More community dialgoues needed on land use!

Parkdale People's EconomyCommunity Land Trust

Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust had an information table at the Parkdale BIA’s Spring Into Parkdale event on April 26. Despite the end of April, it was rather a cold and windy day, but many people stopped by at our table to learn about PNLT!

We had lots of great conversations about land use in Parkdale. Many of people who stopped at the table shared their concerns about ways in which neighbourhood change has taken place – “we have more condo development but are losing more affordable housing”; “the nature of retail space is changing rapidly as a result of the increase of bars and restaurants”; “we would like to see more green/open space for community gathering and events!”; “can we have more kids’ clothing stores?” and so on…

We also had brief but important discussions about what  the community land trust model can offer to mitigate some of the challenges while promoting more local control over neighbourhood development. People were very excited with the potential of the CLT model as a community-based strategy to redefine how we talk about land use to better meet community needs.

To deepen this conversation, we are planning to hold a “community charrette”, as one of the goals of PNLT is to act as a vehicle to promote community based planning and participatory decision making over land use and neighbourhood development.

To keep you updated about ongoing activities and future events, the PNLT newsletter is planning to come back after a long hiatus! If you have not signed up yet, please sign up from here!

Developing Food Flow pilot projects

Parkdale People's EconomyCommunity Food Flow

It has been one year since the Food Flow project started in early 2013 with the strategic planning session with key stakeholders in the community food sector. The first year focused on the extensive community food needs assessment study that looked at opportunities and challenges in community food distribution and procurement. Now, after the (successful!) completion of the research phase, the project is moving into the second phase: pilot project development and implementation.

Research reports by both PARC and Toronto Public Health have offered a range of recommendations, from agency solutions to neighbourhood-level actions to system-wide interventions. We are currently focusing on developing three projects: 1)  Food Flow kitchen (community based food processing), 2) Access to Farm Surplus, and 3) Community Freezer, as well as a large partnership initiative, Online Portal project.

As a beginning of pilot project planning, we held a strategic planning session with Food Flow Advisory Group as well as a community planning and consultation meeting  with community agencies in West Central neighbourhoods.

Both sessions not only generated a number of creative ideas, but also highlighted challenges and opportunities that need to be integrated into pilot project development.

Based on the inputs and feedback from these sessions, the Food Flow project team is working on project development planning and fundraising. We will keep project updates on this website as well as monthly newsletters. If you have not signed up for the newsletter, please do so from here!

Food Flow Newsletter #1

Parkdale People's EconomyCommunity Food Flow

he Food Flow project’s first newsletter has been published! The newsletter, Food Flow Findings, is published and delivered to you (sign up here!) on a monthly basis to report updates and progress our pilot project development such as Community Food Processing, Community Freezer, and Access to Farm Surplus! It also features a profile of community food agencies in Toronto to share stories and good practices.

Please sign up our newsletter from here.

Our monthly newsletter looks like this!

Parkdale NLT at BIA’s “Spring Into Parkdale” on April 26th

Parkdale People's EconomyCommunity Land Trust

Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust is going to have an information table at Parkdale BIA’s Spring into Parkdale event.

  • What is a community land trust (CLT) model?
  • Why is a CLT needed in Parkdale?
  • How is a CLT different from other models (e.g. cooperative)?

If you are interested in finding out more about community land trust,  please come out to see us at the PNLT table at Dufferin and Queen St West!

We had a very interactive exercise last year. We will have more fun exercise ready this year!

Just released! – Community Food Flow Final Reseach Report

Parkdale People's EconomyCommunity Food Flow

The Community Food Flow (CFF) project is a community food assessment that explores assets and challenges of food distribution and food procurement in the community food sector, with particular focus on west-central neighbourhoods. The CFF project is a collaborative project led by PARC along with diverse stakeholders in Toronto’s community food sector.

The CFF project built a strong research partnership with the Community Food Procurement project led by Toronto Food Strategy team at Toronto Public Health (TFS). We call this joint initiative “Community Food Project”. PARC’s report focuses on west central Toronto, while the Toronto Food Strategy report focuses on broader sector needs and solutions. The reports complement each other and together provide a fuller picture of the Community Food Sector in Toronto.

Please read the joint project summary:

Community Food Project Executive Summary Download

The Community Food Flow final report (PARC led):

Reassembling Community Food Flow Download

Toronto Food Strategy report:

Finding Food Download

Please also go to the report resource page for more details.

Project support provided by the Ontario Trillium Foundation:

Scaling up the Co-op Cred program

Parkdale People's EconomyCo-op Cred

We are thrilled to announce great news to kick off the year 2014. We are awarded the grant from Metcalf Foundation to scale up the successful Co-op Cred program!

The Co-op Cred program is an alternative community currency program that facilitates access to the health benefits of local, sustainable and nutritious food as well as supportive work experience opportunities for low-income and marginalized groups facing food insecurity and economic marginalization. The Co-op Cred program enables participants to earn “credits” in exchange for their hours of labour and to use them to purchase healthy food available at the WEFC.

Metcalf Foundation is a private foundation that works to advance innovative approaches to sustainability, equity, and creativity. We were awarded grant from its Opportunities Fund under the Inclusive Local Economies program.  “The Opportunities Fund is an open call for original ideas and compelling approaches that lead to meaningful economic inclusion for low-income people and communities in Toronto.” (from Metcalf Foundation’s website)

The Metcalf grant allows us to strengthen program capacities and infrastructures, to increase program participants, to generate more local supportive employment opportunities, and to address community food insecurity by making fresh and healthy food accessible. From this stage, we also work with a new community partner, Parkdale Community Health Centre for the program expansion.

Updates from Community Food Flow project

Parkdale People's EconomyCommunity Food Flow

The Community Food Flow (CFF) project is a community food assessment that explores assets and challenges of food distribution and food procurement in the community food sector. The CFF project is a partnership project led by the Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre (PARC) and in close collaboraiton with  the Community Food Procurement project led by Toronto Public Health’s Food Strategy team.

We are interested in learning how community organizations access food through donation and purchasing, as well as what can be done to improve Toronto’s community food flow. These organizations/programs include drop-in meal programs, shelter services, affordable housing with meals, community health centres, social enterprises, and many others.

The project started in January 2013 with a strategic planning session with the Advisory Group members and collaborators. Since then, we have developed its research approach, began to build core partnerships with 10 organizations in Parkdale, and conducted interviews with partners, key informants from the sector, and advisory group members.

The initial stage of research identified the following 8 key themes:

  1. Environmental scan shows that there are over 60 food-related programs in Parkdale; over 1 million pounds of food were delivered from non-profit food distributors in 2012.
  2. Although food donation is integral to food-related programs, its quality control is identified as a challenge.
  3. A common source of food purchasing is nearby supermarkets because of price and convenience, but comes with hidden costs.
  4. Limited control over food budgets makes organizational food planning difficult, while food costs per meal/person vary among different programs.
  5. Providing healthy food is commonly recognized as a key to programs, but translating such recognition into practice is difficult for various reasons.
  6. Program coordinators often take responsibilities for both programming and food procurement, resulting in considerable administrative burden and staff time
  7. There is a strong readiness and willingness for collaboration, while a diversity of programs and organizations may pose a challenge.
  8. Three lessons from the Parkdale Food Network’s Bulk-buying initiative suggest that “a large volume” is not necessarily a solution to challenges faced by non-profit agencies.

The project’s next steps include 1) the survey to understand common issues as well as different challenges in food procurement among diverse organizations, 2) the focus groups to spur intra- and inter-organizational discussions on opportunities and potential strategies that can overcome challenges; 3) further research and engagement to find leverage points for collaboration with other ongoing initiatives around food flow in Toronto.

Parkdale Community Food Market

Parkdale People's EconomySouth Parkdale Market

Finally the market launches on Wednesday August 14th 2013 at Masaryk Cowan Park, 220 Cowan ave, Toronto, M6K 2N6. Time is from 3-7pm.

Please come out and enjoy good food!

Ride4RealFood 2013 on September 15

Parkdale People's EconomyCo-op Cred

“The 3rd Annual Ride4RealFood is about biking for food security in the city”

The co-op cred program is a community food security accessibility tool based on an alternative currency model that facilitates low-income people’s participation in the healthy and economic benefits of local, organic, and sustainable food at the West End Food Co-op.

The West End Food Co-op and PARC are organizing the 3rd annual Ride4RealFood fundraising campaign on September 15th Sunday! Raised funds will contribute to WEFC and PARC’s co-op cred program that makes healthy foods more accessible.

Please visit the campaign page for more details and how you can contribute to making a difference in food security in the city: https://www.giveffect.org/events/131-ride4realfood

NLT strategic planning update

Parkdale People's EconomyCommunity Land TrustLeave a Comment

Neighbourhood Land Trust has been going through strategic planning sessions to identify, prioritize and strategize key areas of activities. Since CLT work is relatively new in Toronto, it has been a challenge to align key milestones and activities with an overall goal of developing a CLT in the Parkdale area.

The strategic planning session identified four key areas – now we are developing them as NLT’s committees.

1. Program Planning committee
This subcommittee supports the development of programs and activities that NLT undertake. It also works directly with key local stakeholders – such as local politicians and land owners – to land acquisition and development. For the first year, the subcommittee works on developing criteria and priorities for land acquisition and community uses of land, and building working relationships with local stakeholders.

2. Communications and Community Engagement committee
This subcommittee works to reach out to and spread the idea of community land trust to the wider community members – both beneficiaries and supporters. The committee also develops key communication materials and messages while spearheading community engagement and community-based participatory planning in order to promote greater community participation and membership development. For the first year, it focuses on developing communication materials and organizing community workshops.

3. Governance committee
This subcommittee’s primary responsibility is organizational development from the legal and governance perspective. The committee works on building a democratic governance model for Parkdale context, while also developing policies and bylaws that reflect the principles of diversity, equity, and democracy. For the first year, the subcommittee works toward obtaining a charitable status with development of policies and bylaws.

4. Fundraising committee
This subcommittee literally is around fundraising – identifying potential funding opportunities, writing proposals, managing grants, and creating fundraising events.

We are at the very beginning now and looking for enthusiastic volunteers who have unique experience and expertise. If you are interested, please contact us at parkdale.clt@gmail.com!

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