Food in the City June 3, 2008

The Toronto Society of Architects would like to invite you to join us at:

Food in the City:
a discussion assessing the health of the city through examining the cycles of its food – the growth sourcing, production, buying, selling, cooking, eating of food in the city.

DATE | Tuesday 3 June, 6:30 to 8:30 pm

LOCATION | Arts and Letters Club – 14 Elm St

MODERATOR | Phil Goodfellow – TSA Vice-Chair

GUESTS:
Chris Hardwicke -- Associate, &Co
Kathryn Scharf -- Program Director, STOP Community Food Center
Lauren Baker -- PhD Candidate, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University.

A city without food is a city without soul. Many of our favourite urban spaces in the city are places where we buy food; think of St Lawrence Market, Kensington Market and Dufferin Grove Park. Many of the city's great festival are about food; for example Taste of the Danforth. All of our great cultural neighborhoods are defined by their flavours, like Corso Italia and Little India.

But the distribution and purchasing of food also shapes our urban form. Large supermarkets on the periphery of our communities have decimated Toronto's history of vibrant neighborhood corner stores. Chain restaurants in power-centers parking lots threaten the family-run ethnic restaurants that have made Toronto a culinary destination. Even our street food policies provide us with only the choice of a bland hot dog.

The food that the city consumes affects not only its inhabitant’s health, but also the health and vibrancy of its very culture. Recent initiatives in urban agriculture, community gardens and inner city farmer's markets have begun to assess the health of the city's food supply. We need to start thinking about cities from a new vantage point. Our discussion will begin to assess the health of the city through examining the cycles of its food – the sourcing, production, buying, selling, cooking, eating and waste disposal of food. At its very essence, the city is what, where and how it eats.