Urban Farm launches two new initiatives this spring
The two initiatives were put on hold in 2020 to align with the university’s response to COVID-19. Last year, the team started harvesting crops on the plot of land.
Every year for Earth Day (external link) , people around the world take time to reflect on how we can take action on climate crisis issues and preserve the world we live in. This year on April 22, the theme for Earth Day is “invest in our planet”, with a focus on how businesses, governments and individuals can act boldly to take action on climate.
At the Ryerson Urban Farm, a quarter-acre rooftop farm above the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, two new initiatives are engaging students on campus to grow culturally significant crops through specific growing techniques. The green roof was established in 2004 on the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, and named the Andrew and Valerie Pringle Environmental Green Roof.
Samantha Williams, a Ryerson alumna, sprang into action at the farm to grow and harvest traditional plants and medicines using Indigenous perspectives.
The Indigenous Foodways project was a pilot program that began last spring on a 770-square-foot plot of land on the rooftop that was previously home to ceremonial tobacco plants grown for community use and spreading naturally throughout the farm. Arlene Throness, the Urban Farm manager, reached out to Aboriginal Student Services and connected with Samantha Williams, who was a student at the time. Williams began volunteering at the farm in 2019 to help with the distribution of ceremonial tobacco.
Williams, who is Shawnee and Potawatomi, advised that the roots of the tobacco plants should be left in the ground at the end of the season (rather than ripped out) and the flowers should not be cut off. Williams had a vision to redesign the garden and harvest plants using Indigenous growing methods and practices.
When Williams designed the plot, she incorporated the Medicine Wheel to represent the sacred medicines that would be growing there.
“I wanted the design of the plot to have meaning that would resonate and align with Indigenous values,” says Williams, who was an undergraduate student in professional communications.
“I incorporated the medicine wheel into the design to represent the sacredness of the space as well as the medicines that would be growing there. The medicine wheel is a universal symbol to many Indigenous people that represents our earth, the nations of the world and the four directions.”
Since the project launched last spring, Williams and a team of students have harvested sweetgrass, sage, tobacco, and other medicinal plants such as marshmallow, yarrow, echinacea and mint.
The Foodways project will be expanding to a new rooftop space located on the eighth floor of the Daphne Cockwell Health and Sciences Complex this upcoming spring. The rooftop has more than 4,000-square-feet of growing space and a capacity of 140 people, which will allow the team to host in-person programming, workshops and events.
The Black Food Sovereignty initiative is Black led, Black serving and Black mandated.
The Black Food Sovereignty initiative will occupy roughly a quarter of the new rooftop space at the Daphne Cockwell complex. The initiative aims to engage Black students on campus through sharing of food from farming to eating, focusing on culturally significant crops, growing techniques and providing nutrition education and cooking skills through virtual workshops.
The pilot program began last January following a collaboration between Nicole Austin and Throness through the Centre for Studies in Food Security. Austin joined the Urban Farm team as an engagement coordinator to further develop her vision for a program that is representative and welcoming to the Black, Caribbean and Black of African descent communities.
Austin named the program the Harvest Collective and Learning Circle. It is “3B oriented”, meaning it is Black-led, Black-serving and Black-mandated, as well as founded on four key pillars that Austin has identified for the initiative: food literacy, social justice, environmental stewardship, and community healing.
Okra was one of the five culturally significant crops that grew at the farm.
After a brief hiatus during the lockdown, Austin selected five culturally significant crops to grow at the farm that were representative of the diverse Black community – okra, African eggplant (garden eggs), callaloo, scotch bonnet peppers and Jamaican cerasee (bitter melon).
Starting in May, Austin will be leading a learning circle the third Friday of each month, which will include a workshop and an activity that will touch on one of the four key pillars. Participants will have the opportunity to harvest the crops together and take home a bag of freshly harvested produce.
For more information about the Urban Farm and updates on these two initiatives, check out the Urban Farm website and Instagram (external link) .
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