About City Farmer
Shoemakers, fashion models, computer geeks, politicians, lawyers, teachers, chefs … all city dwellers … all can grow food at home after work in back yards, community gardens or on flat roofs. For the past 35 years, City Farmer has encouraged urban dwellers to pull up a patch of lawn and plant some vegetables, kitchen herbs and fruit. Our message is the same today as it was in 1978 and will be relevant far into the future.
This website is a collection of stories about our work at City Farmer here in Vancouver, Canada, and about urban farmers from around the world. The site is maintained by City Farmer executive director, Michael Levenston.
Email: cityfarm@interchange.ubc.ca
Phone: 604.685.5832
City Farmer’s first web site Urban Agriculture Notes (www.cityfarmer.org) has hundreds of pages of information about city farming. Begun in 1994, it was the first web site on the Internet to publish information about urban farming. Our Internet websites (.org and .info) grew out of our newspaper publication, “City Farmer”, which began in 1978.
City Farmer teaches people how to grow food in the city, compost their waste and take care of their home landscape in an environmentally responsible way. When visiting Vancouver, British Columbia, visit our staff at the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden, 2150 Maple Street, and see how we take care of our urban landscape. See a compost toilet, green roof, cob shed, organic food garden, permeable lane, natural lawn, waterwise garden, worm and backyard composter and more. 604.736.2250
See what we do at ‘The Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden’ in this 30 page photo album.
Link here to the Compost Garden Photo Album. Large 8MB PDF.
Below: Photo of our food garden.
2013 marks City Farmer’s “35th” year promoting urban agriculture!
Music video filmed at City Farmer’s Garden. Summer 2012
Graphic design students create ‘conceptual solutions’ for City Farmer
Our Vancouver Compost Garden – Video of ‘A Day in the Life’ August, 2012
German filmmaker visits City Farmer in Vancouver. Aug 19, 2011
The Face Behind “cityfarmer.info”. May 2011
City Farmer wins Treehugger’s “Best Farming/Gardening Website” Award 2011
“The Internet and Urban Agriculture” by Michael Levenston in JAFSDC Volume 1, Issue 2, Dec. 2010
Another flash from the past – Canadian Press 1981 – “Urban vegetable growth is unlimited”
Flash from the past – Canadian Press 1982 – “Cultivate veggies not grass”
Enthusiasm and Perspective: An discussion with a 32-year urban ag veteran, FoodGirl, July 26, 2010
Urban agriculture moves into the mainstream, WestEnder, April 21, 2010
Urban Sustainable Living Magazine, April 2010
City Farmer - Backyard composting and urban agriculture educators. Solid Waste and Recycling Magazine. February 2010
Corbis features 41 photos of the Vancouver Compost Demonstration garden run by City Farmer
City Farmer – Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture – Dec. 10, 2009
Backyard Eating - Old Times winter/spring 2008. Michael Levenston sows seeds of sustainability.
Urban Farming a Growing Trend The Epoch Times, July 30, 2008
Vancouver’s City Farmer in Your Backyard - July 7, 2008
City Farmer’s Wormshops – “Composting is Creepy” Vancouver Sun June 14, 2008
Heads in the Dirt - Watershed Sentinel – March April 2008
City Farmer Nominated for the YMCA Power of Peace Award – 2008
Looking back – a brief history of City Farmer written in 2003 for our 25th anniversary
30 years ago: City Farmer’s Demonstration Food Garden in Vancouver
1979 Flashback – “City Farming can produce tasty food”
Our news stories go back to 1978 when City Farmer began. We average about 100 media contacts every year.
