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Within the Canadian context, ‘public’ lands refers to lands a government has first jurisdiction over – like a park, or ‘crown land’. In this understanding, the ‘people’ of that nation are the first (human) stakeholders who should be considered when making decisions on that land. S&G wanted to find those very few public land scenarios in Canada where food growing was the main consideration, and to hear from those who are farming there – the perks, the oversight, what was possible and what still needs dreaming up.
There is so much potential here – from hydro corridors, to park land, to those strips of grass between ‘private’ property and public infrastructure that a government oversees, where we could be growing food, closer to home, with more hands involved.
We were excited about this one, and we hope you are too!
LINKS
Other Episodes in this series
Episode 1: Why Land Access?
Episode 2: What’s the deal with Québec?
Episode 3: If I could say one thing to someone wanting to farm from my context, it would be…
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contributors
Madeline (Maddie) Marmor
Co-Host/Producer
Maddie is a landless farmer born in downtown Toronto. She has been farming for the past 8 years on farms throughout Ontario and has grown food on the current and traditional lands of the Houdensaunee, Anishinabewaki, Attiwonderonk, Mississauga, Odawa, Wendake-Nionwentsïo, Petun, Saugeene – Ojibiway nations. Over the years she has come to recognize the privilege and political significance of farming on stolen land, knowledge which has informed her dedication to food sovereignty and agroecology. She is an active member of the National Farmers Union, sits on the North American Nyéléni Coordination and accompanies systems change in food spaces as an adult education facilitator.
Stuart Oke
Co-Host/Producer
Stuart is a young farmer from Eastern Ontario who, alongside his partner Nikki, owns and operates Rooted Oak Farm, a 12 acre organic vegetable and cut flower farm. After years of renting land Rooted Oak in 2020 relocated to Eastern Ontario, and the traditional territory of the Anishinabek, Huron-Wendat, Haudensaunee and Oneida Peoples. In addition to loving food and taking pride in growing food that sustains people, the farm was founded on the idea that farming is a political act, one capable of creating great change.
www.rootedoak.ca | @rootedoakfarm
Aliyah Fraser
Co-Host/Producer
Aliyah is a Kitchener-based farmer who owns and operates a quarter acre market garden called Lucky Bug Farm on rented land in Waterloo Region where she grows a variety of produce for a small CSA program. The farm operates within the Haldimand Tract in Kitchener, Ontario and is on the traditional territory of the Mississauga, Anishnabeg, Attiwonderonk (neutral) and Haudenoshaunee peoples. She imagines a food system where more people have access to ecologically grown food, where there is less waste and where there’s a better understanding of the labour it takes to get food from the farm to the table. Aliyah also has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies in Urban planning from the University of Waterloo. She believes that food and housing are human rights. She lives in Kitchener, Ontario with her partner Thomas and cat Frankie.
luckybugfarm.com | @luckybugfarm
Jeremy Colbeck
Guest
A farmer and board member at Beet Box Farm, Jeremy uses farming as a tool to try to pull our culture towards a sustainable way of life: A way based on reciprocal relationships with the land and all its inhabitants. Hailing from Stittsville/Bells Corners/Westboro, and with an aerospace engineering bachelors’ at Carleton U, Jeremy found himself searching for a new career – something that worked better personally, for his community, and the world at large. He found organic farming in 2013, and it stuck. He believes feeding ourselves is serious business, and is one of the primary ways we participate in our ecosystems, and determined to find better ways of doing so! à
BeetBox Farm / IG: @beatbox_coop
Kyle Warren and Angelina Reeser
Guests
Angelina Reesor & Kyle Warren started County Left Farm (CLF) in 2020 after many years of working on other’s farms. We manage 1.5 acres of production on rented land in Claremont, ON. We share resources and land with multiple businesses including Kindred Folk Flowers. We are so grateful to be doing what we’re doing, and have high hopes for the future of CLF as we move our farm to a long-term lease within Rouge National Urban Park.