CBC Radio: Diet For A Hungry Planet - Urban Agriculture

Joe Nasr, one of the authors of the classic book ‘Urban Agriculture - Food Jobs and Sustainable Cities’, spoke about city farming on CBC’s ‘The Current’ today. The show can be heard as a podcast linked below. Joe Nasr, co-founder of the North American Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Alliance, teaches urban agriculture at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Hear the CBC show here (the second story).

The North American Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Alliance

The Cedar Tree Foundation has awarded the Urban and Periurban Agriculture Alliance a grant to support its first year. “The aim of this initiative is to form an alliance encompassing a wide and culturally diverse range of actors and stakeholders involved in urban and peri-urban agriculture in North America, to share knowledge and best practices amongst them and to foster linkages externally, so as to give voice to its advocates and recognition and legitimacy to its activities.”

See the six-page statement: the ‘official’ Alliance announcement here. (download Word document.)

CVFN 410 Understanding Urban Agriculture
Ryerson University Course

“Millions globally practise urban agriculture, with governments and civil society organizations increasingly promoting it to enhance urban food security, health, community building, sustainable livelihoods, and environmental management. This course expands the understanding of urban agriculture, its main types and dimensions, its potential impacts, the constraints and opportunities facing it, the stakeholders involved in it, the historical contexts shaping it, and the local, regional, and international development trends bearing on it.”

Link to course here.

Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs and Sustainable Cities

Published in 1996, this book is very hard to find. One used copy on Amazon is for sale today for $144.00 ! We do hope to see a new edition available before too long.

More information about the book can be found here.

Content of the CBC Radio Show: Diet For A Hungry Planet - Urban Agriculture

“As part of our ongoing series Diet for a Hungry Planet, we took note of three unassuming chickens causing a disproportionately large stir in Halifax. Their names were Captain Crochet, Bernadette and Chicken. They provide Louise Hanavan with fresh eggs. But they’re ruffling the feathers of some of neighbours like Reg Harper. Ms. Hanavan and Mr. Harper explained the situation as they each see it.?

“The Halifax Regional Municipality allowed the chickens to stay until the end of February 2008, but what happens then is still very much up for debate. The community council held a public meeting on the issue, voicing some conflicting thoughts on chickens.?

“In January 2008, a similar battle played out in New Westminster, British Columbia. In the end, a family there was told their property was just too small to keep their six chickens.?

“For most city dwellers, the idea of raising chickens — or other food — in your backyard probably just seems quaint; a throwback of sorts. But for The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), it’s a key part of a sustainable food system for the future.?

“In February 2008, the WMO called for greater investment in urban and indoor agriculture as a way of safeguarding food security in the world’s mega-cities. Robert Stefanski is a scientific officer with the WMO and explained the thinking behind the proposal.

“And according to Sunny Lam, urban farming could make a big difference in the size of your carbon footprint. He’s an independent researcher who studies food and environment issues. He looked specifically at Kingston, Ontario and what would happen to its greenhouse gas emissions if more of the city’s residents grew their own food.

“Some ever-optimistic people look at these various threads and see a future where cities can feed themselves with community governments, food co-ops and even large, commercial market gardens all playing a part.?

“To get the lay of the land on that idea, we were joined by Joe Nasr, co-founder of the North American Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Alliance who teaches urban agriculture at Ryerson University in Toronto.”