The Role of Next Gen Education in Advancing Urban Agriculture & Food Security

In this exclusive Agritecture Xchange preview, Agritecture Founder & CEO Henry Gordon-Smith sat down with Lauren Baker and Joe Nasr, instructors at The Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University and acknowledged thought leaders in urban agriculture and food security, for a concise and informative discussion on the role of next-gen education in this crucial topic.

Learn more during The Chang School's breakout sessions, happening each day at our virtual Xchange on December 1-3, 2020! 

Below were some of our highlights from the conversation:

Background

• Lauren Baker, PhD, has over 20 years of experience working on sustainable food systems and currently serves as Director of Programs for the Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

• Joe Nasr, PhD has been exploring urban agriculture and food security issues for over a quarter-century. He is the co-curator and author behind Carrot City: Designing for Urban Agriculture.

• Both Lauren and Joe have served as certificate instructors and associate researchers at The Chang School’s Centre for Studies in Food Security. Courses in this certificate program combine practical hands-on learning at Ryerson’s Farm that springboard into practical skills, with independent study and knowledge about the policy, planning, public health, and economic development implications of urban farms.

Highlights

• “If we’re going to have urban farms thriving in our cities, we really need to build an institutional fabric that enables urban agriculture. I think it’s exciting to link actual activities on the farm - farming, growing food, selling it, engaging the community - with some of the barriers and opportunities to address these barriers.” -Lauren Baker

• Ryerson uses a holistic systems-based approach to educate the incoming mix of students (some pursuing a degree, others already in the field), in order to encourage a bigger-picture lens on the topic.

• Ryerson conducted a survey recently on graduates of this certificate program and was pleased with the diversity of fields they saw. “There are some who are working directly in urban agriculture - on urban farms or in food businesses - whilst others are working in supporting fields” using their foundational local and global food studies as a jumping pad to become economic development officers, urban planners, and playing other roles in development corporations and the service industry.

• “Cities are starting to bring in urban agriculture as an amenity. This is a real opportunity for the city’s landscape to change, as different professions who understand urban agriculture and its potential use it to implement green, food-growing strategies throughout the city.” -Lauren Baker

• At Xchange, Lauren will be speaking on urban food security, rural-urban linkages in the context of Covid and its impact on the fragility and strength of food supply chains, and on how cities are creatively-adapting to this changing landscape. And Joe will be sharing insight on an urban agriculture course that they’re rebranding, which is focused on a systems-based types analysis of urban farms.