Southlands in Transition

As a volunteer on the Southlands Planning Committee I have heard the question, "Why not farm all of the Southlands?" The Planning Team is charged with envisioning use for this land that would increase the sum of our community's happiness. Would farming the entire Southlands do that? While I cannot speak on the Planning Team's behalf, my opinion is, no. For my family at least, it is easy to be disconnected from the source of the food we eat. We drive by farms, but we don't have the opportunity to participate in our food's production or to know the people who grow our food except in rare cases, when we have had the pleasure of buying certain produce direct from farms in driving distance. How about walking distance?