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| From FoodCycles Logbook (Photo via Carla Faccinna) |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TORONTO, ONTARIO – September 14, 2009
FoodCycles Officially Ignites Its Toronto City Farm
TORONTO — Join FoodCycles, Toronto’s 2nd city farm (http://foodcycles.org), for their official launch party at Parc Downsview Park on Friday, October 2, 2009. The evening will include music, dancing, refreshments, a tour of the greenhouse and field, and opportunities for meeting with urban food producers and food policy shapers.
“The Toronto food community has been tremendous, and this is our opportunity to give back and involve the community,” said David Wild, Co-Founder and Co-Director of FoodCycles. “It will be wonderful to celebrate growing food and community in Toronto with anyone who wants to join.”
The fun happens from 6 PM to 11 pm at the FoodCycles greenhouse and one-acre field. FoodCycles is located in Parc Downsview Park, at the southeast corner of Keele Street and Sheppard Avenue (70 Canuck Ave W, map, directions & how-to at http://bit.ly/1GYyWQ).
Music will be dished out in large heaps by The Group of Seven – FoodCycles Board Member Ian Aley’s band – and local funk DJ Michael Lewis. Supporters of FoodCycles will be able to purchase harvest shares for credit towards food, compost or education workshops, and receive 20% extra credit as a special offer (http://bit.ly/fuPWi). Refreshments will be served beginning at 6:00 PM, with a welcome reception & intro at 6:30-7:30 PM, a relaxing break between 7:30 and 8:00 PM. Music and dancing will start at 8:00.
You can join the event on Facebook otherwise this event is BY INVITE only (contact foodcycles@gmail.com for more details). Space is limited to 150 guests.
Volunteers Clayton, Alness, Emily and Anne harvesting a massive amount of kale. (Photos via Sunny Lam)
FoodCycles is a productive city farm and food learning centre based in the Greater Toronto Area. They raise worms, produce nutritious, vibrant soil compost, and grow vegetables, fruit and eventually fish and honey outdoors, indoors and upwards. FoodCycles’ will create a just and ecological city food system that inspires all people to come together to grow, learn about, and celebrate food and earth in Toronto. FoodCycles is supported by the City of Toronto’s Live Green Community Program, Parc Downsview Park, Wayne Roberts of Now Magazine, Heifer International Canada (Ontario), Evergreen, Home Depot, FoodShare, the STOP Community Food Centre, the Toronto Food Policy Council, MetroAg Alliance – Alliance for Urban Agriculture and Enterprising Non-profits Toronto.
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CONTACT
Sunny Lam
Co-Director, FoodCycles
Communications, Outreach and Social Enterprise Development, MES
t: 416 845 0818
http://foodcycles.org
Twitter: @foodcycles
Email: foodcycles@gmail.com
Facebook Fan Page: http://bit.ly/13ToL1
“Growing vibrant soil, food and community.”
JOIN the FoodCycles MAILING LIST here http://bit.ly/BpyE
JOIN the FoodCycles FACEBOOK fan page: http://bit.ly/13ToL1
ADD FoodCycles on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/ev4rB
VOLUNTEER with FoodCycles – FILL OUT our application form http://bit.ly/GvxEc
VIEW our FoodCycles EVENTS calendar http://bit.ly/3Ikr3
Check out our PHOTO GALLERY @ http://bit.ly/rdfPA
JOIN our FoodCycles Google Group at http://bit.ly/199J0F
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SUBJECT: CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS
Most wonderful & learned friends, supporters and visitors,
Just wanted to say that in FoodCycles is actually the first not-for-profit, grassroots city farm social enterprise in Toronto (on federal land) formed from a collective of organizations and not specifically government initiated. It seems that in my haste to keep the title from being “FoodCycles Officially Ignites Toronto’s First Nonprofit Eco-Social Enterprise City Farm on Federal Land” I shortened it a tad bit too much.
The honour of first urban farm actually goes to Black Creek Village’s TRCA run urban farm (see the description below and references). We love our TRCA neighbours including the fine, upstanding Gary Wilkins and the people in the TRCA office building beside us (70 Canuck Ave). That includes you too Brooke Erickson! And you, Solomon Boye (who we’d like to meet and haven’t figured out how)! So we’d never want to steal their spotlight
Again thank you, Dagmaur Baur and Anan Loli (of the Afri-Can Food Basket) for the extra notification! So if anyone needs some clarification just point them to this comment!
Sincerely yours,
Sunny & the FoodCycles Team et al.
TORONTO URBAN FARM @ BLACK CREEK
“Toronto Urban Farm
Located in one of Toronto’s most vulnerable and stigmatized communities (Jane & Finch), this innovative community development initiative engages youth and the community in urban organic farming, leadership development, environmental stewardship and health promotion.
Background
The Toronto Urban Farm is a partnership between the City of Toronto and Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA). The farm sits on approximately 3.2 hectares (8 acres) of TRCA-owned land near the southeast corner of Jane Street and Steeles Avenue at Black Creek Pioneer Village. Located in one of Toronto’s most vulnerable and stigmatized communities, this innovative community development initiative engages youth and the community in urban organic farming, leadership development, environmental stewardship and health promotion. Services are provided through collaboration with the surrounding neighbourhood and organizations from various sectors, such as social agencies, schools, faith groups, and businesses.
The concept of the urban farm was developed in 2002 by TRCA. In 2002, TRCA turned over the eight acre parcel to the City of Toronto’s Community Gardens Program (CGP) within the Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division City under a Management Agreement. The Toronto Urban Farm operates as an extension of the CGP’s Rockcliffe Demonstration and Teaching Garden (RDTG). The RDTG offers multiple services that support community gardening and urban agriculture city-wide, such as demonstration of Beneficial Management Practices in urban agriculture, heirloom vegetable seedling production, youth and adult training in organic food production, and children’s gardening.
Sustainable Near-Urban Agriculture
The Toronto Urban Farm project objectives fulfill Toronto City Council’s mandate to promote urban agriculture and create local food production pilot projects. It also fulfills TRCA’s commitment to the Sustainability Round Table and fulfills the Sustainable Communities objective under its The Living City vision by means of:
• Providing youth employment and leadership training skills
• Increasing participants’ knowledge and skills of organic farming, environmental stewardship and local food systems
• Building community capacity to address local food security and environmental issues
• Promoting healthy nutrition and active lifestyles
• Increasing the availability of rare and nearly extinct vegetable and other plant species”
REFERENCES
http://www.trca.on.ca/learn/near-urban-agriculture/toronto-urban-farm.dot
http://www.ryerson.ca/foodsecurity/projects/urbandesign/Gary%20Wilkins%20and%20Sonia%20Dhir.pdf
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