Another soil outburst. Sorry.

Here is a cleaned up version of my previous rant about sustainable urban farming. It's going to be in the July Ryerson Free Press, so keep your eyes peeled!

Every once in a while, the need for environmental awareness manifests itself in the form of a new “green” initiative, be it an alternative product or an eco friendly service. The Toronto eco scene is good for business, but the revolving door of trendy small scale initiatives will not heal the world. We can’t expect to find a technical solution to a problem that requires our full attendance.

Our destructive habits are a testament to our attitude that the solution is simply too foreboding to consider. We want clean air, clean water, and clean organs, but our actions portray the belief that the environment, in its magnitude, will simply absorb the chemicals we use on it. Similarly, our lifestyles reflect a faith that our bodies will absorb the toxins we consume, including the chemicals used in industrial farming. A “won’t hurt” mentality is costing us our health.

What can we do to ditch the small scale approach and work toward an effective solution? We can start by implementing a University degree for sustainable farming – agriculture that allows minimal damage to the environment and in turn, the human race. Instilling passion for the eco system in young people and cultivating knowledge of plant life, the harms of pesticides, and importance of nutrients is a vital step to ensuring a successful future on earth. While learning about soil may not jump to mind when we think of higher education in a contemporary urban setting, Toronto’s green initiatives are the seeds of interest that could alter our urban landscape and improve our health.

An urban institution like Ryerson could take advantage of its city landscape to instruct hands–on urban farming, the practice of cultivating food within a city. Often using a bio-intensive method incorporating organic crop growing on a minimum amount of land, long term sustainability is the goal of urban agriculture. The benefits lie in the addition of new vessels for composted urban waste and black water, an increase of local food, reduction of fossil fuel use, community growth, and a lot more green space. The reduction in food travel time would allow the elimination of preservatives, and a restriction of chemical sprays would result in maximum nutrients reached in each plant. Farming in an urban environment would instil compassion, time management, and appreciation for food, nature, and life in its participants. Rooftop farms could be the new rooftop patio.

In 2004, Toronto passed a city wide bylaw which called for a limited use of pesticide, and the adoption of more sustainable approaches to lawn and garden care. Within the first three years of implementation, the city saw a 60% decrease in domestic pesticide use. More recently, in April 2009, Ontario pesticide regulation came into effect, restricting the sale and use of cosmetic pesticides across the province. The decision to regulate pesticide use began in Quebec in the early 90’s. It has since inspired some 154 Canadian municipalities in seven provinces to pass such bylaws.

Created in the interest of public health, these bylaws demonstrate the fact that we have come a long way since the days of promoting DDT as a harmless material. Since the basic element of DDT is carbon, the building block of the living world, it was classed as an organic substance. But carbon can unite with an infinite possibility of other atoms, and in the case of DDT, hydrogen and chlorine, to create a highly toxic chemical that will contaminate every life cycle it touches. However, none of these municipal developments change the fact that farming on an industrial scale is oriented toward mass crop production with little regard for nutrient content or the environment.

In reality, there is an entire universe in the soil with its own unique language. The main difference between organic farming and industrial farming is that the former focuses on the processes involved in food production. The soil itself is seen as a living organism. New materials are constantly being contributed to the earth in a cycle that is without beginning or end. Rocks crumble, organic matter decays, and rain contributes a variety of natural gases from the atmosphere. At the same time, other materials are being taken away and used by living creatures. Chemical changes are constantly occurring in the soil, converting the natural elements from air and water into nutrients for plants. One teaspoon of soil contains billions of bacteria.

Around 1950, when the insecticidal properties in DDT were discovered, we altered the soil for the worse. In the interest of expedient crop growth, we poured synthetic pesticides over the soil and disturbed hundreds of millions of years of the balanced natural cycle. Dumping chemicals on crops is easier for producing mass quantities of crops, but bigger isn’t always better. These chemicals not only rob plants of their nutrients but also add complications to our health, ranging from nerve damage upon a single exposure to cell alteration after repeated contact. A study conducted on mosquitoes in the early 1960’s showed that several generations of exposure to DDT resulted in bizarre organisms that were part male and part female. Such risks are a high price to pay for increased yields.

The University of Guelph boasts an extensive Department of Plant Agriculture and has recently opened a center for urban organic farming on one hectare of the schools (165 hectare) arboretum. The Organic Agriculture Program, offered at both an undergraduate as well as graduate level, strives toward the goal of a brighter future for food. Offering classes such as Organic Plant Production, Fertilization, and Marketing, it is the only major of its kind offered in the country. The program sets students up for proficiency in organic profitability and sustainability, offering opportunities to work with organic entrepreneurs in the “real world” environment of the arboretum.

Hopefully, this unique initiative will pave the way for other institutions in the future. Sustainable farming as a university degree could produce a new kind of entrepreneur – one who sets out to make space for farms, not buildings and billboards, and paints a whole new landscape for the future.