Published by City Farmer, Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture

City Dwellers are Growing Food in Surprising Numbers!

©November, 2002

Polls conducted by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of City Farmer - Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture, found that 40% of people in Greater Toronto and 44% of people in Greater Vancouver live in households that produce some of their own food.

"This is the first time in Canadian history a question of this sort has been asked by a professional pollster and the result is significant," says Michael Levenston, Executive Director of the 25-year-old non-profit society based in Vancouver.

"These figures represent more than two and one half million people in Greater Toronto and Vancouver who live in households growing vegetables, fruit, berries, nuts or herbs in their yard, balcony or community garden."

"People have grown food in urban centres from the earliest times and they continue to do so despite the fact that our cities are becoming more populated every year", says Levenston. "This is a positive sign showing us that our cities are still liveable despite recent concerns about the urban environment."

City Farmer teaches food gardening at its Demonstration Garden in Kitsilano. "Urban Agriculture is more than just food production; we teach people about urban issues such as waste disposal (composting), and water conservation (rain barrels and drip irrigation).

Four out of five people live in an urban centre in Canada. "Planners must set aside more of our green space for growing food", says Levenston. "Three possible models include, community gardens which have small plots, European-style allotment gardens with larger plots and small cabins for overnight stays, and thirdly mini-market gardens for city dwellers who want to try their hand at commercial growing."

Media Contact: Michael Levenston 604 685 5832
Email: cityfarmer@gmail.com

Greater Toronto:

Q. Do you, or does anyone in your household grow food, that is vegetables, fruit, berries, nuts, herbs in your yard, on your balcony or in a community garden?

		AGE			EDUCATION			GENDER		INCOME
	Total	18 to 34 years	35 to 54 years	55 or older	<=HS	Post. Sec.	Univ.	Male	Female	<$30K	$30K to $60K	$60K +
Base: GTA respondents	400	141	169	80	110	131	156	200	200	65	110	182
Weighted	400	156	135	101	115	132	151	193	207	68	112	175
Yes	158	50	57	48	40	60	58	78	80	20	41	72
	40%	32%	43%	48%	35%	46%	39%	41%	38%	29%	37%	41%
No	241	106	78	52	75	72	93	114	127	48	71	103
	60%	68%	57%	52%	65%	54%	61%	59%	61%	71%	63%	59%
(DK/NS)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	-	-	-

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