Cultivating Urban Greenspaces

FOOD SYSTEMS AND CYCLES

WWW.CULTIVACTION.CA

WWW.ERIKCHEVRIER.CA

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Discussion Question 1

• What is a Food System?

Discussion Question 2

• Why is it Important to Study Food Systems?

Issues With Our Current Food System

• Issues with food security – there are close to 1 billion people starving in the world today!�Issues with food sovereignty – peasants and farmers are being affected by trade agreements and food dumping!�Issues with genetic modification process – epigenetics matter!�Issues with use of herbicides – glyphosates are being identified as cancer causing! �Issues with privatization – restricted access!�Issues with cost on farmers – family farms are not sustainable!�Issues with reduction of biodiversity – we are destroying nature! �Issues with unwanted genetics spreading onto non-GMO farms – lawsuits!�Issues with loss of Indigenous farming methods – on stolen land!�Issues with soil arability – we are killing our soil!�Issues with killing pollinators – fruits need bees!�Issues with water ‘dead zones’ – we are polluting our water!�Issues with corporate concentration of agribusinesses – former war companies are now food chemical companies! �Issues with health – our food contains toxins!�Drain on resources – Over 50% of most countries’ fresh water supplies are used for agriculture!�Major contributor to climate change – carbon and methane intensive farming!�Foundations on structural racism, colonialism and patriarchy – glaring systemic issues!�Rising cost of seed and chemicals – we don’t need to buy seeds!�Research funding being directed to GMOs instead of traditional breeding methods – ‘science’ is not only about GMOs!�Pest and weed resistance to Bt crops and glyphosate!��There are so many more critiques!

Who Benefits from Our Food System Economically? �Qualman, D. (2011) Advancing Agriculture by Destroying Farms? The State of Agriculture in Canada, pp. 20 – 42. In, Wittman, H., Desmarais, A. A., & Wiebe, N. (2011) Food Sovereignty in Canada: Creating Just and Sustainable Food Systems, Fernwood Publishing

Only A Few Large Corporations Own Most of the Agrochemical Market�https://cban.ca/gmos/issues/corporate-control/

Companies of War, Destruction and Death

These are a few examples:

• Monsanto still uses chemicals that were used to kill people, but in our food
• Monsanto Ghostwriting Academic Papers
• Is Round-Up safe to drink?
• Farmer won lawsuit against Monsanto – Glyphosate causes cancer
• The World According to Monsanto
• Monsanto is now owned by Bayer who used to be part of I.G. Farben, manufacturing poisonous gas (Zyklon B) for concentration camps during the World War.
• BASF was also part of IG Farben a company who worked with the Nazis and tested chemicals and drugs on people including Zyklon B
• Dow Chemical Invented Agent Orange
• Dow Chemical now owns Union Carbide who was responsible for a large devastating explosion in Bhopal, India:
• The Bhopal disaster: Toxic legacy
• One Night in Bhopal
• The Bhopal Disaster

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Source

Reports About Rapid Ecological Change

• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
• International Geosphere-Biosphere Program
• IPCC Reports

Global Temperature Rise

• Global Temperature Rise
• Ice Sheets Melting
• Greenland Melting at Faster Rates
• Artic Sea Ice Sheets Melting
• Carbon Dioxide Production
• Sea Level Rise
• Ocean Heat

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Discussion Question 3

• How can we develop food systems that are part of the solution to ecological, social and economic issues?

From Sustainability to Food Sovereignty

TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE

NESTED MODEL

Doughnut Model

New Economic Models�Take back the Economy �Gibson-Graham, J.K., Cameron, J., Healy, S. (2013) Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide for Transforming Communities, University of Minnesota Press

Beneficial Agriculture Practices

• Agroecology
• Permaculture
• Foraging
• Food sovereignty
• Action Research
• Education
• Eliminating the metabolic rift
• Reconnecting with community, food and nature

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Community-Campus Engagement Project

Ecological Cycles

• Seasons & Planting Calendar
• Planting Calendar – For Montreal (Great Resource)
• Planting Chart – West Coast Seeds
• Seed saving/sewing
• Building soil/nutrient replenishing
• Running water
• Harvesting/culling
• Succession planting
• Attracting pollinators/beneficial insects
• Crop rotations
• Balance and biodiversity

Action Research and Designing an Ecological Garden

• Observation
• Visioning
• Planning
• Conceptual design
• Schematic design
• Development
• Implementation

Questions?

• Thanks!