Food Production in the City - Urban Agriculture and Beyond

Everyone (well, 89% at least), in Vancouver, has heard of or seen a community garden. But I wonder how many have taken time to wander through, ask questions or wonder how they come to be. This component of the course was to look at community gardens, other forms of urban agriculture (although it can be argued that community gardens are less about agriculture and more about community building) and an exploration of what might be possible in the future.


Collingwood Neighbourhood House (http://www.cnh.bc.ca/ca/) is an oasis of community, innovation and a velvet revolution. What else to call a place that is quietly changing the sense of neighbourhood and place?

We met the Coordinator of the local Food Security Institute and she showed us the rooftop garden shared by all the users of the neighbourhood house, the community garden, on Translink owned land, under the Skytrain and the site of a planned orchard in the neighbourhood.

The site of the new orchard is in an area of single-family homes and there are strong concerns by neighbours - they have questions about who will be involved, how to minimize loitering/trespassing/crime and seem unsure about any increased value to their sense of community. The dialogue seems to be ongoing and the experience and spirit of the neighbourhood house bode well for the process of coming to understanding. Hopefully, some analysis can be done of the beginning part of this project, to understand how/if some of the concerns/dissent could have been allayed.


Community gardens have allowed folks without backyards or sunny balconies to grow their heart's desire. As well, they have allowed neighbours to meet neighbours and break down some of the barriers inherent in urban living. The gardens also function as a crime prevention design - more people are using the land, more neighbours are valuing the land, and less crime or harm comes to that part of the neighbourhood. Most importantly, they reconnect people to food (or flowers) - from seedling to meal (or seed).





Another use of available land is practiced by urban farmers like City Farm Boy (http://cityfarmboy.com/). Another one of our field trips was to a rooftop garden on a new(er) building downtown. The garden plots were an amenity, to be sold to owners in the building (like a parking spot but greener:) but this plan went awry after most of the building was purchased for rental. City Farm Boy has arranged, with the developer/strata, to grow vegetables and herbs in the garden. He makes a living (just) and the developer/strata gain the added value of a beautiful space that may, over time, entice owners/tenants to purchase a plot.

What would happen if we farmed all of our rooftops? There are many flat roofs in Vancouver (and maybe in other temperate cities). Imagine all of that square footage under cultivation. Not as a hobby, but actually under intensive cultivation by an experienced farmer. What would happen if we could purchase a share of the bounty (a popular way for farmers to raise $ early in the season) and know where our produce/herbs were being grown?



I know I don't know exactly where my vegetables and fruit come from and certainly not who grew it. Do you? And if we did, would we value our food more?

Community gardens have been a good introduction for the public about urban agriculture. But if we want to work towards a sustainable food system, growing more of our own food will need to be seriously explored and attempted.