by Käthe Ploeger

While there has been quite some research on environmental justice in Toronto's urban agriculture, few of them have included internal micropolitical landscapes and even fewer have considered the more-than-human world in the gardens. I am pleased to have the chance to delve deeper into the human and more-than-human relations that form the micropolitical landscape of Toronto's urban gardens. As an International Visiting Research Trainee (IVRT) under the guidance of Dr Phyllis Novak, Dr Lisa Myers, and Dr Martha Stiegman, I'm conducting fieldwork at Maloca Community and Native Plant Garden for the fall semester of 2024, along with two other gardens in the city to broaden the scope of my research.

My research focuses on exploring the contributions and/or challenges of environmental justice within community gardens from a more-than-human perspective. Community gardens in Toronto are increasingly acknowledged as transformative spaces for community cohesion, learning opportunities and access to healthy food and green spaces. They are also recognised for their environmental justice potential via urban greening and biodiversity improvement (see for example Hammelman, 2019; Mulligan et al., 2018). Not only academia acknowledges the role urban gardens can play in the in- and exclusion of green space; the Municipality of Toronto was the first city worldwide to introduce food security and urban agriculture in their policies in the 1990s (Toronto Food Policy Council, 2019).

To broaden the understanding of the environmental justice potential in community gardens, I conceptualize the three gardens I work at as urban garden assemblages. In these assemblages of human and more-than-human relations, I focus on the micropolitical tendencies that create these very relations of being and becoming. Because, simply said: can we truly understand the justice complexities of a garden without first acknowledging the influence of more-than-human entities? The methodological ground for mapping the urban garden assemblage is embedded in multispecies ethnography as introduced by Kirksey and Helmreich (2010), including participant observation, soundscapes, semi-structured interviews and photographs. This means I engage with ongoing projects, connect with gardeners, and maintain a steady, hands-on involvement at least once a week per garden.

Although the data collection period continues until December, some preliminary findings already emphasize the importance of particular actants, like comfrey. This fast-growing perennial herb is notable for its large, hairy leaves and deep roots that can extend up to 2 meters. In all three gardens, there are different varieties of comfrey growing. In one garden they are intentionally planted from seed, but specifically a variety that does not irritate the human skin. Here the leaves are harvested and dried for salves and tinctures.

In the other gardens, the plants intended for cultivation are sown around the comfrey, which naturally exists there. Uprooting comfrey would almost require an excavator, and trimming it only provides a temporary solution. As a result, garden directors respectfully plan around the presence of comfrey. However, opinions about comfrey vary. Some gardeners view it as a weed, while others admire its resilience, deep roots, and medicinal properties. Nonetheless, nearly everyone behaves cautiously around the plant to avoid its prickly nature. One gardener humorously noted, "I don't want to make it angry and get pricked," as they put on gloves and rolled down their sleeves. Beyond its medicinal uses, comfrey serves an important role as a nitrogen fixer. In one garden, gardeners allow its leaves to compost directly on the garden beds. Though its impact might not be immediately obvious, comfrey influences various aspects of gardening. It dictates where produce is grown, the clothes gardeners wear, and the tools they utilize, showcasing its integral role in the gardening ecosystem.

References:

Hammelman, C. (2019). Challenges to supporting social justice through food system governance: Examples from two urban agriculture initiatives in Toronto. ENVIRONMENT AND URBANIZATION, 31(2), 481–496. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247819860114.

Kirksey, S. E., & Helmreich, S. (2010). THE EMERGENCE OF MULTISPECIES ETHNOGRAPHY. Cultural Anthropology, 25(4), 545–576. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1360.2010.01069.x.

Mah, C. L., & Thang, H. (2013). Cultivating Food Connections: The Toronto Food Strategy and Municipal Deliberation on Food. International Planning Studies, 18(1), 96–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563475.2013.750941.

Mulligan, K., Archbold, J., Baker, L. E., Elton, S., & Cole, D. C. (2018). Toronto municipal staff and policy-makers’ views on urban agriculture and health: A qualitative study. JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE FOOD SYSTEMS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, 8, 133–156. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2018.08B.001.

Toronto Food Policy Council. (2019). Toronto Food Policy Council 2019 Annual Report.

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Käthe Ploeger is a master's student in International Development studies at the University of Amsterdam under the supervision of Dr Karen Paiva Henrique. As an IVRT at the faculty of EUC, she conducts four months of qualitative fieldwork in Toronto's community garden network. Here she researches the urban garden as an assemblage in relation to environmental justice and food sovereignty. Her background in cultural anthropology lies at the heart of the ethnographic methodologies used in this research. Other aspects of her work focus on Indigenous human rights, climate justice, and ecocide in Chile and West Papua.