that everyone can enjoy the beach.

Keep your dog under control and within 3 metres of you at all times.

Please do your doo diligence and clean up after your dog.

Contact Us Phone: Fax: Email:

604-947-4255 604-947-0193 bim@bimbc.ca

“Why do we need a Community Centre?”

“What exactly does tax neutral mean?”

“What programs will be available?”

These are just some of the questions that are answered in our Frequently Asked Questions. We are updating these FAQs regularly at ourislandplace.com/faq

Find us on Facebook Bowen Island Municipal Hall 981 Artisan Lane Bowen Island, BC V0N 1G2

Mon-Fri 8:30 am - 4:30 pm Closed statutory holidays August 6, 2020

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Thursday, August 6, 2020 • A3

What are lasagna beds (and why can’t I eat them?)

BRONWYN BEAIRSTO

Editor

No, the mouth-watering scents of ricotta cheese, tomato sauce and noodles topped with parmesan didn’t greet attendees of the lasagna bed making workshop at Grafton Agricultural Commons one hot July morning. But aromas of ripe manure wafted over the full (but well-spaced out) audience.

Lasagna bed gardening, also known as the sheet mulch method, is a no-till method of creating a bed of soil by layering “brown” (nitrogen-high) and “green” (carbon-high) layers (though not all “green” layers are green––manure, high in nitrogen, is a green).

This particular morning was an encore of the previously week’s Bowen Island FoodResilience Society (BIFS)-hosted workshop.

BIFS member Jackie Bradley, who has been digging into regenerative agricultural practices the past few years, led the morning.

“We’re trying to gradually wean ourselves off of importing soil,” explained Bradley. The group has operated the commons since the spring. The layers of organic matter (which can include everything from newspaper and cardboard to leaves and sticks) create a compost pile that will break down into a fertile soil, even on top of rock.

Following the practices of regenerative agriculture, the goal is to avoid tilling, using chemical pesticides and using fossil fuelbased fertilizer.

UNDERCURRENT PHOTO

Jackie Bradley explains the layers of a lasagna bed.

“We lose seven tons of topsoil for every one tonne of food that we grow,” said Bradley’s husband and fellow BIFS member Phil Gregory (referring to non-regenerative agricultural practices).

“One of the big principles of making a lasagna bed is use what you have,” Bradley told the audience. While the lasagna bed of the demonstration the week before had a layer of dried roots, weeds and other things they didn’t want growing beneath the base cardboard layer, this week there were wood chips filling the dip below the bed.

There should be a two-to-one ratio of carbon material to nitrogen explained Bradley. “So the brown layer is about twice as high as the green layer.”

Dried grass (seedless––achieved by cutting grass before seeds had a chance to grow) and dried leaves sent through a leaf blower, as well

as plants no longer needed in other gardens were chopped up and added to piles of lasagna fodder. A small pile of rinsed seaweed that’d been washed ashore. Small sticks. When it came to weeds, if there were weeds BIFS didn’t want growing in the beds (eg. grasses or dandelions) they weren’t used, but other weeds BIFS was ok with growing (eg. mustard) were included. The layers were watered well (though if it’s wet out less water is required said Bradley).

When it came to the manure layers, the group’s resident student of biology (Gregory) inoculated the manure with a compost extract diluted in water to introduce a higher diversity of microbes (“nature’s immense underground workforce”) into the soil-to-be.

Pillars of lasagna bed making (and regenerative agriculture) included diversity: “The more diversity you have in your garden, the more you’re going to attract others things from nature to that garden,” said Bradley. Bradley and Gregory started into regenerative agriculture about five years ago. Where their old garden has a slug problem, their new garden (a hugel––another kind of regenerative agriculture) does not as it attracts snakes and lizards that eat slugs, said Bradley.

Roots in the ground: “If you have roots in the soil, then the microbes are being fed. So

Trust Council Meeting Sept. 15-16

Islands Trust works to preserve and protect over 450 islands in the Salish Sea through land use planning, a land conservancy, and programs.

Four times a year, trustees from across the Islands Trust Area meet to decide about matters concerning the whole region.

Please join us.

Learn how you can watch, listen, participate in the town hall portion of the online meeting, or present to Trust Council by visiting our website: islandstrust.bc.ca Want to present to Trust Council? The deadline to apply is August 25.

IslandsTrust.bc.ca

IslandsTrust

islands_trust

you want things growing as long as possible in your garden,” said Bradley. She added that people often plant cover crops in the fall to have something growing over the winter providing nutrients to the microbes in the soil. (She said kale grows quite easily over the winter) Leaving soil undisturbed as much as possible: “No plowing, no tilling because as soon as you do that, you break up all the structure that the microbes have built in the soil,” said Bradley. While one needs to dig a little hole to plant a seed, Bradley said not to make the hole bigger than one needs to.

Finally, keeping the soil covered so as to not allow the carbon in the soil to escape: “My idea of beauty about a garden has completely changed from when I started growing,” said Bradley. “I used to love the look of these beautiful dark beds with plants coming up.

“Now when I look at that I cringe.”

By the end of the workshop a strip of thigh-high organic matter sat ready for seeding (BIFS members assured the audience the bed would shrink as it settled) and Bradley invited audience members to help plant the cover crop.

For more information, get in touch with BIFS through its Facebook page.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SARAH HAXBY

Farmers’market

The Bowen Agricultural Alliance (BAA) has gone back to its roots and is running a small tailgate-style market 10 a.m. to noon every Saturday in the Bowen Island Community School parking lot. David Griffith is the lead organizer and the local vendors have a good selection of items hand-made, baked and grown on Bowen!

Feature items include early apples, greens and vegetables, lavender, baked items made with local in-season fruits and plants and seedlings to help you grow a winter garden on Bowen as well as everything fresh from the farm and garden!

A4 • Thursday, August 6, 2020

bowenislandundercurrent.com

VIEWPOINTS EDITORIAL

Growing now

Kids with siblings learn the barter system early: “I’ll eat your tomatoes if you eat my peas.”

My father’s dining room table probably still has chunks of dried food hidden where the skirt and the top meet from my years of picky eating.

My parents still make fun of me for a family trip overseas where all I would order was tuna sandwiches for fear of tasting something truly different. (Being 14 at the time, I imagine there were also other factors at play.)

We’re spoiled with gastronomic options today but too often far from in touch with what it takes to grow our food, or even where it’s grown. Though farmers dominated my family tree a couple of generations ago, I can barely grow a tomato (ok, I’ve never tried to grow a tomato). But I can cook a mean lasagna anytime I want.

One of the many stories I didn’t get to for this edition (byproduct of my vacation) is a list of products grown on the island. As Elaine Cameron told the Community Economic Development Committee businesses meetup in April, supply chains are long and vulnerable to disruption, disruption that will come as the ravages of climate change ramp up.

The best way to address this is by keeping our supply chains short––investing and buying local, Cameron said.

When concern over food security washed over the continent earlier this year as the coronavirus exposed our food vulnerabilities, many rushed to get seeds for newly built gardens. But, in turn, some farmers had trouble with their own supply (Noah Pryce-Jones of Home Farm said in that April CEDC meeting that they had to source seeds from the U.S. as people were panic buying seeds here). Hopefully after the burst of interest, there will be a sustained, not panicked, interest in growing our own food. Let’s think out this whole food growing thing now, before there’s another disaster.

There are many local food resources on Bowen: the Garden Club (est. 1980) has a highly informative and entertaining monthly newsletter Cuttings; there’s the 400-member Bowen Gardeners Facebook group where islanders can share tips, questions and general observations; there’s the Bowen Agricultural Alliance, which these days primarily organizes the weekly farmers’ markets in the BICS parking lot; there’s the newer but highly energetic Bowen Island FoodResilience Society that’s looking after the community garden at Grafton Lake. BIFS did much of the heavy lifting for this edition, for which I must give a giant thank you. If I’ve missed resources, please let me know and I can include them in an upcoming edition. Food is an eternal topic of interest and one we don’t spend enough time exploring.

— Bronwyn Beairsto, Editor

B.I. Community School’s Mrs. Brind is retiring DEAR EDITOR: After 27 years of teaching at Bowen Island Community School, I have decided it is time for me to say goodbye to a career that I have loved so much. I first came to Bowen Island in February of 1992. I walked around Killarney lake with my husband Peter and our dog Jasmine. We decided right then and there that once I completed my teaching degree, this is where we wanted to live and raise our future children.

As it so happens, in October of

1993, I was hired to work at BICS one day a week in a grade one and two classroom alongside Peggy Smith.

Little did I know how fortunate I was to learn and be mentored by such a gifted and caring professional. By the end of that month, I had picked up two more days and was now working a total of three days a week. I couldn’t believe my luck. The school was an amazing hub of positive energy and creative personalities. Needless to say, after two years of learning the ins and outs of the profession, I applied for and got my own classroom. The

rest, as they say, is history.

To the colleagues and administrators I leave behind, thank you for all the kindness, wisdom and laughter that make BICS the place it is today.

To all the parents whose children I have taught over the years, thank you for your support, your time and your patience. Finally, to all the children who have filled my dreams, days and nights over the past 27 years, I wish you nothing but health and happiness on your journey into adulthood.

Love, Mrs. Brind

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HERE’S HOW: To submit a letter to the editor, fax 604-947-0148 or mail it to #102, 495 Government Rd., PO Box 130, Bowen Island, BC V0N 1G0 or email editor@bowenislandundercurrent.com.

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EDITOR BronwynBeairsto editor@bowenisland undercurrent.com

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CARTOONIST Ron Woodall

PUBLISHER Peter Kvarnstrom publisher@bowenisland undercurrent.com 2011 CCNA

CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2011

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bowenislandundercurrent.com

Thursday, August 6, 2020 • A5

OPINION

The ALR: why should we care?

Forgoing pesticides for soil health SHASTA MARTINUK

Bowen Island FoodResilience Society

FOUNDED IN THE 1970S, THE ALR WAS TO PRESERVE LAND FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES, DID IT WORK?

SUSAN SWIFT

Bowen Island FoodResilience Society

The history of British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) began in Richmond in the early 1970s when Harold Steves and other local farmers noticed that prime agricultural land was being sold off at an alarming rate. Seeking to protect farmers and farmland, Steves, a former MLA, became the driving force behind the Land Commission Act of 1973, which established the ALR. Last October Steves, who is often called “the father of the ALR,” was invited to Bowen Island to lead one of the municipality’s Climate Conversations.

Steves began by talking about his Bowen connection. His family lived on Bowen in the 1800s and his grandmother, Bonnie McElhinney, taught school here in 1894. The Steves family’s farming legacy in B.C. can be traced back to his grandfather, Manoah Steves, who started farming on Lulu Island in 1877 and founded the province’s first seed company in 1888.

Fast forward to 1960 when Steves was attending UBC. He recalled that “we were already looking at how population and climate change would affect B.C.’s agriculture.” By 1973, he said, “B.C. was losing 10,000 acres of farmland per year to development and 28 per cent of the province’s farms were gone.”

After establishing the new ALR zoning designation that year, the Department of Agriculture was tasked with mapping the province’s agricultural land. They found that, although only 5 per cent of B.C.’s land was suitable for agriculture, a mere 2.7 per cent could support a reasonable range of crops.

According to a Vancouver Sun article dated Aug. 25, 1973, not everyone on Bowen was happy about the proposed ALR. Nonetheless, 182 hectares of Bowen’s 5,260 hectares were rezoned. Although opposed by some property owners, the ALR is now seen as one of the best examples of agricultural land preservation in the world.

It is given credit for putting a halt to urban sprawl and setting the agenda for regional food security.

The same pressures that threatened farmland 50 years ago have intensified. In addition to climate change and a growing population, close to 50 percent of the ALR is not used for crops or ranching. One culprit is the spread of large estates on land where the owners have no intention of farming. This is a big issue in Richmond where the side effect is an increase in local property valuation. This raises the price of agricultural land and puts it out of the reach of farmers.

Kent Mullinix, of the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems (ISFS) at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, points to the need for revitalizing the ALR and reforming tax laws to make farming more economically viable.

A White Paper published by the ISFS states, “In this province, where farmland scarcity is so obvious, a diversity of large and small-scale agriculture importantly binds our communities and province together to provide any semblance of control over our food security and food self-reliance.”

The authors point out that industrial and energy uses of land are also whittling away our precious agricultural land resources. There is no place where this is more evident than the Site C Dam project on the Peace River in northern B.C. Despite legal challenges by First Nations, environ-

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOWEN ISLAND FOODRESILIENCE SOCIETY

Richmond farmer and municipal councillor Harold Steves discusses the ALR with Phil Gregory last fall on Bowen. mentalists, and local landowners, the provincial government has decided to flood prime agricultural land to produce more electricity. It is estimated that the Site C Dam will end up flooding 6,469 hectares (15,985 acres) of which 60 per cent or 9,430 acres is prime agricultural land.

While there are ALR landowners who decry zoning that restricts them from subdividing and developing their properties, others are committed to preserving and expanding the ALR to increase food resiliency.

In the 2019, Bowen Island FoodResilience Society (BIFS) published two reports, “Toward a Resilient Food System for Bowen Island: An Agrarian Analysis“ and a “Communication and Engagement Groundwork Report” that Harold Steves endorsed enthusiastically, calling them “ … the best reports I have seen from agrologists anywhere, because they cover the wide spread of everything you could think about to resolve this problem.”

In the Agrarian Analysis, author Julie Sage writes that “Supporting the intent of the Agricultural Land Reserve is one of several essential components of a resilient food system.” In the report, she cites a BC Ministry of Agriculture 2011 land use inventory of Bowen’s ALR. Among the findings was, of the island’s 182 hectares in the ALR, only 17 hectares (9 per cent) was actively farmed (field crops, farm infrastructure, greenhouses).

When the survey was updated in 2016, Bowen only had 176 hectares in the ALR. Of those, 15 hectares (8 per cent) were actively farmed, as opposed to 20 hectares in 2011. Of the entire 917 hectares surveyed in 2016 (inside and outside of the ALR) 27 hectares are now actively farmed, as opposed to 34 hectares in 2011, representing a decrease of 26 per cent in farmed areas. Such is the fate of farmland in BC, including on Bowen Island.

No one knows this trend better that Harold Steves who continues farming in Steveston while advocating for farmland protection. Steves has held elective office for 50 years, as an alderman in 1968, an MLA from 19731975, and finally as a Richmond City Councilor. This year, Steves announced that he will not run for re-election in 2022.

The work that Steves inaugurated when the Agricultural Land Commission was formed is still urgent. Looking ahead, it will be up to us to create a robust food system. But first, we need to save the land from development and find incentives to support farmers.

For information on the reports mentioned, please email Bowen Island FoodResilience Society: hellobifs@ gmail.com.

For the past several months, a subcommittee of the Bowen Island FoodResilience Society (BIFS) has been meeting to discuss the possibility of a ban on the use of pesticides and herbicides for cosmetic purposes on Bowen Island. Vancouver and 39 other municipalities in B.C. have enacted such bans over the past several years and we at BIFS believe Bowen should join them.

One of BIFS’ mandates is to promote the use of regenerative agriculture, which is all about restoring the health of soil which has been degraded by the overuse of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, and other modern agricultural methods. It is also possible to create healthy soil where there is none to begin with, using the permaculture technique of “lasagna beds.”

It should come as no surprise that the use of pesticides and herbicides is detrimental to the microbial life in the soil, which is the very basis of a healthy food web. When that web is disturbed at its most fundamental level, the health of everything and everyone further up the food chain is affected. That includes us.

One of our committee members, Dr. Bruce Lanphear, is a Health Sciences professor at Simon Fraser University (SFU).

Lanphear’s research has shown links between children’s illhealth and pesticides (among other neurotoxins prevalent in the environment). Another member of the committee, Dr. Phil Gregory, is professor emeritus at University of British Columbia.

Gregory has summarized the case for ban on cosmetic pesticides in the form of a beautiful poster which can be viewed on his website.

As part of our ongoing research into the possibility of a cosmetic pesticides ban on Bowen Island, we put together a short survey to gauge fellow islanders’ interest in this topic and would love to have your input. To see Phil’s poster and/or take the survey, please email hellobifs@gmail.com and we’ll send you the links.

You can also visit the Bowen Island FoodResilience FaceBook page. The closing date for the survey is Aug. 20.

CORAL LOUIE PHOTO

Bob and Reidun (pictured) van Kervel grew this 13 lb. cabbage in their west side garden.

A6 • Thursday, August 6, 2020

bowenislandundercurrent.com

OPINION

The benefits and obstacles to farming on Bowen JACKIE BRADLEY

Bowen Island FoodResilience Society

Farming is more than an occupation; it’s a relationship with the land, an ongoing honing of knowledge, and often a calling.

Unfortunately, here and many other places, it is not a living. This has huge implications for food security on Bowen Island. Our food system is anything but resilient.

Bowen farmers, like others around the world, say they are drawn to farming by its lifestyle and health benefits. “Mental health and spiritual wellbeing are important. Some people do yoga, I farm,” said Bowen’s Star Hoerauf.

“I used to be into mountain biking, now I take care of my animals. This is the activity that is most meaningful to me.”

Farming brings a sense of purpose, a connection and feeling of reciprocity with nature, making it a great way to raise kids. If you are not using chemicals, there are health benefits from the outdoor work and the fact that you get to eat food you have grown yourself.

Additionally, a big local benefit is that our climate is usually neither too hot nor too cold.

ROSIE MONTGOMERY PHOTO

Home Farm is part of the 27 hectares of land actively farmed on Bowen Island (as of 2016).

Weather can be unpredictable anywhere but many of the difficulties of farming are particular to the farm’s location. On Bowen, land is very expensive and leasing is an obstacle to making decisions about how to use the land and plan for its future. And as we all know, there are lots of rocks and poor soil here. We also have many cedar trees, which can challenge a farmer, as cedar trees interfere with the growth of other plants.

Then there’s the deer population that has no predators. David Griffiths recounts that he watched

while a deer jumped up, got his front legs over the top of his eightfoot fence, and then proceeded to scrabble over the fence to get into David’s market garden.

While local farmers cope with all these obstacles, an additional challenge is the flood of cheap imports. Food produced on factory farms, often with poorly paid labour, arrives on shelves at lower prices than locally produced food.

Although there is a small group of people who are very supportive of farmers on Bowen, there is not enough support to make

farming financially viable. By far the biggest problem for farmers on Bowen—and many other places— is that they cannot earn a living solely by farming.

The difficulties of farming and the lack of support for locally grown food may account for the fact that in 2016, only 27 hectares of land on Bowen were actively farmed, a drop of 26 per cent from 2011.

Without more local farms, we will remain dependent on the ferry system and crops grown in other areas and countries. Unless

we have a thriving food system here, our supply of food will be increasingly insecure as disruptions like the pandemic and the mounting emergency of climate change threaten food exports from other places.

So, how do we change things and create a more resilient food system here on our own home territory? We have grocery stores and restaurants that all work to a very tight bottom line. We have farmers that must have other incomes to be able to farm. We have big store delivery companies who can sell food cheaper than our local growers.

We also have some champions like Sarah Haxby of Bowen Agricultural Alliance and Rosie Montgomery and Noah PryceJones of Home Farm who have dedicated much time to developing a sustainable local food supply. Yet, we have not succeeded in achieving financial resiliency for our farmers. We—farmers, grocers, restaurateurs and consumers—have to find ways to support and sustain each other. Let’s open up the conversation about how we can work together to create a resilient, food-secure future on the island we call home.

Patient of the Week MAGIC This beauty was brought in after his owners noticed signs of arthritis.

Magic was started on monthly injections of Cartrophen which is a very effective treatment that helps reduce pain and inflammation in the joints.

Here is Magic’s owners endorsement: “Although he is a very snuggly, loving, and forgiving little guy- I was very worried about how to treat his arthritic pain because it is IMPOSSIBLE to give him meds orally...its like he saves up his entire life force to fight me off!. This treatment has been so successful- for both of us. He is doing really well, like a cat half his age.”

NEW COVID HOURS effective JULY 8th OPEN: 9 - 5 pm every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday* OPEN: 9 - 1 pm every second Saturday (closed Sat. Aug 8) *Please note: Friday medical appointments will be available on alternate weeks. The clinic will be open for prescriptions and food pick up only on those Fridays as of July 10th.

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Thursday, August 6, 2020 • A7

Bowen Island Properties LP BUILDING COMMUNITY Imagine living in a neighbourhood that is in walking distance to stores, school, daycare, offices and social meeting places like coffee shops and pubs. The neighbourhood has a community shuttle to take you to more distant destinations, and it runs often enough that it’s super-convenient. This relieves you of the need to own a car, and consequently you save thousands of dollars per year. The neighbourhood has common green space that’s socially vibrant. Parents of very young kids feel comfortable sending the little ones out to play on their own because they know the neighbours, and they know the neighbours are looking out for the children. Parents also don’t need to worry about their kids running into traffic because the cars are kept on the physical periphery of the community.

The best part about living in this neighbourhood is that it’s affordable. “Affordable” means different things to different people. When we think about affordable, we think about rental prices that allow people to work in our shops and schools and on our constructions sites, to stay on Bowen and raise their families.

“Sounds lovely,” some will say, “But not on Bowen. That kind of thing just can’t happen here.”

As it turns out, Wolfgang Duntz of Bowen Island Properties (BIP) just told me that is exactly what they are going to propose as part of an upcoming rezoning application and that most of the units will be rental housing.

“Single family homes are becoming increasingly unaffordable. Without affordable housing living on Bowen will become increasingly unpleasant to the point that we as a community will eventually get sick,” says Single family homes are Duntz. “It’s not much differbecoming increasingly ent than what many passenunaffordable. Without gers experienced on cruise affordable housing, ships lately due to COVID-19.

Not much fun being stuck on living on Bowen will a cruise ship without a workbecome increasingly ing crew. Not much fun living unpleasant. on Bowen without anyone to drive the fire truck, work at the Muni, build or repair homes, or all those other jobs that keep our community functioning.

On the other hand it is not rocket science, nor does it take financial magic, to create affordable housing. We want to create an affordable community—a vibrant, accessible neighbourhood on what I am increasingly convinced is one of the best possible places to live in I lived in a small lakeside the world.” community like Bowen, Wolfgang’s strong but I looked forward opinion about affordable to summers with my living has been shaped by fond childhood memgrandparents in Hamburg ories in Germany. who lived in a three-storey “I lived in a small lakewalkup. Green space there side community that was was always packed with wonderful for a young kids. I had a ball. boy—not so different from Bowen. But I always looked forward to spending summers with my grandparents in Hamburg. Those summers were a complete contrast” he says. “Like so many people there, they lived in a three- or four-storey walk-up. The community life there was incredible, and there was much shared green space that was always packed with kids. I had a ball.”

It seems that those childhood memories have not only convinced his working team and partners, but also seasoned housing experts “in town” who are willing to get involved.

The chosen name for the proWe want to create an ject is THE SHIRE, which—if approved—will be developed affordable community.

THE SHIRE will be near Artisan Square and above Leigh Automotive. The hous- built with convenience ing units will have a broad and community in range of studio to 3-bedroom mind, and it will be apartments plus townhouses. multi-generational.

THE SHIRE will be built with convenience and community in mind, and it will be multi-generational.

Duntz says he doesn’t expect to see much opposition to the plans at Council “because they make good sense,” but BIP’s design team is keen for helpful ideas and inspiration.

— Meribeth Deen

Since 1988, building communities where people love to live

Office Phone: 604-947-0099 www.bowenislandproperties.ca PAID ADVERTISEMENT

A8 • Thursday, August 6, 2020

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My mother’s legacy: a love of food ‘FOOD IS SO MUCH MORE THAN FUEL...IT IS SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND SOMETIMES EVEN POLITICAL’

Do you have story ideas? Thoughts about the paper?

Questions? Something you’d like to write? Photos to share? Let us know: email Bronwyn at editor@ bowenislandundercurrent.com or call 604-314-3004.

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“You are your mother’s daughter” one of my brothers recently said to me.

There was time in my life when that would have been a pretty major insult but I am older now and can see the immense value of my mother’s life. My mother passed away several years ago after a difficult struggle with dementia but in her prime, my mother was a force. A force for the greater good. She also was a paradox: the obese nutritionist, the middle-class Downtown Eastside worker, the misanthrope social worker and the professional who chose to surround herself with hippies.

My parents moved to Canada in 1969.

My father was offered a job teaching at UBC as a Professor of Chinese History.

My mother was happy to leave the U.S. and embraced Vancouver, and Canada, wholeheartedly, just as she had done when we had moved to Taiwan for a year so my father could do research.

True to my mother’s nature, when the academia wives suggested buying a house in Kerrisdale or Shaughnessy, my mother pushed hard to buy in Kits.

Kitsilano was home to Vancouver’s

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Since 1978

Ellen Wickberg instilled a love of food in her daughter, who carries on the family legacy.

hippies and to the Greek community.

In Taiwan my mother had befriended the neighbourhood women with her tone-deaf Mandarin so that they would teach her how to cook their regular household recipes, so it is not surprising that she equally plied the Greek women of our new neighbourhood for theirs. I grew up eating squid before “calamari” was a trendy thing on (nonGreek) menus. She’d head down to the docks and ask the fisherman what they were willing to part with. One best-forgotten year our big freezer was packed with shark after my mother found that the fisherman were just throwing it away. We kids weren’t too fond of shark but there were no special kids’ meals in our house and shark was a cheap (free), healthy source of protein.

In the mid 1970s, my social worker mother applied for, and received, a grant to start something she called Food For Your Needs (FFYN). She would go to the Downtown Eastside and, with the assumption that many of the men living in the SROs were going to spend the majority of their pay or welfare cheques on alcohol (the main drug of the time on the DTES), she would teach them how to shop and cook nutritious food with the small amount of money left over, post-binge, on their tiny little hotplates. That usually meant beans and rice with whatever vegetables she could scrounge for them pre food bank (which started in the early ’80s). For my mother to have frequented “skid row,” unaccompanied, when most middle aged, middle class mothers wouldn’t have gone anywhere near that neighbourhood, says a lot about how strongly she felt it needed to be done.

Her experience with FFYN propelled her back to school (UBC and Loma Linda University) to become a nutritionist and during that time spent months in Bella Coola with elders learning the footways of the Nuxalk Nation––one of the best times of her life. She was hired in her 50s by the Simon Fraser Health Unit and worked there as long as she could in community outreach. She was interviewed on both Co-op and CBC Radio.

She continued to volunteer teach-

“This is about health security for all of us who love Bowen” “When a health care team works together with a common vision, amazing things can happen” “I’m so grateful this is happening – because I never want to leave this island.”

The Bowen Island Community Health Centre is committed to transforming health care access, delivery, and outcomes for everyone on Bowen with an integrated team of physicians and professionals in physical, mental, and social health and dentistry working together.

Invest in the health of your family, and your community – help bring this essential resource to Bowen!

DONATE TODAY! Go to www.bowenhealthcentre.com/pledge-now/ and choose an option to give now or call Colleen O’Neil 604-947-0232 or Bill Brown at 604-947-9012.

Sheree Johnson and Ken McArthur of the BIHCF board add more fuel in the drive to reach‘lift off’. Huge thanks to all our health centre donors. >>>

ing food preservation and canning at Kiwassa Neighbourhood House in East Vancouver (working with the Fruit Tree Project and the food bank), as well as volunteering to answer parents’ nutrition questions at Westside Family Place until a few years before her dementia completely disabled her.

Where am I going with all of this? In my life food has always been important. My mother’s passion made sure of that. Just as my father’s passion has given me a somewhat Asia-centric view of the world. Food is so much more than fuel—although good food is definitely that—it is social, cultural and sometimes even political. I was fortunate to marry a man who loves to cook and is really good at it too!

We have travelled together and taken our boys to live in other cultures and food has always been the thread that has woven through all of our adventures There have been many different versions of what that has looked like from Bowen Legion dinners to TV cooking shows to a blog about our life in South India. The current COVID-19 incarnation is a YouTube channel called Real Food.

The food in this video series is meant to be accessible. I am intentionally not making croissant or a Thai sticky rice meal or mapo tofu or spanakopita or homemade sausages or cabbage thoran or any of the many recipes that we love in our home because I want people to not be daunted - those can come later. Easy recipes with easy to find ingredients that take very little hands-on time but that produce flavourful, healthful food. I want people to know that they can make real food and don’t need to rely on pre-made and packaged foods; that it doesn’t have to be expensive and you don’t need to be a stay-at-home-whatever to make fresh food - even if you don’t think you can cook. All of the recipes in the videos so far can be vegetarian and many of them can be made vegan as well. They are adaptable - to your tastes and your needs. So you see, I am, in fact, my mother’s daughter, and I invite you to join me in making Real Food: youtube.com/channel/ UCtwgtXWOv0GFmAGVTUrPL6g.

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Bringing back the old-fashioned root cellar MERIBETH DEEN

Bowen Island FoodResilience Society

Marion Moore’s Bowen memories stretch back to the 1920s. She grew up on Collins Farm, which was then 160 acres and produced enough food and dairy for her father to sell to summertime residents and to keep their large family fed throughout the winter.

In an interview with members of Bowen Island FoodResilience Society (BIFS) last summer, Moore noted that root vegetables, and potatoes in particular, were a critical source of sustenance through the winter.

The likelihood that any of us look forward to a winter of relying on potatoes and fresh dairy is slim to none.

In the winter, Canadians typically eat food that has travelled 2,500km before arriving on their tables. We restock our fridges continuously and I would venture to guess that until March of 2020, few of us considered this reliance on far-away food producers and long supply chains to be of much concern.

Coronavirus made the fragility of our global industrial food system visible, and one response of the Bowen Island Community Foundation was to grant Bowen Island FoodResilience Society (BIFS) with money to support a community agriculture project at Grafton Agricultural Commons.

We have strategically chosen to plant mostly root vegetables and crops that can be turned into soups. We don’t want to compete with local farmers, most of whom sell seasonal produce.

Also, it is not our goal to survive financially as farmers but rather to build a resilient local food system. We’ve come to realize that cold storage spaces for local produce are critical to meeting

that goal. Not only does Bowen Island need to up its food production, we need to store what is produced.

Old-fashioned root cellars seem to be in short supply these days. Aubin and David Van Berkel have one, and they say it is indispensable, particularly for storing their apple harvest, which feeds them through to March most years. The cellars’ walls are made of old tires filled with soil for insulation, and it includes a basic ventilation system to keep fresh air circulating.

Since the harvest of potatoes and garlic has begun at Grafton Agricultural Commons, the question of storage has become pressing. In the short term, BIFS will likely find a host of solutions, but in the long-term, we have the building of a root cellar on our radar.

What would be even better would be seeing this old-fashioned method of storing food make a major comeback, as the whole community gets on board with the idea of localizing our food system.

Thursday, August 6, 2020 • A9

on Bowen Island

PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER.

We are back to regular hours, with a refreshed indoor space, filled with flowers, indoor plants and gorgeous gifts! BUT we want to take this opportunity to say “Hell yeah Bowen” you are amazing. We operated our garden centre for 3 months on an honour system, where else in this world, could we do this?

Truly grateful!

604-947-2278 bowenislandflowershop@shaw.ca

RAF IZDEBSKI PHOTOS

The younger Izdebski holds goodies from her family’s west side garden.

Places of Worship Welcome You BOWEN ISLAND UNITED CHURCH

FOOD BANK DROP-OFF

ST. GERARD’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Masses are live streamed every day.

Times posted at holyrosarycathedral.org

Administration Office: 604-682-6774

CATES HILL CHAPEL

www.cateshillchapel.com 604-947-4260 (661 Carter Rd.)

now offering worship services via Zoom. a link available on website.

Pastor: Phil adkins

▼

BOWEN ISLAND Snug Cove 5:20 am* 6:20 am 7:20 am 8:35 am 9:35 am 10:40 am 12:05 pm 1:15 pm 2:40 pm 4:00 pm< 5:10 pm 6:15 pm 7:20 pm> 8:50 pm 9:50 pm 10:50 pm

VANCOUVER Horseshoe Bay 5:50 am 6:50 am 8:00 am 9:05 am< 10:10 am 11:15 am 12:40 pm 1:55 pm 3:20 pm 4:40 pm 5:45 pm 6:50 pm 7:50 pm> 9:20 pm 10:20 pm

Leave Horseshoe Bay

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Schedule in Effect: August 5, 2020 to September 7, 2020

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Di Izdebski and her daughter with their garlic haul.

Crossing Time: 20 minutes Distance: 3 nautical miles Note: This is a non-reservable route * exCepT SuN aND SepT 7

> exCepT SaT

< exCepT WeD are (DC) DaNgerouS Cargo SailiNgS. No oTher paSSeNgerS permiTTeD.

A10 • Thursday, August 6, 2020

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Further, the publishers do not accept liability for any loss of damage caused by an error or inaccuracy in the printing of an advertisement beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by the portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred. Any corrections of changes will be made in the next available issue. The Bowen Island Undercurrent will be responsible for only one incorrect insertion with liability limited to that portion of the advertisement affected by the error. Request for adjustments or corrections on charges must be made within 30 days of the ad’s expiration.

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Jennings leaving BIM after 13 years CONTINUED FROM P. 1

A representative from the non-profit explained that before recycling regulations changed, locations that sold oil would have to take back that waste, but the province shifted to a stewardship program for waste collection.

Getting ready for a vote: council got a community centre update from outgoing manager of recreation and community services Shauna Jennings (who is leaving at the beginning of September). The recently announced $7.96 million grant contract has been received and signed and Jacqueline Massey (former executive director of the Hearth) hired as a fundraising coordina-

tor. A business plan is on final review and memorandum of understanding between the municipality and the arts council around how governance and programming will happen is in the works. Jennings said too that the centre’s floor plan has been updated to reflect staff feedback. She also said that they had a look at the layout for strategies to deal with COVID-19.

Mayor Gary Ander recognized Jennings’ 13 years with the municipality “Thank you for all the work you’ve done,” he said. “You inspire everyone around you.”

The community centre referendum is coming up Sept. 12. The Undercurrent have more coverage on this in coming weeks.

Neat numbers-ish: After seeing a story about how a third of Burnaby residents did not pay their property tax on time, I thought I’d check to see if there was such a trend on Bowen. BIM’s chief financial officer Raj Hayre said that BIM’s collection experience was similar to previous years with 91 per cent of property taxes levied paid as of July 2. –BB

Thursday, August 6, 2020 • A11

Letter from medical practitioner needed for priority boarding CONTINUED FROM P. 1

“Residents of ferry sailing destinations” was removed from MO84, and an additional order, MO256, was issued directing BC Ferries to “implement all procedures necessary to ensure that an individual who arrives at a terminal at least 30 minutes before a ferry is scheduled to sail is loaded on the ferry, along with any vehicle in or on which the individual arrives and any other individual travelling in or on that vehicle, if the individual is travelling to or from medical treatment.”

Under the new order, travellers will have to present a “letter, dated and signed by a medical practitioner, stating that the individual requires priority loading” and “a completed Travel Assistance Program (TAP) form.”

According to the ministry, the doctor’s letter does not need to specify a date, time, or number of occasions the person travelling will require medical-assured loading, “but may specify a period of time of up to one year from the date of the letter.”

“These new provisions will ensure that medical-assured loading is protected for people travelling by ferry for medical treatment,” Farnworth said in the release. “BC Ferries will also continue to give priority to vehicles carrying essential goods and supplies, and will need to consult the Province before changing or varying minimum ferry service levels.”

BC Ferries said it would implement the new and revised orders as of July 31.

This story has been edited from its original version. See the entire story at: coastreporter.net/ news/local-news/province-cancels-resident-priority-for-bc-ferries-1.24178986

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NEW PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND SOCIAL PROGRAMMING

STRENGTHENS THE COMMUNITY’S RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC These programs are provid ded in partnership with the Bowen Island Health Centre Foundation and are su upported by Government of Canada Emerg gency Community Support Fund Community Foun ndations of Canada Bowen Island Com mmunity Foundation

PROGRAMS

IF YOU HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY COVID19 ANND NEED HELP, CONTACT THESE ORGANIZATIONS:

HELPING CHILDREN WITH THE TRAUMA OF LIVING WITH COVID-19 Free workshops for parents and teachers that will help adults understand how stress presents in children and learn proven strategies to help children deal with the trauma of COVID-19 in an age appropriate and safe way.

BOWEN CHILDREN’S CENTRE SOCIETY www.bowenchildrenscentre.ca/blog/news

AQUATIC PROGRAMS Subsidized Aquatic Programs such as swim lessons, Aqua Fit and Aquatic Rehabilitation for all ages, for the community of Bowen Island, who have been financially impacted by Covid-19.

947 SWIM Billi Behm 947SWIM@gmail.com 604-230-5583

CONNECTING THROUGH COVID-19 Providing library access and free technical assistance to seniors and anyone struggling to access and use online resources, platforms and government services for support with health, social and financial information during the pandemic and beyond.

BOWEN ISLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY info@bowenlibrary.ca 604-947-9788

ADULT MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT Providing financial subsidies for one-to-one counselling to adults affected by the stress and anxiety due to COVID related factors such as financial difficulties because of loss of work, family conflict due to isolation, child care concerns, fears of critical illness of loved ones, and complications when trying to work from home.

CARING CIRCLE Colleen O’Neil info@caringcircle.ca 604-947-9100

DAY CAMPS Providing financial subsidy assistance to families whose income has been affected by the COVID19 pandemic to enable their children to attend summer day camps and after school programming, including staff for assistance with children who may need extra support so that they have a positive experience with their peers.

BIM COMMUNITY RECREATION DEPARTMENT Shauna Jennings sjennings@bimbc.ca 604-947-4255

FAMILY EXERCISE BOOT CAMPS Providing financial subsidy assistance through two unique, wellrounded physical fitness workout classes for families: new mothers with their babies, and a parent and child (ages 8-19) to exercise and learn together.

BIM COMMUNITY RECREATION DEPARTMENT Sheana Stevenson sstevenson@bimbc.ca 604-947-2216

https://bowenhealthcentre.com/stay-informed/