Concern has been expressed that cannabis production is taking over land and greenhouse operations that produce vegetables in B.C.
Some farmers and municipal leaders object to cannabis operations on land set aside in the provincially-mandated agricultural land reserve.
The Corporation of Delta had 35 applications from cannabis producers asking for permission to run cannabis facilities on the land reserve.
The concerned residents state that substituting cannabis production for vegetables will erode Canada’s capacity for food production and make the country more dependent on the U.S. and Mexico for fresh vegetable production.
The seaside Delta area produces half of B.C. green beans and potatoes.
The profits in vegetables are a fraction of cannabis where returns run 15 times those from veggie production.
One of the major Canadian cannabis firms Canopy Growth, converted a 275,000 square metre (2.9 million square foot) greenhouse from bell pepper production to cannabis.
In another greenhouse conversion a 1.1 million square foot greenhouse was converted to medical cannabis from vegetables.
Across Canada, the cannabis industry has converted greenhouses from vegetables to cannabis.
More than half of Canada’s greenhouse space is located in the Essex-Windsor area on Ontario. Some of those greenhouses have been prime locations for cannabis operators.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
