Toronto Urban Food and Agriculture Learning Centre opened to the public

Earlier this week the Applied Research Center released "The Color of Food" survey, a look at the food system to "map out the race, gender and class of workers along the supply chain."

-Botswana hopes to reel in Western companies to become a high tech hub and Suzanne Labarre gives us the whole scoop on what is planned. It looks like a big gamble, but, as the first of it's kind in Botswana and Africa, I think the government has a good chance of attracting high profile, long term tenants.

Here's a little more on the green roof collapse at the Aquascape Inc. building in Illinois.

And lastly, on February 1 the Toronto Urban Food and Agriculture Learning Centre opened to the public. Lots of materials to browse through for urban agriculture wonks. The trial period is 3 months long, let's hope it's much much longer.

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Background and overview

FoodShare Toronto and MetroAg – Alliance for Urban Agriculture are opening to the public the Toronto Urban Food and Agriculture Learning Centre (TUFALC). The aim is to provide information to all researchers, practitioners, advocates and others interested in urban food and agriculture matters in greater Toronto, as well as across North America and worldwide. The intent includes the future development of a digital library that builds on the existing collections of publications, books, articles, periodicals, unpublished papers (including conference, seminar and workshop reports), computer files, photos, and recordings.

The TUFALC consists of two separate but related collections housed in the same room within the building occupied by FoodShare at 90 Croatia Street (entrance on Brock Avenue, just south of Bloor Street West, close to the Dufferin Subway Station). Half of the collection comes from FoodShare, and contains primarily published materials pertaining to local and general interest in the areas of growing and managing personal and community gardens and other food-security issues. The other portion is the Jac Smit Library of Urban Agriculture, which was gathered by The Urban Agriculture Network, a US-based non-profit organization. This collection, which was moved to Toronto in 2009, consists of over 4000 individual records, both published and unpublished, dealing with all aspects of urban agriculture. The time period covered is the 1970s to the 2000s.

The FoodShare collection is organized by a simple subject-based cataloguing system with an available legend, while the bulk of the Jac Smit collection is indexed in a database, with some of the more recent materials not yet catalogued. Library attendants are available during public hours to help visitors locate items in both collections.

Current status and Short-term schedule

Starting Tuesday February 1st, the TUFALC is open to the public on a limited trial capacity. The planned public hours are 2 full days and 1 half day per week. Visitors can browse the collection during the following hours:

Tuesdays: 9:30am - 12:30pm and 1pm - 4pm
Wednesdays: 9:30am - 12:30pm
Fridays: 9:30am - 12:30pm and 1pm - 4pm

During this trial period, it is best to confirm any planned visit 1-2 days in advance by emailing toronto.ufalc@gmail.com . Questions and feedback can also be sent to this address.

For the time being, the TUFALC is a reference collection, and does not circulate. Visitors who wish to use materials off-site may speak with the library attendants to discuss options, including limited scanning and copying. We will also be using this trial period to seek feedback from users to guide future circulation policies and other potential adjustments in the learning centre.

This trial period is expected to last three months.