Photo of Front Street Victory Gardens from Toronto City Archives Website Urban Agriculture History Group

First Meeting of the Toronto Urban Agriculture History Group

7:30 pm February 6th Victory Cafe - 581 Markham Street, Mirvish Village (Near Honest Ed's)

A small group of graduate history students from York University are working to develop a public history project to uncover Toronto's urban agricultural history. Working with gardeners, and others interested in urban food production, we will record the history of growing food within the city. From the farms that once existed on much of the land now occupied by Toronto and continue to exist on the periphery, to the Victory Gardens during the World Wars, through to the backyard, allotment and community gardens that have emerged during the extensive growth of the city in the past half century, the urban landscape has long been dotted with sites of food production.

The first meeting at 7:30pm on February 6th will be an informal discussion about the history of urban agriculture in Toronto and about the future plans for the project. We are very open to input from community members. We plan on developing a webspace over the next year to present the history created by the group.

Other possible goals are a conference on the history of urban agriculture and publishing book on the history of urban agriculture in Toronto.

Please contact us join us for our first meeting or contact us for more information.

Also take the time to join our Yahoo Group Page: http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/Toronto_food_history_project/

Jim Clifford, Ian Mosby and Jay Young

Contact Jim by email or phone:

(416) 577-8964