Action research and reducing the vulnerability of peri-urban agriculture: a case study from the Montreal Region

Important pressures still increase the vulnerability of peri-urban farming despite initiatives to protect agricultural land and activities since the mid-1960s in several jurisdictions in the USA and Canada. Often, farmland is still removed from agricultural reserves for the good of society' (for example, creating industrial parks). In 2008, an action research project was initiated to attempt to reduce agricultural vulnerability in several peri-urban and rural areas near Montreal by emphasising the importance of the appropriation of the value of these farmlands by non-farm citizens and actors. The action research roles involved accompanying the farmers, facilitating meetings, mobilising non-farm actors, and informing farmers of possibilities when asked to do so. In this article, one specific project is analysed in Senneville (in the west of Montreal Island). While the project was initiated by the farmers to guarantee their long-term future, they also sought to involve other, mostly non-agricultural, actors. In a colloquium, a collective vision for the project was constructed, integrating other functions of farmland such as conservation and leisure activities. Many meetings were organised over a three-year period and formal presentations were made to the municipality. The project is ongoing, including new farm operations and the reinforcement of local markets for marketing mainly organic produce. The area is now an integral part of an emerging green belt' of the Montreal agglomeration and is already part of a green coalition' of both urban and peri-urban actors (farmers and non-farmers), and an emerging food system movement which represents a more holistic approach to food production.