Letter to the Sun

Well folks I have insomnia and so I just wrote a letter to the Vancouver Sun about what keeps me awake these days. I hope they publish it.


The guest editorial on UBC Farm by Owen and Ismen sounds like a condescending missive from a feudal lord in his ivory tower berating the peasants and calling them paranoid, naive, and just plain stupid. I have heard Isman speak of retaining UBC Farm "in some form" rather than as it is. The students who passionately and eloquently defend UBC Farm as it is, or even expanding UBC farm, see the value of the farm as a praxis for the kind of experience-based education that inspired the creation of the farm on its current site. The students, staff, and members of the public who defend the farm have the foresight and wisdom to see the market gardens and its buffer zone of 90 year-old forest (containing a remarkable range of biodiversity) as an outdoor classroom and international destination for the people who are looking for solutions to the global food crisis. These forward-thinking people who defend the farm as it is also see the value in forming links with the community of greater Vancouver, educating and inspiring us and our children, who are the ones who will have to cope with our disappearing farmlands. I urge everyone to sign the online petition (www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-ubc-farm) to save UBC farm and I urge this paper to hire a journalist to cover this story properly rather than giving so much space to UBC's spin doctors.

LW

Artist, Educator, Parent, and UBC Farm Volunteer