Feeding people costs less than treating them for chronic diseases. 

In November 2013, Toronto’s City Council formed the Toronto Agricultural Program (TAP). This involved spending funds on: defining the roles of the various urban agriculture centres, coordinating the City’s activities in relation to the GrowTO initiative, and addressing barriers facing growers looking for available land. In this publication titled ‘The Role of Policy in Developing Sustainable Urban Agriculture: Recommendations for the Toronto Urban Growing System’ written by Angela Gong at the University of Toronto on August 27th, 2020, Angela details key barriers that could easily be addressed if the city’s goals were aligned with it’s community’s: “The program committed to developing three community gardens annually, improving education around Sustainable Urban Agriculture (SUA), supporting school gardens, promoting the City’s Eco-Roof Incentive Program, and engaging in partnerships with other city departments. The TAP released a 2013-2014 workplan upon formation with detailed steps for developing SUA… since 2014, the TAP has not released further updates or plans regarding their activities. Furthermore, interviews since 2014 with municipal policymakers have highlighted that SUA is not yet a strong focus for the City, and commitments to improving land access through zoning bylaws have not been met. For example, even with support from relevant powers, community organizations must pay $16,000 CAD to submit a rezoning application that would allow them to build a greenhouse for protected multi-season growing. At Malvern community gardens, gardeners largely choose to self-govern and resolve conflict “within house, because the scare is always that if we involve the city too much, they might just take the space away from us.” The gardeners lack clarity and security around what powers the City has over their land access, preventing them from seeking as much technical or social support as they may require. Furthermore, the City prioritizes aesthetic value of the park and garden space over the functionality and benefits of SUA: “We’re not allowed to have trellises or structures over a certain height, we have to keep all the grass cut.” The activist highlights this aesthetic standard as a barrier to developing SUA, and calls for new developments to change the standard landscaping protocols: “Those landscapes within development should all have components of native plant habitat and food growing possibilities... as defaults rather than simply sodding over with lawn.” These accounts are in contrast to recognition at all government levels that improved land access and tenure are key to expanding SUA, demonstrating a gap between commitment and implementation at the policy level. The Government of Ontario is well-positioned to take decisive policy-based action to promote sustainable agricultural practices. However, the Province’s most recent environmental protection plan made no concrete commitments to sustainable agriculture, despite the existence of previously released provincial documents demonstrating awareness of the benefits and pathways to sustainable agriculture. In terms of urban agriculture, the Ontario Trillium Foundation published Opportunities for Growth: An Urban Agriculture Toolkit in 2017, highlighting how current provincial legislation can be a barrier to expanding urban agriculture. For example, guidelines for selling produce are only applicable to medium- and large-scale growers, and many provincial public lands are inaccessible for allocation to community garden programs. Despite highlighting case studies and concrete actions that the Province could take to promote urban growing, the Province has not yet made any commitments towards helping develop sustainable urban agriculture. Fresh City Farms CEO asserts, “We need to see more city leaders really focusing on these areas as more than just a place to spend free time.” He suggests that to motivate this change, we need to highlight the health benefits and environmental incentives to grow in the city. However, when it comes to governance at the community level, the activist asserts that the government should help remove barriers to it, and “recognize the power within community”.