Toronto's booming urban farms aid food security and reduce carbon emissions
FoodShare Toronto co-ordinator Orlando López Gómez, who manages the farm at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute in Etobicoke in Toronto's west end. Photo submitted by Orlando López Gómez
By Sebastian Leck
Flanked by grey apartment towers and a busy multi-lane highway, the Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute high school in Etobicoke isn’t the first place that you’d expect to find rows of crops.
It’s the location for one of Toronto’s new urban farms, which provide food to communities without access to fresh produce and reduce carbon emissions.
“Everything is very local here. We don't go anywhere. We grow the food here, we compost food here and we sell the food here,” said Orlando López Gómez, the fast-talking and energetic co-ordinator at FoodShare Toronto who manages the farm.
When it’s operating, residents bring organic waste and receive tickets they can use to buy food at the local market. The waste becomes soil to grow food, creating a “closed loop” system where soil becomes food that becomes soil again. A bucket of food waste earns a resident $3, while a bunch of carrots sells for $1.
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