Give us more time, Essex County’s greenhouse growers are pleading with local municipalities vowing to crack down on light pollution that is brightening up the night skies over acres of indoor crops.
“Our growers understand and share community concerns on the effects of light pollution to the environment,” George Gilvesi, chair of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG), said in a recent statement.
But the organization representing almost 120 greenhouse growers in Leamington and Kingsville is critical of recent steps taken by both municipal councils to address concerns expressed by residents over the night-time light levels used by these agri-food enterprises in the growing of their crops, particularly the fall-to-spring period when the days are shorter and natural sunlight levels are low.
And the OGVG has issued a warning: “The recently enacted bylaws may be proven to be both impractical and unenforceable.”