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Description
Urban Agriculture URBS/GEOG 337
Updates
Your third blog is now due on Monday, December 6th.
Your final project is now due on Monday, December 13th.
Lessons
Course Information
Class day and time: Friday 11:45 AM – 2:30 PM
Classroom: H 507 SGW
Office Hours: By Request via Zoom
Email Address: urbanagriculture@erikchevrier.ca
Classroom: H 507 SGW
Office Hours: By Request via Zoom
Email Address: urbanagriculture@erikchevrier.ca
Course Description
Food is at the center of many serious social, political and economic issues, like starvation, obesity, eating disorders, malnutrition, climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, inequality, colonization, and imperialism, among other topics. Food is more than just a biological need; it is also how people interact with the biosphere, express culture and communicate about class/gender/race relations. Although food sustains people daily, modern industrial agriculture is causing the planet to become unsustainable for future generations.
In this course, we critically analyze the possibilities and limitations of urban agriculture as a way to improve our food system, become food sovereign, promote food justice, and build community food security. We will learn about the history of urban agriculture and read case studies about modern urban agriculture projects in Canada and worldwide. We will also ‘get our hands dirty’ by getting involved with urban agriculture projects in and around our communities.
Course Evaluation
| Assignment | Grade Weight | Due Date |
| Blog (Essay) 1 – Food Production | 25% | October 8th |
| Blog (Essay) 2 – Strengths and Limits of Urban Agriculture | 25% | November 5th |
| Blog (Essay) 3 – Examples of Successful Urban Agriculture | 25% | December 6rd |
| Community Service Learning Project | 20% | December 13th |
| Participation | 5% | Ongoing |
Blog Posts (Essays about Urban Agriculture): Students will write two blogs of about 600 – 1000 words about a topic related to urban agriculture covered in the course lectures and/or required readings. The first blog must include themes related to urban food production, the second blog must include subjects related to the strengths and limitations of urban agriculture, and the third blog must include examples of successful urban agriculture. Although this is a blog, the information conveyed must come from research, not conjecture. In addition, the blog must contain at least five reliable, valid, credible sources and reference the course readings. Students with production skills can produce a video or a podcast instead of a blog; however, this must also be approved by me (Erik Chevrier).
Community Service Learning Project: Students must get involved with an urban farming initiative for at least ten hours during the semester. Students may also get involved with a project that advances urban farming but is not farm work (research, setting up markets, transforming food for an urban farm).
You must be in a group of at least 3 people (unless I permit you to have a different arrangement). You must all contribute to the report, but you can get graded for your individual contribution if you wish. If you are not part of a group and didn’t get permission to work independently, your grade will be reduced by 15%.
Participation: You will receive 2.5 out of 5 points for attending all the classes. The remainder of the grade is based on your involvement in discussion and participation in classroom activities.
Letter Grade Equivalency
Your numerical grades will be converted to letter grades as follows:
A+ (93 – 100%) B+ (77 – 79.9%) C+ (67 – 69.9%) D+ (57– 59.9%)
A (85 – 92.9%) B (73 – 76.9%) C (63 – 66.9%) D (53 – 56.9%)
A- (80 – 84.9%) B- (70 – 72.9%) C- (60 – 62.9%) D- (50 – 52.9%)
F < 50%
Handing in Assignments:
You MUST submit all assignments in HARD COPY at the beginning of class on the due date. Unless you are given permission (in advance), assignments received by e-mail will not be graded. Late assignments will not be accepted without adequate documentation of medical or personal emergencies.
Required Books
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Carpenter, N., and Rosenthal, W. (2011) The Essential Urban Farmer, Penguin Books.
Recommended Books for Advanced Students
Hemenway, T (2009) Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition, Chelsea Green.
Course Readings and Schedule
This is a TENTATIVE schedule and is subject to change. Be sure to consult the course website regularly to be aware of any changes.
Course schedule, topics and required readings:
September 10th – Introduction to the Course
September 17th – Introduction to Growing Food in a City
Visit the Duff-Court Urban Farm
Reading:
Carpenter, N., and Rosenthal, W. (2011) The Essential Urban Farmer, Penguin Books.
Chapter 5 – Planning What to Grow and Raise (p. 67 – 88)
Chapter 7 – Container Gardening (p. 113 – 134)
September 24th – Introduction to Building Soil, Maintaining Crops, and Managing Pests
Reading:
Carpenter, N., and Rosenthal, W. (2011) The Essential Urban Farmer, Penguin Books.
Chapter 8 – Building Soil Fertility (p. 135 – 159)
Chapter 10 – Planting and Maintaining Crops (199 – 237)
Chapter 13 – Managing Weeds, Pests and Disease (p. 278 – 304)
October 1st – Introduction to Seed Saving and Growing Fruit Trees
Second Visit to the Duff-Court Urban Farm
Reading:
Carpenter, N., and Rosenthal, W. (2011) The Essential Urban Farmer, Penguin Books.
Chapter 14 – Seed Saving (p. 305 – 324)
Chapter 15 – Fruit Trees (p. 325 – 356)
October 8th – What’s Wrong with Our Food System
Visit Loyola Campus (Mind Hearth Mouth)
Reading:
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Chapter 1 – The Facade of the Modern Grocery Store (p. 23 – 31)
Chapter 2 – Industrial Food (p. 33 – 46)
Chapter 3 – Industrial Eaters (p. 47 – 57)
October 15th– Rise of Urban Agriculture
Reading:
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Chapter 4 – A World Food In Crisis (p. 59 – 72)
Chapter 5 – The New Food Movement and the Rise of Urban Agriculture (p. 73 – 80)
Chapter 15 – Conclusion: Greening and Eating Our Cities (p. 307 – 316)
Landner, P. (2011) The Urban Food Revolution, Changing the Way We Feed Cities, New Society Publishers.
Chapter 1 – What’s the Matter with Food (p. 1 – 10)
October 22nd – Localizing Food via Urban and Suburban Farming
Reading:
Landner, P. (2011) The Urban Food Revolution, Changing the Way We Feed Cities, New Society Publishers.
Chapter 2 – Past Forward to Local? Let’s Be Real (p. 11 – 24)
Chapter 3 – Preserving Rural Agriculture Land for Food Production (p. 25 – 34)
Chapter 4 – Converting Urban and Suburban Lands for Growing (p. 35 – 48)
Chapter 16 – Is Local Food Safe (p. 231 – 237)
October 29th – Making Urban Farms Viable
Reading:
Landner, P. (2011) The Urban Food Revolution, Changing the Way We Feed Cities, New Society Publishers.
Chapter 7 – Economic Sustainability: Making the Economics of Agricultural Urbanism Pay (p. 81 – 100)
Chapter 8 – Economic Development through Urban Agriculture (p. 101 – 116)
Chapter 12 – Farmers Markets and CSAs: Making the Most of Direct Sales (p. 167 – 180)
November 5th – Building Community via Urban Agriculture
Reading:
Landner, P. (2011) The Urban Food Revolution, Changing the Way We Feed Cities, New Society Publishers.
Chapter 13 – Growing Community with Community Gardens (p. 181 – 195)
Chapter 17 – What We Can Do: Systemic Changes, Personal Choices (p. 239 – 257)
November 12th – Roots of Modern Urban Agriculture
Reading:
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Chapter 6 – Paris – The Roots of Modern Urban Agriculture (p. 81 – 105)
November 19th –Urban Agriculture in Canada
Reading:
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Chapter 9 – Vancouver – Canada’s Left Coast (p. 159 – 197)
Chapter 10 – Toronto – Cabbagetown 2.0 (p. 199 – 226)
November 26th – Urban Agriculture on a National Scale in Cuba
Reading:
Cockrall-King, J. (2012) Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution, Prometheus Books.
Chapter 14 – Cuba – Urban Agriculture on a National Scale (p. 283 – 305)
December 3rd – Course Wrap-Up
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