Imagine waking up to the freshest most succulent food growing right outside of your door. With Urban Agriculture gaining traction in our city, it might not be something that you just see in your imagination.

When we think of farming, the first things that come to mind are expansive fields in the countryside, ploughs and tractors and even the rural farmers who cultivate the land. The last thing that we would think of is the urban space that surrounds us. Well, that is changing fast. Toronto is fast-becoming a pioneer in urban agriculture.

So what is urban agriculture?

Urban agriculture is a way to describe a myriad of methods of growing food in urban landscapes. While the most common foods produced through urban agriculture are fruits and vegetables, the term also includes animal husbandry, such as urban hens for eggs, beekeeping for honey and aquaculture for fish. There are several ways in which Torontonians in particular plan on incorporating such an idea into their city. The most well-known ways are: commercial farms and market gardens, residential gardens, community gardens, rooftop farms, and greenhouses. Our city is seeking, and seizing any opportunity they can to make our city a greener one.

So why should YOU start growing your own food?

Growing your own food has a number of benefits. The most profound being the economic implications. You’ll save a fair amount of money by growing your own food, which you can then use on things that really matter to you. Urban Agriculture will also create business opportunities as well as help develop job-related skills in areas such as business management, communication, customer service and even community organisation.

This form of agriculture helps bring communities together. By working together to create gardens, relationships blossom between neighbours. It’s a great way to connect individuals and turn neighbourhoods into communities again. Growing our own food will also have incredible health benefits. By having easier and more affordable access to fresh fruits and vegetables, the general state of our city’s health and nutrition will improve ten-fold. Not only that, but our city will have greater food security.

Obviously, living in a city has serious environmental downfalls. With our heavy traffic and daunting power needs, the air pollution  is a lot higher than we’d like it to be. Urban agriculture provides a simple means to mitigate air pollution – actually improving the quality of the air we breathe on a daily basis. It will help contribute to our city’s urban biodiversity. So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to get planting!

Do you have any experience with urban agriculture? We want to hear all about it! Leave a comment below and let us know.