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Buildings and roads are cutting into our farm land and the amount of land available for agriculture is slowly but surely getting smaller. For individuals wishing to have a natural, traditional, ecological and healthier way of life, urban agriculture is a useful way of going back to nature. The potential for the city to have the majority of its own fresh vegetable and herbs is vast whilst urban agriculture is hidden mainly in backyards and community gardens, it doesn't mean that without the right support this couldn't be a quite profitable market. With the recession and individuals leaning towards a healthier lifestyle this urban gardening is becoming very popular, but there are many barriers preventing an efficient approach, for example when living in Toronto condominiums. Now organizations are getting in on the act and attempting to break down those obstructions. During 1991, the Toronto Food Policy Council (TFPC) was formed as a sub-committee of the Toronto Board of Health. It plans to create policies and programs advancing food security in partnership with diverse business and community groups. Looking at organizations who are linked with this council, we find that one of the best known ones is Foodshare. This organization works to support urban farming through education, assistance, land preservation and accurate food labeling, as well as supporting long-term approaches to food problems. Another intriguing project is called The Stop Community Food Centre. This project has two centres, one mainly dealing with the education of sustainable food, the other more the practicalities with community projects, a drop-in centre, food banks and other community dependent support. Teaching youths and whole communities about organic farming, the Toronto Urban Farm works with the City of Toronto and Region Conservation to provide cooperation with the surrounding district and organizations from many sectors, and services such as social agencies, schools and businesses in the local area. If you are a youth looking for a hobby specifically geared at youths, or you know someone who is, then the Young Urban Farmers is worth contacting. Created in 2009 by university students, they want to show that gardening can be fun and their main goal is to help people understand this and grow their own fresh food. If you do choose to go ahead and have a go at urban farming, then it's worth remembering that the best type of fruit or vegetables to cultivate in these situations are ones that mature fast such as tomatoes and radishes. One of the first rules of gardening is to shy away from planting the same thing year after year, this will cause the soil to be unhealthy, you will invite insects and could end up with diseases. If you watch gardening TV you will find that the gardeners recommend you grow plants that 'work' together; plants give off certain chemicals which support each other and have better pest defense and higher yielding crops.
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farming, urban agriculture, toronto,
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