The Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC) at York University extends heartfelt thanks to the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF) for their generous support of the Maloca CommunALL Earthwork Project. This initiative is a significant step towards integrating Indigenous principles and practices into urban agriculture, directly benefiting our diverse student body and the local community.
Located on York University’s Keele campus, the Maloca Community Garden was founded by Angela Simone and Karen Okamoto in 1999. The Garden features about 2,000 square feet devoted to both individual and communal plots for growing vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers according to the principles of agroecology.
The Maloca CommunALL Earthwork Project builds on the successful CommunALL Garden plot experiment piloted in 2023, which engaged over 70 participants. “Earthwork” refers to the artistic shaping of land, a permaculture practice used by Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island for millennia. Unlike conventional farming methods, earthwork involves creating mounds rather than tilling, drilling, or digging into the earth, promoting an active partnership with micro-organisms already hard at work in the soil.
Thanks to TD FEF’s support, EUC is able to engage Métis Earthworker, teacher, and guide Joce Two Crows. Joce leads the team and weekly Earthworks programming with students and community, emphasizing Indigenous growing practices through ceremony.
“This is a tremendous learning opportunity for students, both local, domestic and international, to fulfill our decolonize, equity, diversity, and inclusion goals as a university and to ensure that Indigenous solidarity is actively prioritized especially when it comes to working lands in T’Karonto (aka Toronto),” said Phyllis Novak, director of Maloca Garden. “We are fortunate to have Joce’s guidance and teaching for the spring, summer and fall of this full cycle growing season to work with seeds, soil and harvest in ways that honour Anishinaabeg traditional teachings and leadership in these, their territories.”
The project will also include art activities (plant dye workshops, balm and salve making) and documentation activities which include an original podcast series about the building of the commun-all growing fields.
Once again, we express our deepest gratitude to the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation for their generous support and commitment to fostering a vibrant planet.
About The Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change
The Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC) represents the depth of York University’s commitment to addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing people and the planet. EUC boasts world-class faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in scholarship concerning our natural, built, and social environment, both in Canada and around the world. As a Faculty committed to change, EUC brings forth bold and diverse thinking, ambitious action and creative solutions. EUC programs highlight career readiness as a means through which students can realize their potential as changemakers — as problem solvers, policymakers, planners and leaders. Together we can make positive change towards a just and sustainable future.