As an organization based in a large urban centre, Toronto Green Community works to raise awareness about the environmental impacts of growing, processing, and transporting food for consumption in urban areas. The percentage of the population living in cities is increasing, while farmland surrounding urban areas continues to be lost to development. This, as well as other issues including international trade and unsustainable land-use practices have led to increased concern about food security, the ability of households or communities to provide themselves with sufficient, nutritious food.

Toronto Green Community works to educate Torontonians about food security and its connection to the environment in a number of ways. Our community garden has long been the centre of our food education programs, as a place where we lead workshops in growing food for both adults and children, and as a source of sustainably-grown fruits and vegetables that we donate to community organizations (our recipient for 2010 was Second Harvest). In recent years, our food programming has grown to include:

Our Do It Yourself food preparation workshop series provides affordable food preparation workshops that build cooking skills, food literacy, and help reduce waste through responsible consumption. Previous workshops have included basic home canning skills (applesauce making), and homemade local mustard and mayonnaise.

Our Canadian Food Security Database provides links to organizations across the country working on food security issues, from urban agriculture groups to affordable social enterprise restaurants. This is a valuable resource for people interested in learning more about community food security or how to get involved in their own community.

Our Sustainable Food Practices presentation is a 45 minute talk available for adults or youth that describes the environmental and social effects of food insecurity in an interactive presentation. The talk explains the issues in simple terms and then goes on to illustrate creative solutions being found at both global and local levels.

To find out more about Toronto Green Community's Sustainable Food Practices initiatives, contact our Garden Coordinator at: garden (at) torontogreen.ca