Updated: Sat Jun. 06 2009 18:40:11

ctvbc.ca

The UBC farm is an urban oasis, 24 hectares large and providing Vancouverites with fresh food - but it's sitting on valuable real estate.

UBC academic coordinator Andrew Rushmere says that aside from growing fruits and vegetables, the farm educates the public about the importance of eating locally.

"It's the last working farm in the city," Rushmere said. "In North America, not many cities have working farms within their limits."

But the farm lies in the middle of the UBC campus, and has an estimated developed value of $200 million - leading planners at the cash-strapped university to push to develop the land into housing.

A benefit was held to save the farm, attended by renowned food author Michael Pollan, a vocal proponent of growing food locally.

"I want to connect the dots between the problem of health and our diet, a problem that concerns many of us," he said.

And Rushmere says the farm itself is worth more than the land it's planted on.

"The message we'd like to get across is this is a very valuable piece of property, but it's more valuable leaving it as a research farm," he said.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Stephen Smart