Young Urban Farmers CSA (Finalist.)
Young Urban Farmers CSA is a non-profit organization with the goal of reconnecting people to fresh, locally-grown food. We do this by converting Toronto’s backyards into a sustainable source of fresh, delicious produce for its urban inhabitants and distributing the food via a community shared agriculture (CSA) model. Fuelled by a passion for healthy living, local organic produce, and environmental responsibility, we hope to spark a new revolution in sustainable urban living by building community foodsheds while providing the freshest, tastiest, urban-grown produce to Toronto residents.
Our primary program of running neighbourhood-based community shared agriculture programs has been self-sustaining and independently operated for the past two seasons. Despite this, we are strongly committed to working with our community members and with other local organizations in building community foodsheds and inspiring people around locally-grown food. These partnerships have included collaborations with Volunteer Toronto, Madison Community Services, The Stop Community Food Centre, Hillesum Farms, Meal Exchange, and the Canadian Association of Girls in Science.
Young Urban Farmers CSA is a non-profit organization with the goal of reconnecting people to fresh, locally-grown food. We do this by converting Toronto’s backyards into a sustainable source of fresh, delicious produce for its urban inhabitants and distributing the food via a community shared agriculture (CSA) model. Fuelled by a passion for healthy living, local organic produce, and environmental responsibility, we hope to spark a new revolution in sustainable urban living by building community foodsheds while providing the freshest, tastiest, urban-grown produce to Toronto residents.
Started in 2009, YUF CSA is an entirely youth-led and youth-run organization. We operate a community shared agriculture program in 3 neighbourhoods across the City of Toronto: Lawrence Park North, Wychwood, and Riverdale. In 2011, 14 homeowners donated their yard (front and/or back) for us to convert into an intensive vegetable garden. Our team of enthusiastic volunteers then takes care of managing the garden doing everything from the planning and prep to the digging and planting, through to the watering and harvesting of the delicious produce. The veggies are then distributed among land-sharers, our volunteers, as well as local community members who purchase a share of the produce from the gardens.
Urban vegetable gardens support our cities and our climate by reducing the distance food has to travel from food to plate. They also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase plant biodiversity, reduce the urban heat island effect, engage the community in a social project, and allow people to enjoy fresh, delicious produce right from a local neighbourhood backyard.
Growing food in an urban environment has the ability to reduce emissions in an urban environment. Through our program, we help to reduce emissions through our primary CSA program, as well as through our outreach and education programs.
Operations-Related Emissions Reduction Strategies
From an operations perspective, locally-grown food reduces greenhouse gas emissions by minimizing the distance food has to travel from field to plate. In 2010, our participants traveled an average of 2.65km for a return trip for their weekly harvest pickup. To put this in perspective, a 2005 study by Foodshare reported locally sourced food traveled an average of 101km versus 5,346km for imported foods to Toronto, and emitted 100 times less greenhouse gas emissions. By growing hyper-locally, we virtually eliminate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with vehicles shipping food from farm to grocery store, the need for temporary storage, and the energy used to refrigerate and store the produce before it gets to the average Torontonian's plate. By growing locally, many of the greenhouse gas emissions normally associated with transporting and bringing food into the city have been eliminated.
In addition, we do not use any packaging, saving an average of 120 pieces of packaging each week, therefore reducing the energy use from manufacturing and disposal of temporary packaging - the majority of which is petroleum based, and not easily recyclable or compostable. Finally, our gardens in each neighbourhood are often next door to each other and easily accessible by public transit. This enables our volunteers to bicycle, take public transit, or even walk to the gardens, eliminating the need for a motorized vehicle. Together, our collective efforts reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions we generate, reduce smog-causing emissions from motor vehicles and inspire others to take on similar initiatives.
In 2011, YUF CSA invested in two bicycle trailers to transport the produce as well as equipment and tools between gardens. This has enabled us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by diverting our transportaion needs away from fossil-fuel vehicles to a more sustainable method of transportation. A quick estimate yields a reduction of over 100km of transportation diverted to bicycle transportation. The Sightline Institute has calculated an average single passenger car driver emits 1.2lbs of CO2 per mile driven, which means our program reduced Toronto's total emissions by over 120lbs through bicycle travel in 2011. On our wish list of items for future growing seasons is to have a fleet of bicycles at each of our garden locations to allow all volunteers, however they arrive at the gardens to travel between gardens by bicycle, further reducing GHG emissions in the city of Toronto.
One of the major issues surrounding large cities with regards to smog and climate change is the urban heat island effect, where the average temperature within an urban area is significantly higher than in nearby rural areas. This is due to the high concentration of pavement and concrete within cities that absorb solar radiation, and release it as heat, contributing to smog and increased energy consumption. As the temperatures are higher in the city, cities become more reliant on energy-intensive artificial cooling, which in turn emit greenhouse gases, raise temperatures and contribute to climate change. Gardens, on the other hand, absorb solar radiation and carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, and convert it into plant matter and in our case, nutritious food. Similarly, plants and soil absorb rainfall that would otherwise run off and strain the sewer system, while utilizing pollutants like nitrogen and phosphorus to reduce smog in the city.
Finally, from an operations perspective, gardens increase plant biodiversity and preserve heirloom and open-pollinated varieties of vegetables that could be threatened by climate change if not continually grown and diversified. We install rain barrels in our gardens (which can save an average of 31,000L of rain in Toronto, or 450L per average rainfall, or 6.2kg of CO2 per year), create compost piles in each of our yards, practice low-till gardening, and actively work to improve the condition and fertility of the soil which improves the vitality of the Earth and local environment. YUF CSA is centered around building a community of people who are passionate about these issues in order, and create spaces to share ideas, collaborate on new initiatives, and promote urban agriculture.
Education and Outreach Emissions Reduction Strategies
In addition to our operational approach to reducing emissions, we also invest time and energy into educating and inspiring people to lead a more environmentally friendly - and thus emissions reducing - lifestyle.
In 2011, we launched an internship program designed for youth to gain hands-on experience in growing vegetables in an urban environment. This was sparked by the growing interest we heard from our community asking for an interactive and educational program that is accessible in the city and can fit into our volunteers' schedule. A series of training manuals was created and our plan for 2012 is to expand this program and to include training videos as part of the curriculum. As a result of our training program, we saw one of our previous volunteers start their own urban farming venture, and a few of our interns this past year have taken steps to start their own urban farming ventures/projects. We believe that by training and equipping young people with the skills and confidence to grow their own food, they will go on to start their own urban farming initiatives and thus allow us to work towards our vision of building community foodsheds and reconnecting people with fresh, locally-grown food, which in turn helps to reduce emission in Toronto.
For the past two seasons, we published an average of 18 electronic newsletters and held a variety of interactive workshops. These all had the theme of educating and inspiring people around local food issues by sharing gardening tips for current and aspiring gardeners, and teaching people how to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. Previous newsletter issues can be found on our website and some specific examples of workshops include a canning and preserving workshop, a seed saving workshop, a film screening, and a panel discussion on urban agriculture.
As a result of these initiatives, we anticipate Toronto to become a greener, cleaner, and more smog-free city, with reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and more people educated about local food issues.
Elaine Howarth is a graduate from Trent University in the environmental and political studies program. She is the head of operations: planning, coordinating, and overseeing all of our backyard gardens. She is a skilled and experienced gardener having worked in community gardens such as Trent University's green roof, Trent's half acre plot, and the Green Oasis Community Garden. She has a passion for food security and urban agriculture, and has contributed to local organizations such as Local Food Plus and the Riverdale Food Working Group.
Christopher Wong is a graduate of the Queen’s University commerce program and brings a strong entrepreneurial and sales background to the team. He is the sales manager for YUF CSA, a co-founder of Young Urban Famers Limited, a member of the Toronto Food Policy Council, and has spent time at a major consumer packaged goods organization in their foodservice sales and marketing team. He is highly involved in the local food scene and has been a guest speaker for local food organizations such as FoodShare and Food Forward.
Stella Woo is a graduate from the University of Toronto, majoring in Human Biology and Economics. She is the marketing and technology manager, drawing upon her skills in graphic design, marketing communications, website development, and consumer behaviour.
Andrea Chan is a passionate supporter of the local food movement. She is an enthusiastic internship coordinator and splits her down time between reading, playing taiko, and baking desserts with Ontario blueberries.
Jennifer Shea is a graduate of the University of Guelph where she studied Chemistry and Food Science. Having previously worked for a mega food conglomerate, Jennifer is now doing penance as the Riverdale Hub Coordinator. She spends her free time trying to keep her 2 year old Claire from destroying her rooftop garden.
Madeline Boyce is a graduate of the University of Toronto majoring in Political Science. Her focus over the past several years has been on the politics of climate change. Her love of home grown organic produce came from working in her large backyard vegetable garden each year in her hometown of Halifax, NS.
From the enthusiastic response from our participants, volunteers, the broader community, and the media, we believe our project will be self supporting within five years. CSA programs have proven to be a profitable and a financially stable business and non-profit model, with over 250 programs in Ontario alone.
Our current revenue streams include the following:
1. Shareholder contributions
At the beginning of the growing season, community members sign up to become a shareholder and purchase a share of the garden and the crops that we grow. In 2010 and 2011, we have arranged our share price on a sliding scale between $350-$450 to allow as many people as possible to sign up for our program. As we continue to refine our program and our operations, we expect the share price will increase and to generate additional revenues from additional shareholders.
For the past two seasons, our operating budget has been covered by shareholder contributions from our CSA program. We expect this to be the case as we continue to expand the number of shares we sell and experience economies of scale.
2. Farmers market sales
For a few weeks each spring, we setup a table at a local farmers market and sell our extra seedlings that we have started. This allows us to build our community relations and generate additional funds for us to put towards our operations. To increase this revenue stream, we can choose to attend additional markets in the spring as well as start additional seedlings and allocate them for farmers market sales.
3. Community Engagements
In 2011, we formed a partnership with Volunteer Toronto to help them with a community garden project. YUF CSA was provided with a consulting fee and helped to oversee the setup of the garden. This is another area that has the potential to be expanded to increase our revnue.
4. Private Donors
In 2012, YUF CSA will be launching a new fundraising strategy aimed at engaging the community and primarily private individuals to contribute to the work of our organization. We will be following a proven fundraising model with the goal of creating enthusiastic, long-term donors who commit to multiple years of unrestricted funding for our organization. The model will be based heavily on the Benevon system.
5. Future Revenue Streams Plans
As we work towards financial stability and adapting our model to an urban environment, we believe we can increase our current revnue streams outlined above as well as create efficiencies in our general operations to reduce overhead costs. We believe there is still room to further refine our growing techniques, minimize overhead costs, and invest in capital equipment to lower operational costs which will allow to save costs and raise our share prices.
Comments
re: What's the scale? trajectory?
Hi Julia,
There are lots of great comments and questions you've raised - thanks! In just under two weeks, the YUF CSA leadership team is getting ready to hold a day-long strategic planning session where we hope to gain greater clarity and focus for many of the questions you've raised (especially things like long term vision, revising the business model, and creating plan for future growth and expansion). Unfortunately that means I can't answer the majority of your questions with too much clarity at the moment. This is, however, an important event we have been planning for well over a month (even before the Climate Spark competition started) and believe this will be a very valuable process in the evolution of our project and organization.
In terms of organizational capacity, all of our gardening and administrative tasks are currently volunteer positions. It is our goal through the revenue streams outlined in our proposal for us to employ at least 1 paid staff member to ensure the long-term growth and stability of our organization.
For GHG emissions reductions, our proposal has been updated receently to include the addition of adding in two bicycle trailers and using bicycles to travel between gardens to reduce local emissions. Because we operate three different neighbourhood hubs for our CSA program, volunteers can choose the hub that is closest to their residence to reduce the travel distance and time to get to and from the gardens. Some volunteers live just a few blocks away from our gardens and thus are able to walk or bicycle to the gardens. This can also contribute to reducing local emissions.
Because each of our gardens are unique (ex. different sizes, sun conditions, soil conditions, resources like rain barrels, number of shareholders, distance shareholders travel to get to the gardens, etc),it is very difficult for us to set a target for each garden's GHG reductions. One area we have struggled with is quantifying all of the GHG reduction strategies we employ (ex. calculating emissions savings from not having any packaging for our produce, not having to run a fridge or cold-storage facility for the vegetables) Do you have any suggestions or tips on how we might quantify these values?
Localized food systems
It is important that local growers connect with local buyers and that is why the farmers markets have succeeded. As my family has been farmers market vendors for 15 years in North Bay, I see the constraints on my mother who is 71 to continue to grow for herself and the people that "relie" on her fresh Heirloom veggies.
As I have learned from watching my mother farm for years I have realized it in VERY hard work to grow nice, healthy, full fruit/vegetable bearing plants. You have to daily prune, pick, water, weed and a whole bunch of other things in order to grow. I think that a volunteer model creates a certain amount of uncertainty to getting things done, and if you don't the months of care and concern for the seedling can all be over within 15 hours if it is not watered. Do you have a greenhouse to start seedlings early? Do you have a manual?
What perplexes me is that we do not have agencies that are looking out for the Elders in the community that need fresh produce. What will happen to all the baby boomers in a few years that can't step out their front doors. Perhaps your CSA can focus on the elders that need it most.
Good idea.
Great, why toronto specifically? the suburbs are crawling with huge amounts of unused backyards which could reduce distributed plots of land improving efficiency in farming.
toronto
As I understand it, this entire challenge is Toronto-centric. But that doesn't mean it couldn't be used as a launchpad for province-wide (or bigger!) operations if the model proves successful.
Has the team given any thought to expansion?
re: toronto
We're in the process of planning the future growth and development of our organization, including expansion into other Toronto neighbourhoods and beyond. How exactly that will develop will be determined with greater detail in a couple weeks as the YUF CSA executive team meets to have a strategic planning session.
re: Good idea.
Thanks elmsley.
We chose Toronto because that's where we (the founding members of YUF CSA) call home. It's also an awesome city and full of other great initiatives like the ones you see in this competition!
Urban Agriculture is Growing
I find the potential to expose and train more people to local food production is the best part of this project. The sustainability and security of producing food locally is becoming ever more evident. Great project!
Urban growing workshops provided to organizations could be a revenue stream and a great way to get more people involved and supporting the urban ag movement - the banks are often doing teambuilding and volunteer projects, I'm sure a well presented and fun farming workshop would be of interest to many organizations.
re: Urban Agriculture is Growing
Thanks Matt!
The opportunity to train and develop future leadesr in the local food movement has been an pleasant surprise for us over the past two years. While this was not part of our original plan, we've seen many of our volunteers move on to other local food projects and even create and lead their own urban farming projects. As a result of this interest, we are planning on continuing our internship program and general volunteer program, as well as working on creating and developing a high school engagement program. The details for this program are still in the early stages of development, but something we are excited about as we continue to engage different segments of the community in the rediscovery of local food.
Workshops are another great potential revenue stream. Look for some exciting workshops from us in the future!
More detail please, and a health question
Congratulations on great efforts and success to date! To make the Top 10 in Climate Spark, we need to see detail that helps us understand the viability of your proposal, its potential to reduce GHGs, its connection to the community and of course how it's a new idea. Your proposal is pretty detailed already, but any info you can add will help!
I see a few things as being key to the potential of your program:
- the ability to finance and grow. It's great to see you hope for full-time staff in your future, and I think using farmers markets and tapping private donors will be key to getting some more money out of this initiative. Keep thinking about your future revenue streams.
- training. I like that you've already created manuals and volunteer training programs. Do you share these with others? Perhaps this could be part of your revenue generation?
Also, an important question from a health perspective - what about the soil you're growing in? Toronto Public Health has been working on urban gardening advice because most many Toronto homes are surrounded by soil that might be contaminated with heavy metals and other pollutants that can make vegetable gardening a bit risky. Take a peek at this information /health/lead/soil_gardening.htm. Is this on your radar?
re: More detail please, and a health question
Hi Rich,
Thank you for your encouragement and kind words. In regards to future revenue streams, do you have any suggestions for how we might increase/improve our current and proposed revenue streams? One of our big projects during this year's off season is to really cultivate our networks and supporters to engage them to contribute financially if they feel compelled by what we do. We believe this will be a valuable use of our time.
For our training programs and growing manuals, we have kept these as internal documents for the time being as we have not yet developed a strategy on how we should best utilize these assets. We believe in the power of collaboration and sharing, but want to think through how these can best serve our members and the community before proceeding. A lot of time, research, and effort has gone in developing our growing manual, our internship program, and many of our other internal documents with a focus on building a legacy for future leaders within YUF CSA to continue on the work we have started. This might be something to monetize, or it might even be something we contribute to the community on a creative commons license.
From a health perspective, we have conducted soil testing for heavy metals in all of our gardens this past year. We reecntly received the results of the testing, but have not had a chance to interpret or analyze the data. For sites that may contain heavy metals or other contaminents we can overcome these challenges by phytoremediation (using plants to draw out the heavy metals) and/or by building raised beds. The downside of these is that they require time and money resepctively which in our short growing season and limited available space, will be a challenge we need to face.
As a health promotion consultant, do you see any other areas in how our project may reduce greenhouse gas emissions that have not been covered in our prooposal? And are there any suggestions you have in better quantifying the potential reduction/diversion of greenhouse gas initiatives we've outlined already?
Thanks!
You're already thinking about
You're already thinking about revenue streams and self-sufficiency, which is a strength that not all food-related programs display, so you're ahead of the game. I think you should really explore learning/teaching as a way to both extend the benefits and make some money - holding seminars, selling manuals (pay what you can or a nominal fee, since you've put so much how-to into these resources), etc. Is there possibility in a quasi-CSA option, where you play more of a collaborative approach with a homeowner who might not be fully into donating their space - you might need fewer volunteers and less capital to get some benefits? (You're better able than I to consider the relative pros and cons of this idea).
re: You're already thinking about
Thanks for the suggestion of exploring the learning/teaching/education part of our program. I will definitely bring this up at our strategic planning meeting and agree that this can really deepen the connections we are already making with our community members as well as engaging people to internalize the skills they are learning.
The collaborative approach is an interesting idea and something we haven't though of! Definitely some food for thought...
Co-operative building and sharing
It is great that you are getting so much feed back from the Venture challenge Chris!
I think the point that was made about manuals and handouts is a great way to engage and bring more people into the local food movement.
How can YUF , TYFPC , Sustain Ontario and all the other groups work together to build a one stop system of development and growth in a learning HUB.
It is too bad non profits have to compete for funds from the government and often see others as threats ,versus collaborative partners.
Long term project sustainability
I love the way CSAs are joining forces with urban gardens and previously unused spaces and see a lot of potential in your proposal's ability to reach out to the community. Cities should certainly become places where food is grown as well as consumed.
At least in my area, I often see heavily laden fruit trees (persimmons, apples, choke cherries, oranges, lemons...) with no one bothering to pick or eat the fruit. In addition to growing food, would an urban CSA would work with those homeowners in incorporating and distributing unused food sources that are already there?
Fruitful Forest
There is an org in this very challenge trying to address that issue: /node/142
Perhaps if this CSA and Fruitful Forest teamed up an even stronger proposal could be put forward!
re: Long term project sustainability
Fruit trees are a great investment for the community and neighbourhood not only in terms of food it creates but it the ability to bring people together. While our focus is on growing veg, if there are already fruit trees or grape vines or berry bushes planted in the yards we are growing in, we will incorporate this into our program as the homeowner permits.
Not Far From the Tree is another organization currently doing great work around fruit trees and has made this their focus. We are big supporters of their efforts and work in making Toronto a greener and more vibrant place to live!
What An Idea !!
Strength would be that it is a totally unique, one of a kind idea which plans to bring the traditional farming / agricultural science to out backyards. In terms of utilization, most of the unproductive backyards and free spaces can definitely help implement this idea.
Weakness would be that there is no definite scale to measure how successful the implmentation would be, in terms of the public response and willingness, as even though the idea is lucrative, it will involve a considerable amount of initial Cash outflow.
In a way that there should be a structured pattern of approach and management, beginning with a typical process -
1. Holding Seminars and Local meets with Residents, explaining the plan, program and returns,
2. Shorlisting the actual households who are willing to implement the idea,
3. Providing them with some initial finance (if at all) and basic equipment and technical know-how,
4. After a certain level of implementation, monitor how effective the plan is.
re: What An Idea !!
Thanks for your comment opisat.
Community engagement is a key component for a project's success and developing a structured pattern of approach and management as you suggested is a great idea as we go to scale up the size and # of neighbourhoods we are working in.
FANTASTIC!
Urban Agriculture is such a big part of developing food literacy and food security. Congrats on a great initiative.
love the idea of locally grown food!
involving youth is always a good thing
Great idea :)
This may not be the intended effect, but I think once you get a foot in the door (well, the backyard) members of that household would probably want to get more involved in urban farming.
It's nice that homeowners don't feel pressured to do anything with this approach - there's no time / financial commitment - but since it's happening in their own backyard they can hardly ignore it. It may become the topic of dinner converstations. I find it a very creative and inclusive approach to get people to think about environmental issues related to food.
The only weakness i can think of is that Torontonians are tough to infiltrate, you have to remain persistent; find your niche and spread out from there.
I think reaching the youth is a very important component: seminars, special events at elementary schools; public workshops in community centres, garden centers etc. geared towards children's education but also making it fun. Of course, it would need adult supervision, which is a great way to egage parents and grandparents. Adults with a particular interest may request their own workshops to learn more sophisticated skills.
I realize some communities reject this notion of urban agriculture altogether, but I have faith that positive buzz would gradually spread throughout Toronto. Hopefully this project will grow to become part of this city's identity, and even businesses would participate. It would certainly improve the citizens' sense of social responsibility and sense of community, and improve our reputation within the country!
Great job. Best of luck!!
re: Great idea :)
Thanks for your comment naanbread1
I agree that Torontonians can be tough to inflitrate. Though as you mentioned, since a project like this is happening in their own yard, they can hardly ignore it and it becomes a conversation starter for their friends and family, or even the general neighbourhood if the gardens are located in the front.
Once we start in a new neighbourhood, it becomes sort of like a snowball effect gaining momentum with time. How to engage new communities and new neighbourhoods will prove a test of our project's "stickiness", though we have a few ideas on how to do this - one of which is to work with already established local organizations and build on the work they are already doing
Very Nice
I love this concept and will definitely consider participating.
I think the proposal is very strong as is but would have liked to hear what a typical homeowner that participated in the project actually received in return.
re: Very Nice
Hi hart,
We hope to expand our program next year, so please do check in with us if you'd like to participate as a land-sharer, shareholder, or volunteer! Land-sharers who donate their yard for us to convert into an intensive urban farm receive a share of the veggies that we grow in their neighbourhood. This varies from week to week and is dependent on how well the gardens produce. We've received lots of great feedback from all of our participants and I've included a testimonial one of our land-sharers wrote for us to give you a sense of how they found participating in our program, in their own words. Please feel free to contact us if you want to hear more of what other people have said about us too!
"I have seen the Young Urban Farmers really develop into a dynamic, professional and knowledgeable organization, distributing fresh local foods, connecting people in their neighbourhoods, spreading weekly newsletters and holding agricultural events.
YUF CSA makes a difference in the city. Apart from the fact that everybody loves their basket of fresh fruits and veggies every week, their initiative brings people together in a social way. It makes them more aware of their direct environment, the foods they eat and where they come from. I have learnt a great deal about choosing and growing vegetables. My interest and knowledge about them have increased considerably thanks to the activities of YUF CSA.
Since I joined the program as a landowner, I have referred dozens of interested friends and colleagues to YUF CSA, who wanted to know more about their program. Many of them actually signed up for this year`s Spring. The response of people is astounding. I think there is a great willingness of people in the city wanting to connect more to their neighbourhood, and give something back to their community."
awesum idea
its a nice idea.it will help in making the environent also clean
free seminars should be done
Excellent!
A great spin on an established model for encouraging resposible urban farming, and cultivating a sense of community. Keep up the good work.
Exciting Project
I'm really impressed with what you're doing. Most yards are probably un- or under-used for growing food, and we shouldn't have to depend 100% on farms to feed cities. It's inspirational to know that young people can be passionate about growing food and are eager to learn these skills.
What can you offer in the winter when nothing is growing? Perhaps cooking-oriented workshops that show the public how to cook with the vegetables that store well over the winter, like root vegetables? I think most of us don't know what to make except soup!
re: Exciting Project
Thanks for your comment AJ
The winter is our downtime and gives us a chance to pause and reflect on how things have gone and how we'd like things to be in the future. I like your idea of having winter workshops or other events to keep our community engaged and active. We're thinking of holding one or two workshops this winter, and are in the process of sorting out the details for over the next several weeks.
If I can put a question back to you, besides cooking-oriented workshops, what do you think you and our participants would be interested in during the winter months?
I could go for this but...
I have a small backyard and I would love to get some veg out of it. But I entertain and I have kids so we use the precious space we have pretty much all the time.
will the owners get compensated in any other way other than some of the veg? What if my dog tramples the cucumbers?
Privacy
Great point. The people who actually have the space have paid a premium price for the land in the GTA, and may not want people going threw their back yards.
Would having the homeowner do harvesting help?
re: I could go for this but...
Hi Slyfox,
For many Toronto houses, backyard space is at a premium. For people who are active in their yard either through entertaining or relaxing or allocating space for pets, our program may not be the best fit. We have a minimum space/sun requirement in order to take on a new yard and unfortunately cannot accept everyone who would like to participate. It has to be a win-win situation for all parties. That sometimes means pet owners may not be the best fit with our program.
Land-sharers receive a number of benefits from participating in our program. The first and most obvious is a portion of the veggies that we grow in their neighbourhood. However other benefits, sometimes of greater value to the homeowner are accrued through participating in our program as well. These include
- Reconnect with where your food comes from, who is growing it, and how it is grown
- Learn how to garden and grow your own food
- Reduce the time spent in caring for your property
- Get your kids outside, active, and engaged in hands-on learning
- Show off your garden to guests
- Share gardening stories and recipes while bonding with your neighbours
- Get priority access to our workshops and in-garden tutorials
- Learn how to eat with the seasons
We invest a great deal of time, effort, and money in setting up a new garden. We value all the community relationships we have built and will continue to be an active part in any community we work in.
Great
Great
Love this proposal!
It's great that the Young Urban Farmer's are reminding people that just because they live in the city, doesn't mean that they can't grow their own vegetable gardens. It creates awareness for the important and vital role that farmer's have, and gives youth a first hand look at the hard work and effort that goes in to getting fresh vegetables to our tables.
Creating more awareness about this program. One way to do this could be that the volunteers offer some free gardening classes to teach people the basics of gardening.
Urban Farming? YES WE CAN!
We need urban farming to become totally mainstream. What is great about this proposal is that it makes it seem like a viable idea and gives a thorough rationale on how to pursue this goal. There is also a good team and good partnerships emerging. The proposal could be strengthened with an infographic and perhaps a testimonial from a young urban farmer.
How these ideas will reach the schools and communities that could benefit from the idea of urban farming is key. What communications tools have been planned to take this campaign forward?
The ClimateSpark Social Venture Challenge is a project of:
Our sponsors:
What's the scale? trajectory?
Everyone loves local veggies, and goodness knows there is lots acreage of in-edible lawn and flowerbeds. The CSA model has some traction, although certainly not 'mainstream' yet, even for the growing number of people flocking to farmers' markets. Being a gardener myself, I have a good perspective on how intensive gardening is -- fun but lots of work -- and wonder about the capacity/person-power that will be needed for this model to make a dent in food-related GHG emissions.
A few questions to help understand the objectives, the GHG reduction opportunity, and the business model. In addition to responses, it would be great to see the proposal amended, providing some further clarity on the vision, approach and benefits.
With 14 gardens under cultivation now, where does YUF want this to be in 1, 3, 10 years? Have you got criteria for recruitment of gardens?
Given the target(s) above, what will it take to get there? You've got a great team, what's the plan? Is there any other initiative like this anywhere else that you've modelled on? What are the risks/pitfalls, and how will they be mitigated or addressed?
What is the capacity required? It sounds like the gardening is done by YUF...is that all volunteer? Are there paid positions?
The GHG emission reduction opportunity needs clarification, and this holds for all the food-related projects in ClimateSpark. A key point is that most of the avoided emissions associated with food are not local, so although all GHg reduction is good, local food production does not reduce local emissions. That said, based on the YUF targets, what would be the local and total emission reduction?