SDG 2: Zero Hunger

Driven by a commitment to eliminate hunger, TMU researchers are developing innovative solutions to tackle food security and nutrition challenges. Through hands-on and academic research, such as the work at our Urban Farm, which uses rooftop spaces to grow produce and conduct research, we are advancing sustainable food systems and improving access to nutritious food. In collaboration with local and international partners, TMU is driving research that creates real-world impact in the fight against hunger.

• TMU’s Centre for Studies in Food Security (CSFS) works to promote food security through research, dissemination, education, community action and professional practice. CSFS takes an interdisciplinary and systemic approach to social justice, environmental sustainability, health and socio-cultural aspects of food security. The Centre shares information and facilitates dialogue among civil society organizations, universities, and governments, and hosts national and international conferences as part of its engagement with food security initiatives at local, regional and global levels.
• The Urban Farm is a living lab that brings together urban farmers, community partners and academics through interdisciplinary research on the rooftop farm. The living lab builds on user-driven research needs that respond to the challenges of designing and operating a rooftop farm using green roof technology. Ongoing projects include the Indigenous Foodways and Black Food Sovereignty initiatives, which aim to engage community members in selecting, growing and harvesting culturally significant crops.
• The Nutrition Discovery Labs (ND Labs) (external link)  at TMU conducts research focused on the physiological and environmental factors that contribute to appetite and energy imbalances with the goal of providing a foundation for advice on diet composition, physical activity and environment in preventing and managing overeating in children. The ND Labs aims to provide evidence-based dietary, exercise and environment strategies that can fill an important gap that parents, school administrators and policy makers can use to ensure children grow up happy and avoid a lifetime of poorer health.
• Ted Rogers School of Management professor Kelly McShane is leading a research project that will investigate how conservation agriculture, a method of agriculture that prevents the loss of arable land, can empower smallholder women farmers and build resilience against climate-related risks to their living conditions, food security and health in low- and middle-income countries. Professor McShane and professor Valerie Onyia, a visiting scholar at TMU, along with an interdisciplinary group of experts from Nigeria, Brazil, the U.K. and Canada, will examine the conservation agriculture practices used by women farmers and work to identify the benefits, limitations and socioeconomic resources needed for better outcomes. They will then co-produce practical adaptation strategies and best practices that can be applied in other countries around the world.

Committed to supporting food security through sustainable practices, TMU integrates food production into campus operations, ensuring fresh, nutritious food is grown using environmentally responsible practices and distributed to students and the local community. 

Ecological rooftop farms play an important role in mitigating the effects of climate change by minimizing the negative impacts of the urban, built environment by sequestering carbon, reducing the urban heat island, diverting stormwater, increasing biodiversity and supporting native pollinators. TMU’s Urban Farm applies regenerative agricultural practices such as minimizing soil disturbance, keeping soil covered, maintaining living roots in the soil and growing a diverse range of crops, including wild plants.

With more than 80 rooftop crops in production across two rooftop farms, the Urban Farm harvests more than 3,000 kilograms of fresh produce in a typical growing season. The farm uses ecological methods that support the health and well-being of our surrounding ecosystem. To maintain soil fertility, the farm uses crop rotations, mulches, cover crops and green manures and applies natural soil amendments, such as compost, compost tea and seaweed emulsion.

To maximize the social impact of the harvest, the Urban Farm follows a model of thirds distribution plan in which no less than one third is donated to the community, no more than one third is sold at market value, and one third is available at equitable rates for TMU students. This allows the harvest to be shared with as many members of the community as possible, while also generating revenue to sustain rooftop farm operations.

Food insecurity can significantly impact students’ well-being, academic performance and overall success. At TMU, we are committed to breaking down barriers to food access through a variety of initiatives that help ensure students have access to the affordable, nutritious food they need to thrive. 

• TMU Eats has partnered with the Office of the President, the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students and TMU student societies on a set of initiatives aimed at tackling food insecurity within the TMU community. These include free food during exam periods, free soup days and affordable on-campus meals through the Friendly Fiver program.
• Ted's Kitchen and The Met Dining Room at the Ted Rogers School of Management use only locally sourced top-quality ingredients for their dishes, at a fraction of the cost found anywhere else in the city. The restaurants are both Feast On certified (external link) , which is a government-issued certification for hospitality establishments that use over 65 percent locally produced food items.