[getsmart-l] Urban Agriculture Distance Learning Courses+NOW Allotment Gdn. Article

[John O'Gorman]

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2007-10-11/news_story2.php

News
Harvesting denial
Odd that the city wants to green but isn't pushing allotment gardens
By PAUL TEREFENKO
A block north of a forgettable stretch of land occupied by used car lots, a rogue Coffee Time-ish donut shop and a recently failed church with a now ironic "Jesus Saves" neon sign, people are harvesting tomatoes under the hum of high-voltage towers.

The 20 or so plots on Old Weston just north of St. Clair, the Silverthorn Hydro Land Allotment Gardens, fall under the jurisdiction of the city's parks department, as do 11 other allotment gardens around the city. 

But it seems more appropriate to say they fall under the city's radar. 

The size of these minuscule farms vary, as do their locations, and it seems the only constant is that they are next to impossible to find. 

Given the shift to healthier food and the en vogue greening of our lives, why isn't the city encouraging its freshly green-thumbed citizenry to grow organic veggies, experience the joys of the outdoors and socialize a little with like-minded gardening enthusiasts at local allotment gardens? 

Even www.toronto.ca offers inadequate info on how the plots work or where they are. Potential gardeners are left to piece together scraps of information from community websites like that of the Friends of Dufferin Grove or personal blogs. 

"There is rather limited information on the site," admits parks supervisor of customer service Mark Lawson. He explains that when he took over in 1998, around the time of amalgamation, allotment gardens were in administrative chaos. 

"I would hear horror stories of people who'd been trying to get a plot for five years," he says, noting that the department has fixed a slew of inconsistencies related to waiting lists, pricing, services and plot size. 

He adds that the job is ongoing. "We need to do a better job of advertising these plots," but he can't give a time frame for when residents can expect that to happen. 

In fact, Lawson was initially unable to provide the names and locations of allotment gardens, adjusting their number to nine and then back to 12. 

It would be wrong to say Toronto just doesn't care any more, but allotment gardens seem to be dinosaurs of early- and mid-20th-century life. No one, it seems, has rethought them in the modern context. 

Community gardens, on the other hand, occupy a greater share of the urban planting landscape. "These are structured differently, as they are community-initiated and community-managed," explains Gerda Wekerle, a prof in York U's faculty of environmental studies and an expert on city agriculture. Allotments, she says, are more individualistic and regulated. 

Even the term stirs a bleak image of postwar rationing and handouts. Everyone wants to be in a "community," but "allotment" is something you need to survive. 

Regardless, T.O.'s allotments, without fanfare or farmers' markets, remain full. For some, including Europeans used to the Old World allotment system established in Britain and Germany for generations, the gardens are so built in to the weave of daily life that Lawson gets asked if the plots can be bequeathed to loved ones. (They can't.) 

So why isn't the city running ads in shelters promoting this eco food source. Wekerle thinks she has an answer. "Thinking like a bureaucrat, if you have 1,617 spaces and they're all full, why would you advertise them?" she says. 

"Why would you want to encourage more people to apply for plots if you don't have the land?" 

And there's the rub. The city has no strategy to procure more allotment real estate. Still, while the parks department can't provide stats on demand, allotments have been getting easier to obtain because this generation of gardeners is getting too old to till the land. Even the prized High Park location only had two names carried over from last year's waiting list. 

The manageable $53.50 annual permit fee more than covers the city's costs of maintaining the gardens, many of which are on undesirable leased Hydro lands or otherwise difficult-to-develop terrain. 

If you plan to snag a patch, circle February 1 on your calendar. You have to be on the ball and dial the city's permit section (416-392-8188), endure a delay and put your name on a waiting list for your plot choices. If all goes well, you'll owe the city $53.50 and have a patch of rototilled earth come May. 

PLOTS TO GROW BY

. Bishop , at Finch and Bayview 
. Daventry , at Brimorton and Markham 
. Four Winds , at Four Winds and Keele 
. Givendale , at Lawrence and Kennedy 
. High Park , at Bloor and Parkside 
. Jonesville , at Victoria Park and Eglinton 
. Leslie Spit , Leslie south of Commissioners 
. Riverlea , an indoor allotment garden operating through the winter 
. Silverthorn Hydro Lands , at St. Clair and Old Weston 
. Stoffel , Stoffel Drive, near Dixon and Highway 27 
. West Deane , at Rathburn and Martin Grove 
. York Gardens , at St. Clair and Jane 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: TFPC - Toronto Food Policy Council 
To: TFPC - Toronto Food Policy Council 
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 4:38 PM
Subject: Urban Agriculture Distance Learning Courses



===========================================================
NEW: URBAN AGRICULTURE DISTANCE LEARNING COURSES 

Urban agriculture in increasingly practiced by people from all walks of
life. Support for urban agriculture is increasing, as is the demand for
training. In response to this demand, Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada),
ETC Urban Agriculture (the Netherlands) and RUAF (International network of
Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food security) will be offering a
series of unique Distance Learning courses on urban agriculture. 
Starting from January 2008, students, staff from NGOs and research
institutes, representatives from local and national governments as well as
international organizations can sign up for the urban agriculture courses
with a focus to enabling multi-stakeholder research, action planning,
policy development and implementation on urban agriculture.  The courses
are designed in such a way that they can be accessed with low-speed
Internet connection. Course materials will also be provided on CD-Rom.
Courses will currently only be given in English, in future courses will
hopefully also be provided in Spanish, French and possibly Portuguese,
Chinese and Arabic.

The courses will be offered in two modalities:

1. ACCREDITED(as part of the Ryersons University's 
Continuing Education program): Each course will run for 14 weeks or one
semester. It is estimated that course participants will spend at least 3
hours/week on lessons and study. Course participants will interact with
experienced course instructors and other students and participate in group
discussions and assignments. Grading will be based on the level of
participation as well as a 
final exam.   Course participants will also have access to 
a technical help-desk and library. Upon successful completion of the
course, course participants will receive an official transcript of their
participation.  Course fees amount to CAD 456 (equivalent to US$ 465) per
course. 
Please find attached more information on the first course "Understanding
urban agriculture" as well as on procedures for inscription.

2. FREE AND SELF-PACED (independent learning): From next 
year onwards, the materials developed for the university courses will also
be offered for free on the RUAF website
(www.ruaf.org) and as a CD-Rom.  In this set up, learners decide for
themselves what materials to study and when. 
Learners do not interact with instructors or other learners, and cannot
earn a diploma, certificate or any University credits. They neither have
access to technical support.

TO INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS
Please find attached more information on the courses as well as an
Expression of Interest from. Kindly fill in this form and send the
completed from to Joe Nasr (jnasr at ryerson.ca).

TO ORGANISATION WORKING IN THE FIELD OF URBAN AGRICULTURE Please circulate
this email and attachments to your partners and networks. If possible,
please also consider funding one of your staff or partners to participate
in the accredited urban agriculture courses.

For more information:
Marielle Dubbeling (m.dubbeling at etcnl.nl) Joe Nasr (jnasr at ryerson.ca)

=================================================================

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The Toronto Food Policy Council manages this information service for people working on food issues with community organizations, social agencies, public health units, educational institutions, faith and justice organizations, and local governments.  If you would like to share information on community gardens, urban agriculture, farmers markets, school meals, obesity, social determinants of health and diet, local food systems, or multicultural, educational and anti-hunger initiatives in your area, please send them to Wayne Roberts at wrobert at toronto.ca or tfpc at toronto.ca.  Opinions expressed in items carried through this information service do not, unless explicitly stated, reflect the views of either the Toronto Food Policy Council or Toronto Public Health.

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