Of all the security issues brought into sharp focus by 2021’s November floods, none is more critical to B.C.’s residents than food.
And the province has all the raw materials to deliver on that self-reliance and secure domestic supply; it just needs the political will and entrepreneurial vigour to take advantage of a region blessed with the climate and natural resources that domestic food security requires.
The 2021 atmospheric river that deluged the province exposed some major holes in that security.
It knocked out key road and rail transportation links that cut much of the Metro Vancouver area off from international supply chains.
The impact of those broken links is still being felt in the Port of Vancouver today.
The combination of the floods and the summer wildfires that preceded them resulted in B.C. losing a month of rail capacity in and out of the province’s Asia-Pacific Gateway.
The efforts of Canada’s two national railways to recover from the natural disasters that knocked out cargo movement was admirable.
It showed that B.C. has the infrastructure, energy and expertise to rebuild on the fly, but it underscored the need to upgrade transportation links so that they are more resilient when the next major weather event arrives.
The floods have also accelerated development of B.C.’s agri-tech sector.
The province is now home to approximately 150 companies focused on maximizing agricultural resources and land use.
CubicFarm Systems Corp. (TSX:CUB), for example, specializes in vertical farming, which allows crops to be grown in stacks vertically rather than spread over acres of farmland.
Meanwhile, SemiosBio Technologies Inc.’s pest data and weather monitoring sensors are being deployed around the world.
So, the good news is that even the most severe disasters have silver linings.
The key to B.C.’s food security is to identify them and employ the province’s collective expertise to exploit them.
