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From the TOsustain Team
As “Toward Sustainable Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture for Net-zero Food Systems”, TOsustain, enters another exciting year, our research network continues to grow across the Greater Toronto Area. This season marked major progress in fieldwork, data collection, and collaboration — from mapping potential urban agriculture zones to exploring rooftop farming systems and soil health under varied cropping practices.
In this issue:
Fieldwork highlights: Soil Carbon study, Crop Diversity, Pollinator study, Validate Extent of Urban Food Gardens in Toronto, Experimental Trials, and
Policy updates
Past and Upcoming Events: TOsustain All-Members Meeting, Agri-tech workshop, Fall Festival at Valley Plentiful Gardens, Exploring Rooftop Agriculture at the University of Toronto, Upcoming All-Members Research program meeting
Student accomplishments: Upcoming Papers, Talks
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| Summer 2025 field season saw our researchers visit urban and peri-urban farms all over the Greater Toronto Area! A range of studies were conducted from multiple labs. Below we highlight a few.
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Our research goal was to determine crop diversity, management practices and soil contamination across urban and peri-urban agriculture systems. We surveyed crop diversity by identifying and collecting traits of crops grown in randomized plots on farms in the Greater Toronto Area. In each sampling location, we also collected soil to test for heavy metals and soil nutrients. This information will contribute to our understanding of important plant-soil relationships in urban agriculture.
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Our research goal was to measure soil carbon and greenhouse gas dynamics in multiple urban and peri-urban agriculture systems, and to determine the best soil management practices for urban agriculture. To do this, we measured soil greenhouse gas fluxes with a gas analyzer (GASMAT) on farms across the Greater Toronto Area. We also collected samples to assess soil health. At three sites, we set up experimental trials to test the effects of various soil inputs on greenhouse gas fluxes. This information will help use develop guidelines for soil amendments that enhance soil fertility and carbon storage and reduce greenhouse gases for climate change mitigation.
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| Phd researcher, Kailyn Seo (at the back of the plots) and MSc student Jada Hollingsworth (on the grey path) are conducting crop diversity surveys at the Avling rooftop farm in City of Toronto
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Our research goal was to assess the state of pollinators at urban agriculture systems. We installed passive nest boxes, blue vane traps, and coloured pan traps across a suite of urban and peri-urban farms across the greater Toronto area. Nest boxes were monitored periodically to recruit and observe cavity- nesting pollinators, while vane and pan traps were used to sample the diversity of pollinators.
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| Crops growing on rooptop farm at Toronto Metropolitan University
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| Validate Extent of Urban Food Gardens in Toronto
Our research goal was to update and validate the Toronto Urban Growers (TUG) garden database. The database, containing 427 gardens across Toronto, had not been comprehensively updated since 2018. Kinley Wangmo from the Seneca team, verified garden locations using Google Maps (2025 basemap), ESRI imagery, and Street View to confirm visible gardens, rooftop plots, or community growing spaces. Verified sites were mapped in ArcGIS Pro using extracted XY coordinates for spatial analysis. The updated dataset helps improve the accuracy of site selection for ground-truthing and informs refinements to machine learning models used to detect and map various types of urban agriculture across Toronto. Collaboration and input from TUG and York Region Food Network (YRFN) were instrumental in guiding this work.
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| TOsustain team running tests on at the experimental plot at Albion Hills Community Farm
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Three experimental sites were established to test popular farming practices: vermicompost, hen manure and alfalfa as well as inorganic fertilizer under varying crop combinations. Soil microbial samples was taken pre and post amendment addition for comparative analysis. Data is being analyzed to measure the effects and differences of the treatments on soil health indicators, greenhouse gas fluxes and crop performance.
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| Researchers hard at work setting up experimental plots at Albion Hills Community Farm.
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| Albion Hills experimental plot flourished under regular care, ready for continuous sampling throughout the summer!
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PhD student Aden Fisher and Dr. Michael Classens conducted a scan of local, provincial, and federal policies that shape urban and peri-urban agriculture in the GTA, specifically focused on Toronto, Peel, and York regions. The review highlights the fragmented nature of food governance across jurisdictional levels which often results in symbolic or ‘soft law’ policies that lack concrete, measurable outcomes. While governments in Canada promote values like food security and sustainability, their actions frequently rely on weak policy instruments that leave responsibilities unclear and outcomes hard to trace. The analysis suggests that clearer goals and policy alignment are necessary in order to pursue a just transition toward sustainable food systems. This is especially true for farmers who currently bear much of the climate adaptation burden without adequate resources or incentives.
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Over 50 participants from partner organizations, industry, and academia gathered for a full-day exchange of research updates and collaboration planning.
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| A snapshot of the TOsustain research team during the program meeting on Nov. 13, 2024.
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| Gasmet instrument taking greenhouse gas readings at the experimental plot in Boreal Farms.
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Hosted at Boreal Farms and co-organized by Toronto Urban Growers and STEM Minds, this hands-on event featured games testing participants food knowledge, a farm tour of TOsustain’s experimental plot, and presentations from the TOsustain research team.
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| Fall Festival at Valley Plentiful Gardens — Sept. 21, 2025
Kailyn Seo, PhD student, shared how she sampled for the soil carbon study during the growing season, the overall goals of TOsustain’s research and its relevance to farmers during Valley Plentiful Fall Festival. Valley Plentiful Gardens is an allotment farm on hydro-corridor lands in Pickering.
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| Kailyn Seo standing besides the allotment plot of farmers at Valley Plentiful Gardens.
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| | | Prof. Marney Isaac at the Daniels GRIT Lab rooftop tour and Prof. Scott MacIvor presenting TOsustain research during Toronto’s Urban Agriculture Week.
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Prof. Marney Isaac (right image) and Prof. MacIvor (right image on top) shared their research on plant–soil interactions, trophic interactions, and management strategies to explore how rooftop agriculture can enhance productivity and resilience under the unique conditions of urban rooftops growing agriculture.
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We’re excited to announce our upcoming TOsustain All-Member Meeting, taking place on Nov. 5, 2025, at the University of Toronto Scarborough. This gathering will bring together our full research team, partners and industry collaborators to share preliminary findings from the 2025 field season — representing work from 14 labs across four educational institutions. Together, we will reflect on this year’s progress and set the stage for another impactful year ahead!
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Upcoming Publications
Khan, J., Isaac, M., Arhonditsis, G, Borden, K., Elton, S. Kroebel, R., Martin, A. Urban agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions: a research agenda for science and policy. FACETS. [In review].
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| Talks
Bosorogan, A; Hui, O; Gonzales-Vigil, E. (2024). Back to the roots: Exploring plant-insect interactions in cultivated and wild tomatoes. Entomological Society of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bosorogan, A; Rehman, S; Hui, O; Gonzalales-Vigil, E. (2025) Wild tomatoes show contrasting and common resistance against two insect herbivores. Gordon Research Conference Plant-Herbivore Interaction, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Carling, S., Isaac, M., Borden, K. (2025). Transitioning peri-urban farmland from grain to horticulture: Effects on soil greenhouse gas emissions. Canadian Society of Soil Science Annual Meeting, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Farhana, K. And Isaac, M.E. (2024). Soil and plant carbon dynamics in urban and peri-urban agriculture. Canadian Association of Geographers, Ontario Division, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Gessell, T, Classen, M. (2025). “Does yard-based urban agriculture in Toronto’s Trinity-Bellwoods neighbourhood develop a perceived sense of community?” Canadian Association for Food Studies conference. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Leung F, Martin A, He Y (2025). Investigating the spatial-temporal patterns of green roofs with remote sensing. Architecture Media Politics Society (Amps) Liveable Cities Conference, Barcelona, Spain.
Seo, K. (2025). Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Potential in Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture. Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences Doctoral Colloquium, Toronto, Ontario.
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