Victoria city council has moved to potentially ban the use of pesticides in commercial agriculture in all zones in the city, except parks.
City staff made recommendations at the committee of the whole meeting last Thursday to encourage small-scale commercial urban farming — producing agricultural products for sale.
Other recommendations include permitting commercial urban agriculture in all zones, as long as it doesn't emit unreasonable levels of odour, noise or artificial lighting, and permitting farm stands to sell plant products, eggs and honey.
Staff also recommended a pilot project to faciliate an increase in the number of food-bearing trees in city parks.
The Urban Food Tree Stewardship program would enable residents to plant and maintain a small number of fruit and nut trees in a park or open space in their neighbourhood in partnership with the department of parks, recreation and facilities.
The recommendations are part of the Growing in the City project, a year-long iniatitive to update and expand policies to support urban food production and boulevard gardening in the city.