{"id":123,"date":"2014-06-13T19:40:40","date_gmt":"2014-06-13T19:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/?post_type=chapter&p=123"},"modified":"2014-09-02T15:43:34","modified_gmt":"2014-09-02T22:43:34","slug":"6-3-food-systems-in-the-physical-landscape","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/chapter\/6-3-food-systems-in-the-physical-landscape\/","title":{"raw":"Food Systems in the Physical Landscape","rendered":"Food Systems in the Physical Landscape"},"content":{"raw":"British Columbia food systems reflect\u00a0regional biophysical <\/strong>factors, human behaviour and the political-economic relations in which food practices have evolved and currently exist. The main biophysical\u00a0<\/strong>constraints to human food procurement in BC include\u00a0landscape features (e.g., slope and elevation), soil fertility, climate, and water availability (both groundwater and precipitation).\r\n\r\nGeologically speaking, British Columbia is a newcomer to North America, and most of the province has experienced dramatic geologic changes\u00a0over the last 200 million years.\u00a0The region as we know it today\u00a0was\u00a0created through tectonic movement (e.g., terraine deposition, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions) and climate-influenced, geomorphic processes (episodic glaciation, weathering, erosion and sediment transfer). As a result, BC has a \"pointy\" landscape with\u00a0several difficult-to-traverse mountain ranges and relatively few areas of high soil fertility suitable for conventional agricultural practices.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_812\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\"]\"Figure<\/a> Figure 5.1 Agricultural regions of British Columbia[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe highest soil fertility is\u00a0primarily located in sinuous<\/strong> river valleys<\/strong> and deltas much like the Fraser River Valley. In fact, of the province's 92,250,929-hectare land base, the Canadian Land Inventory estimates that only 5% is suitable for agriculture, 2.7% is capable of growing a reasonable range of crops and 1.1% is prime agricultural land (Smith, 2012).\r\n\r\nWhile the geography of soil fertility is severely constrained in BC and largely determinative of the major agricultural regions<\/span>, agricultural capability of the land is measured\u00a0by the Canadian Land Inventory<\/a>,[footnote]Canadian Land Inventory http:\/\/sis.agr.gc.ca\/cansis\/nsdb\/cli\/index.html<\/a>[\/footnote] which includes soil fertility as just one of many considerations in ranking lands on\u00a0a seven-class scale as shown in Table 1.\r\n\r\nClass 1 is prime agricultural land that has no significant limitations and is suitable for most crops while\u00a0Class 7 is land unsuitable to agriculture. The seven-class scale\u00a0is modified by 16\u00a0subclasses that provide\u00a0information on the kind of management problem or use limits that might exist for agricultural land;\u00a0for example, erosion (E),\u00a0excess\u00a0water (W), salinity (N)\u00a0and stoniness (P) (see Table 5.2).\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Table 5.1 Land Capability Class for Mineral Soils<\/caption>\r\n
Class 1<\/strong>\r\nClass 1 land is capable of producing the very widest range of crops. Soil and climate conditions are optimum, resulting in easy management.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
Class 2<\/strong>\r\nClass 2 land is capable of producing a wide range of crops. Minor restrictions of soil or climate may reduce capability but pose no major difficulties in management.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
Class 3<\/strong>\r\nClass 3 land is capable of producing a fairly wide range of crops under good management practices. Soil and\/or climate limitations are somewhat restrictive.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
Class 4<\/strong>\r\nClass 4 land is capable of a restricted range of crops. Soil and climate conditions require special management considerations.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
Class 5<\/strong>\r\nClass 5 land is capable of production of cultivated perennial forage crops and specially adapted crops. Soil and\/or climate conditions severely limit capability.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
Class 6<\/strong>\r\nClass 6 land is important in its natural state as grazing land. These lands cannot be cultivated due to soil and\/or climate limitations.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
Class 7<\/strong>\r\nClass 7 land has no capability for soil bound agriculture.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Table 5.2 Land Capability Subclasses for Mineral Soils<\/caption>\r\n
A <\/strong><\/td>\r\nSoil moisture deficiency<\/td>\r\nM<\/strong><\/td>\r\nSoil moisture deficiency<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
B<\/strong><\/td>\r\nWood in the profile<\/td>\r\nN<\/strong><\/td>\r\nSalinity<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
C<\/strong><\/td>\r\nAdverse climate\r\n(excluding precipitation)<\/td>\r\nP<\/strong><\/td>\r\nStoniness<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
D<\/strong><\/td>\r\nUndesirable soil structure<\/td>\r\nR<\/strong><\/td>\r\nShallow soil over bedrock and\/or bedrock outcroppings<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
E<\/strong><\/td>\r\nErosion<\/td>\r\nT<\/strong><\/td>\r\nTopography<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
F<\/strong><\/td>\r\nFertility<\/td>\r\nW<\/strong><\/td>\r\nExcess water\r\n(groundwater)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
I<\/strong><\/td>\r\nInundation\r\n(flooding by streams, etc.)<\/td>\r\nZ<\/strong><\/td>\r\nPermafrost<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
L<\/strong><\/td>\r\nDegree of decomposition- permeability<\/td>\r\nH<\/strong><\/td>\r\nDepth of organic soil over bedrock and\/or rockiness<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

Frost-Free Days<\/h2>\r\nThe interaction of landscape with climate also leads to\u00a0major constraints to the expansion of agriculture in BC. The number of frost-free days and growing degree days determines what kind of crops can be expected to successfully grow in different geographic regions. Frost-free days decline as elevation and latitude increase as shown in Figure 2.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_121\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\"]\"Figure<\/a> Figure 5.2 British Columbia frost-free days[\/caption]\r\n

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Water Accessibility<\/h2>\r\nWater accessibility is also a factor in the success of agriculture. In many areas of the province, such as the semi-arid Okanagan valley,\u00a0precipitation and\u00a0groundwater resources are combined with irrigation technology to increase the water availability of crops. As much of the agricultural lands occur in river deltas and floodplains, there is also sometimes a need to pump excess\u00a0water out of fertile soils.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_120\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\"]\"Figure<\/a> Figure 5.3 The town of Osoyoos, British Columbia, sits at the southern end of the\u00a0 semi-arid Okanagan valley[\/caption]\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_122\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\"]\"Figure<\/a> Figure 5.4 Annual precipitation in British Columbia[\/caption]\r\n

Attributions<\/h2>\r\n