Durham Chronicle Volume XLIV, Issue 11

18 The Chronicle April 10 - 16, 2018 chronicle.durhamcollege.ca Community
Farming fresh food in the city
Author who
started an
urban farm
explains why
the farm is
important
for his
community
Shanelle Somers
The Chronicle
Have you ever dreamed about
growing your own vegetable garden
or even just eating a plantbased
diet? It's a vision that urban
farmer, author, and plant-based
coach Joe G. Thomas has made a
reality today.
Responding to what he says is
the urgent needs of Black consumers
in Toronto regarding health,
food and Black farmers, Thomas
started the Toronto Black Community
Supported Agriculture, an
urban farm located in Downsview
Park.
It’s unique to the world of
farming. Their website cautions:
“While you enjoy your weekly
share of the fresh, local, farmfresh
food, you must also share
in the lack of food should there
be a drought, flood, pest problem
or other issues that reduce the
amount or quality of the food.
You become one with the farmer
in understanding and dealing with
the ways of nature.”
Chronicle reporter Shanelle
Somers spoke with founder Joe G.
Thomas to find out more about it.
Where did the idea come
from to start a community
agricultural group?
Actually the initial idea came
from when I was in Florida because
I was doing some real estate
work in one of those really
depressed areas where there were
churches and fast food places on
most of the corners but no proper
grocery store. So I started working
with the people in that area and I
came up with a plan that I called
‘each one grow one’.
I took 15 homes and I encouraged
them to grow one crop and
share with each other. When I met
with farmers here (Black Farmers
and Growers of Toronto), we found
that it would be easier to just grow
the food and have people participate
as part of it.
What has the response
been like to plant-based eating
and the Black farming
community in Toronto?
When I decided to start the
Black Vegans of Toronto, I expected
that I’d get about maybe
10 or 15 people interested. So I
phoned the group and I posted it
on Facebook and in about two or
three days I had over 100 people
join.
Inside the Downsview urban farm.
Then I started having two meetings
a month, one in the east end
and one in the west end and the
attendance at the first meeting was
about 14 people and now it’s more
or less 20 to 25 people who are
very serious about their health. It’s
very encouraging and every day
I have more people asking to join
my Facebook group.
Why did you start the business?
When I wrote my book in 2017
(‘Let food be your medicine today:
Live healthy and strong on plant
based whole foods’), I discovered
that Black people were basically
leading in all of the chronic diseases.
Whether it’s diabetes or
heart disease, it all came down to
what we were eating and the research
that I did showed that we
could avoid a lot of these illnesses
if we just changed our diet to a
much more plant-based diet and
cut back on the amount of meat,
eggs and dairy and milk.
So that sort of got me going,
and on top of that I had a personal
tragedy when my son died suddenly
of a heart attack in 2016.
He was 40 years old.
So that gave me more interest
to really go out and encourage
people, especially young Black
people, to be much more aware
of what they eat.
How did you first start the
greenhouse of Downsview?
The fortunate thing is the people
that I hooked up with had already
gotten a greenhouse through another
organization to grow food
(Black Farmers and Growers of
Toronto). But they didn’t have any
marketing or any kind of setup to
take it to the point we have taken
it today.
I discovered that Black people were
basically leading in all the chronic
diseases.
My contribution is organizing
and bringing in people who are
looking for plant-based organic
food. I brought the market for the
food and that is what I am developing.
They do the growing and I go
there to help with the planting.
But I do more of the outside organization
and marketing. Now
we are growing for the general
public as much as we can. We have
one greenhouse space that is going
well but the cold weather has kind
Courtesy of Joe G. Thomas
of affected some of the stuff we are
growing in the greenhouse.
Is growing the food the
main challenge you have during
the winter season?
Yes, because we have aphids,
black flies and stuff like that that
just come out of nowhere. If we
don’t stay on top of it then the rest
of the plants could get infested
very quickly. So far we have been
doing quite well.
What were some of the
challenges you faced in
bringing the idea to the community?
The concept of a CSA (Community-supported
Agriculture) is
that people pay money up front to
the farmers so that they can get
the things they need like the seeds
and the equipment and material to
grow the food, and then you get
a share of the harvest every two
weeks. We have had a few people
who have bought in right away
and then gave us the money up
front but the majority of people
are waiting to see us do it and then
come on board.
But we are gearing up for the
spring and summer, that’s when
we expect to have a lot of people
involved and we will be doing
farmers’ markets as well.
What would you to say to
people who are opposed to a
plant-based diet?
The proof is when I look at my
life experience, in terms of how
I have been eating for the last
41 years and I check my health
and the benefits I’ve had over the
years.
This started with a friend that
decided he was going to go vegetarian.
He encouraged me to do
it back in 1975 and I tried it and
almost immediately I felt different,
more energy. Over the years
I’ve never spent a day in hospital
and I turned 71 in December. I
am on no medication, I wake up
every day with lots of energy, and
if the weather is good I walk in
the morning.
So, I’m getting results and that’s
why I stick to this. If I wasn’t getting
results then I would think
maybe I should try something
else. But I get excellent results
from the way I eat and I also see
evidence of people where the only
difference between them and me
is their lifestyle and they are sick
and I am not.
They have aches and pains and
all kinds of chronic illnesses and
the only difference is our lifestyles.
Have you found that Black
people are looking for cleaner
products and food that is
grown locally?
To be honest, the response from
Black people was slow at first, because
I think a lot of people pay
more attention to what they wear
and their hair than what they put
in their bodies. So there wasn’t
much of a great interest particularly
from Black people. But now
it has changed because the vegan
movement is moving fast and
Black people are getting much
more conscious of what they eat.
But just a few years ago I was
seen as a kind of weird guy not
eating meat. It is not something
that was very accepted before but
now I am very encouraged. A
lot of people, particularly Black
women are more conscious of what
they eat.
What expansion plans do
you have?
We have already secured four
acres of land and we have another
two acres that may be available
to us too. That is a good chunk of
land to grow a lot of food in the
Downsview area. We also have a
possibility of getting some farm
land at York University.
We want to make it a ‘no excuse’
situation with all people. No
excuse about the price, no excuse
about the service and no excuse
about the convenience. We have a
list of things that we hear of all the
time and we are tackling each one
of those so when we say we have
food for you, it is locally grown, it’s
fresh, it’s nutritious, so you have
no excuse not to buy from us.
People interested in purchasing
fresh, locally grown food can sign
up to be a member at www.bcsatoronto.com
and receive organic
groceries bi-weekly for $110.00
per share. Members can pick up
their share of the fresh food grown
in season from the greenhouse or
have it delivered to their home.
Their next harvest is expected
to be ready by April 12.
This article was written by Chronicle
reporter Shanelle Somers and originally
published by ByBlacks.com.