Man in urban garden reaching down to harvest salad greens in Vancouver.

Local Food

Our goal: Vancouver will become a global leader in urban food systems

A stronger local food system reduces the environmental impact of food production and transportation, and contributes to human health.

Read about the:

Progress we've made towards our 2020 target
Actions we will take between now and 2020
Recent successes that have moved us closer to our goals

Our target: Increase city-wide and neighbourhood food assets by a minimum of 50% over 2010 levels

Progress we've made so far

Local Food Chart

Source: City of Vancouver, Food Policy.

2015-2020 priority actions

Short-term actions for achieving our goals for 2020.
Over the next three years, we will continue to grow our food assets. The Vancouver Food Strategy and the Parks Board Local Food Action Plan provide the framework and guidance to implement this list of achievable actions.
- 7.1 - Adopt and implement urban farming policy to further enable commercial food production in the city and increase the number of urban farming businesses from 18 to 35.
- 7.2 - Increase the number of farmers markets from 11 to 22 and community food markets from 14 to 20.
- 7.3 - Increase the number of urban agriculture projects and plots from 4,423 to 5,500 and community kitchens from 69 to 80 with particular emphasis on encouraging broader participation by ethno-cultural groups.
- 7.4 - Support the Food Bank in their relocation to a new facility and incorporate components of a food hub as envisioned in the Vancouver Food Strategy.

Our successes

Read about our successes in the 2019-2020 Implementation Update Dashboard (531 KB)

How we measure success

The metrics for Local Food rely on the annual count of total food assets within Vancouver.
Food assets include:
- Number of community garden plots
- Farmers markets
- Community orchards
- Community composting facilities
- Community kitchens
- Community food markets
- Urban farms
These metrics are maintained by the Social Policy and Projects Division within Community Services at the City.

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Initiatives that are helping us reach our goal and target

Backyard chickens

Read the rules for keeping hens in your backyard, and learn how to care for and register your hens.

Community gardens and orchards

Find community garden locations, resources, and information on how to create new gardens.

Vancouver Food Strategy

The Vancouver Food Strategy is a plan to improve our food system, making the city more equitable, sustainable, and economically healthy.

Compost soil

The Vancouver Landfill composting facility creates compost from yard trimmings for sale and donation. You may pick up compost from the landfill.