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.

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…  

The farm is located on the West side of McVean Dr,, between Queen St. E and Castlemore Rd.  A map is available here.

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”.

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).

The Newcomers FarmStart-Up Project is a new initiative that will provide training programs and support services to help newcomers to Canada start new agricultural enterprises in near urban areas to meet the growing demand for locally grown, directly marketed and culturally appropriate fresh produce in Southern Ontario.

The Animator will be responsible for developing and managing the New Canadians FarmStart-Up Project as well as FarmStart’s Brampton Incubator Farm Facility. The Animator will report to the New Canadians, New Farmers Initiatives Coordinator and liaising with FarmStart’s Program Manager. S/he will also liaise with other FarmStart staff to integrate the project with ongoing FarmStart programs and services

Closing date: March 3, 2008

Intended start date: March, 2008

Please visit our Employment page for more details.

A full article describing these exciting programs is available via the New Immigrant Farm Initiative.

In 2007, FarmStart initiated research into the markets and production capacity for world food crops that can be grown in Ontario. The aim is to identify, share and develop knowledge and opportunities for world crops in our climate and markets in connection with private, not-for-profit and public sector partners, the food and agriculture industry, OMAFRA, research institutions and farmers.

The Agronomist and Extension Coordinator will be responsible for the development of our World Crops Research and Extension Project. The position will involve broad based and detailed research, the development of communication materials (such as publications, web and print articles, presentations etc.) and the development and coordination of select new crop trials.

The position will largely be based at our Training and Research Farm in Brampton and our farm facility in Guelph, with travel to other farms and a facility in Ajax to carry out research activities, including crop trials.

Closing date: February 15, 2008

Intended start date: March, 2008

Please see the job description for full details and contact information.

Guru asks why our ethnic diversity hasn’t prompted local farmers to grow the world’s most savoured grasses

By WAYNE ROBERTS
NOW Toronto

I’m sitting in Addis Ababa, an Ethiopian restaurant on Queen West, trying to do a selling job on an ethnic farming specialist.

Try this, I tell Rutgers University’s Bill Sciarappa, offering him a piece of injera, the tart flatbead served with beans, veggies and meat. I’m hoping to convince him that teff, the grain from which it is made, could be grown in Ontario instead of imported, as it almost all is, from Idaho.

“Oh, you mean Ethiopian lovegrass,” he says, as he and the owner joke about the fact that the grass is treated as a weed in New Jersey and fed to livestock.

Sciarappa’s business is repositioning ethnic food as what he likes to call “world food.” That’s why FarmStart, an org promoting the needs of immigrants who want a career in food production, invited him in the last week of November to address three southern Ontario workshops in Toronto, Guelph and Durham Region.

Sciarappa, who wants to let a thousand bitter melons bloom, likes to tell farmers in New Jersey, the Garden State, to “get progressive or get out.” The phrase is a jab at the infamous slogan of 1950s agribusiness: “Get big or get out.” His mission is to help local farmers start serving an untapped billion-dollar market for “ethnic” fruit and veggies.

Read the Full Story