The construction of a GoodLeaf vertical farm in Longueuil, mostly owned by the giant McCain, will result in the loss of nearly 12 hectares of land “with excellent agricultural potential”, the equivalent of about twenty footballs.
The Commission for the Protection of Agricultural Land (CPTAQ) has authorized a division of the multinational agri-food company to purchase 38 hectares of farmland. The company plans to use a third of this to build a vertical greenhouse that will produce young shoots and mini green vegetables for grocery stores in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
The company declined to answer questions from Le Devoir about the possibility of expanding its production to the remainder of the acquired area, which is currently leased to a local farmer. She declined to comment on the case via email.
However, in documents it provided to Quebec’s Farmland Guardian, the company says it plans to establish a seedling plant on this farmland in Longueuil, a stone’s throw from Saint-Hubert airport. The construction of one of them is already well advanced.
This vertical greenhouse — a building with few windows that relies on hydroponic systems — should reach 70,000 square feet, according to those documents. Parking areas for employees and visitors as well as maneuvering areas for truck transport are being built next to this building.
However, the acquired lands are based on Class 2 soils, meaning “soils with excellent agricultural potential,” according to data from the Canada Land Inventory (CLI), which assesses the country’s soil quality. A situation that makes the agricultural community react.
“We don’t like it that much”
“We don’t really like this type of project,” admits General Director of the Union des Producteurs Agricole (UPA), Charles-Félix Ross. At the end of the day, an area of excellent farmland is sacrificed. And to do what? To concrete the earth,” he says, explaining that the resource soil can no longer be mined.
All decisions [concernant ce projet] were taken a few months before we came into power.
He likens the GoodLeaf project to “an industrial complex and agricultural factory” rather than a simple greenhouse: “There are parking lots and transshipment points. This installation could have been in a designated white zone [comme un parc industriel]. Allowing installation in an agricultural zone also brings tax benefits, such as: B. Certain deductions. »
In his opinion, this type of initiative is not part of an “overall vision”.
The new Longueuil administration of Mayor Catherine Fournier, who has been in office for less than a year, assures that in the future it will oppose any project of this kind that would eat up agricultural land. “All decisions [concernant ce projet] were taken a few months before we came to power,” explains the mayor’s special adviser, Louis-Philip Prévost.
The city wants to protect the cultivable land on its territory, which could have been done, especially since Longueuil owned the coveted plots. “If we were presented with a project like this today, would we accept it being built in an agricultural zone? The answer is simple: no,” he says, adding that GoodLeaf’s activities respond to the demand for food self-sufficiency and that the city’s position has nothing to do with the company. .
40% of agricultural land deserted
“The acquisition of very good land to build a vertical farm or greenhouses – because we are talking about very good land – should give reason to think about the development of this sector in Quebec,” believes Michel Saint-Pierre, co-president of das Institut Jean-Garon, a think tank in Quebec specializing in agriculture.
The question is all the more important, he continues, as the government intends to double the volume of greenhouse cultivation in the province by 2025, according to the strategy for greenhouse growth in Quebec published in autumn 2020. Goal: to be more self-sufficient when it comes to food.
Mr Saint-Pierre was Quebec Deputy Minister of Agriculture for many years, as well as Director General of Financière agricole, whose role is to support the sector: “It is not so much about the zoning of agriculture as it is about a concern we need to know what uses we want to make from the best floors. »
The land in Longueuil is of excellent quality and is among the best in the province, he recalls.
And if the use of agricultural land is necessary to ensure the development of the sector, why not favor less efficient and, above all, unoccupied land, asks Mr Saint-Pierre. According to estimates by the Jean Garon Institute, 40% of protected agricultural areas are unused and entire areas are in the process of being abandoned from agriculture.
“Think of Lanaudière, the Bois-Francs region, the MRC de l’Érable, where entire rows have been emptied. Why not consider housing them in those farming facilities over there? And some of those regions are not far from Montreal. You need an overall vision for that,” he emphasizes.