Join as CBC Host Karen Gordon speaks with 2 of our McVean Farmers regarding their thoughts and experiences in urban agriculture. 

1. Hanna Jacobs of Matchbox Garden and Seed Co.
2. Margaret Zondo

To see the lighlighted pictures of McVean and our farmers, you can click on

We hope you are able to tune in tomorrow to hear updates about FarmStart’s McVean farm from the farmers themselves.

The recent explosion of immigrant populations in Ontario has had a tremendous effect on the demand for ethnic foods and produce. Opportunities have become available for farmers to increase their income by becoming involved in the production of ethno-cultural food. If farmers are able to capture this niche marketing opportunity there is great potential for profit in an otherwise highly competitive industry.

When new immigrants arrive in Canada, they seek things that remind them of home. Food is more than a source of energy and nutrients; it is a reflection of cultural values. Market research has shown that there is a shortage of supply for these vegetables owing to a dramatic increase in transportation costs both in North America and internationally. Producers in Ontario should take advantage of this opportunity and provide fresh, high quality vegetables for ethnic residents. This practice will also tie into the local food movement, as farmers will supply a wide variety of produce that is appealing to ethnic consumers.

Please click here to see the full article. This study is led by the University of Guelph with a number of collaborators including FarmStart.

Some GTA residents who buy a share in a farm this year will no longer have to sit back and take their kale, or any other vegetable they dislike, for that matter.

More and more Community Shared Agriculture or CSA farms are allowing their customers to “shop” for some or all of the food in their weekly allotment…http://www.thestar.com/living/article/618356

Immigrants learn basics of growing crops here; others benefit with fresh callaloo, okra, garlic

Nicole Baute, TORONTO STAR
Oct 13, 2008 

Anan Lololi shows off rows of callaloo growing in a Brampton field. The plants are closely shorn, with leaves that look like spinach, but bigger.

“They call it pigweed … but it is one of the most popular foods in the Caribbean,” Lololi says, still incredulous at the inglorious name after living in Canada for almost 30 years.

Lololi, who is originally from Guyana, likes to sauté his callaloo in garlic and olive oil.

“There definitely is a market for it, you know? We’re importing callaloo from Jamaica and the Philippines and it grows wild here.”

Callaloo is just one of the crops being grown by the non-profit Afri-Can FoodBasket and other groups at the McVean Farm. The new 35-acre incubator farm is owned by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and rented to a Guelph-based not-for-profit organization called FarmStart, which teaches new farmers the agricultural basics and rents them land and equipment at steep discounts

Continue reading…  

New farmers looking to ease themselves into the business will be able to take advantage of a specialized workshop debuting in Ontario later this year.

Continue reading… 

Here’s one picture of a farmer: tough, weatherbeaten, pitchfork in hand, a bit grim, proud member of a vanishing breed. Here’s another picture of a farmer: Thirty years old, five foot two, fresh-faced, female, city-bred. Meet Tarrah Young, proud and very determined member of a NEW breed. Tarrah – and people like her – are real risk takers. They’re not starry-eyed back-to-the landers, and they know know what they’re up against. Across Canada, the number of farmers under thirty-five has declined by more than 50% in the last ten years. For those who want to loosen the grip of the agribusiness giants, to spurn cheap pesticide-laden imports, and to eat local – this is really bad news. And we all have enough of that! So venture out with a few of agriculture’s young pioneers. Frank Faulk’s documentary is called “Down to Earth”

Click on the M4A icon below to listen to “Down to Earth”.

You can raise them in New York but not here:
Toronto locovores are hoping to change that.

Weed ‘em and reap

For a new generation of farmers,
organic is the only way to grow

Alex MacKay-Smith and Juniper Turgeon produce 60 varieties of vegetables on Juniper Farm north of Wakefield. 'I've had the hardest and most rewarding years of my life with this farm,' says MacKay-Smith.

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Tarrah Young studied environmental biology at the University of Guelph because, as she puts it, “I wanted to save the world.”

But the environmental movement is all “doom and gloom and frustrating,” says Young, 30, who just bought a farm with her fiancé in Grey County near Georgian Bay. She still wants to save the world, but she’ll concentrate on her own 50-acre plot where she plans to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables and raise chickens, turkeys, pigs, lamb and cattle.

Alex MacKay-Smith, meanwhile, admits he and his wife, Juniper Turgeon, were “city kids, super naive.”

That hasn’t stopped them from making a success of Juniper Farm, just north of Wakefield. They’re entering their fourth season of producing more than 60 varieties of vegetables. “I’ve had the hardest and most rewarding years of my life with this farm,” says MacKay-Smith, 32, “I’m extremely healthy, except for my back.”

As a kid, Dan Brisebois resented having to help his parents in their backyard vegetable garden. Now he puts these skills to work on the organic farm he works with four others near Vaudreuil, Quebec.

“We are living modest lives,” says Brisebois, 30, who has a degree in agricultural engineering from McGill University. But the rewards are many, he says. “We eat amazingly fresh vegetables. We get to work outside. We don’t have a boss.”

Meet Canada’s newest farmers. They’re well educated, with university degrees in everything from plant biology to film studies. They’re idealistic, committed to the principles of organic farming and the local food movement. And, though they grew up in suburbs or city neighbourhoods, they’re not afraid to get their hands dirty.

Continue reading…

]]> http://www.farmstart.ca/news/ottawa-citizen-article-on-a-new-generation-of-organic-farmers/feed/ 0 http://www.farmstart.ca/news/this-week-patrick-habamenshi-on-cbc-radio-one-cbc-radio-canada/ http://www.farmstart.ca/news/this-week-patrick-habamenshi-on-cbc-radio-one-cbc-radio-canada/#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:00:22 +0000 Farm Start http://www.farmstart.ca/news/this-week-patrick-habamenshi-on-cbc-radio-one-cbc-radio-canada/ FarmStart Program Coordinator, Patrick Habamenshi, will be spending a lot of time at the CBC over the coming week. Patrick has an interview, a panel discussion, and a town hall speaking engagement scheduled over the next few days. Friends of FarmStart can tune in on Thursday and Friday at the following times to hear Patrick speak on the topic of diversity.

Thursday March 6^th 2008:

• CBC Radio Canada 7:30 am (French): “Il y a pas deux matins pareils”; SUJET: la diversité torontoise et ces défis.

• CBC Radio One, 7:30 pm: Town Hall on diversity with Andy Barrie. The event will be held at the Glenn Gould Studio, CBC Broadcastng Centre, 250 Front St. West. The event will begin at 7:30, doors open at 6:45. Other panelists will include:
  • Uzma Shakir, community activist, recently named Economic Justice Fellow by the Atkinson Charitable Foundation.
  • Raheel Raza, writer and diversity consultant and interfaith advocate.

Friday March 7^th 2008:

• Téléjournal de 18h00 (French); Other guests : Marc Lesage (sociologist) and Mohamed Boudjenan (director Fédération Canado-Arabe).

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