There was a rally yesterday to save the university farm. It's worked by student volunteers, who grow a lot of their own food and supply various food banks and homeless shelters. The university wants to sell some of the land and build more condos on it. To raise awareness of the issue and protest the university's plans, students arranged a protest march across campus. The rally was opened by a representative of the Musqueam, who technically have rights to the land the university is built on, and a number of other speakers, including J.B. MacKinnon, author of the 100-mile diet books (
wiki link) who relied on the farm for local produce. David Suzuki was also there, but I missed his speech. Then, everyone trekked across campus to the farm.
The Save our Farm standard bearers:
The Carnival Band provides a festive air:
Here we are being good citizens, obeying traffic laws and crossing with the lights. Most of the roads were closed for the march and police apologized for not being able to close this one too. One of the main access roads has been blocked off for a crime scene investigation and most of the traffic is being rerouted along here. I don't know how many people were there, but it looked quite a few.
The chants really got louder once the march entered this construction site: No more condos! Save the Farm!
Down with concrete! Up with Trees!
Save our chickens!
Save our bees!