by Ronnie Chatterjee | Jul 21, 2022 | Blog
Our youth stewardship program took place over the course of two weeks during the summer season. A number of youth from the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood participated in the annual program which engages young community members in environmental stewardship and conservation projects through hands–on learning opportunities.
Over these two weeks, youth involved in the program had the opportunity to connect with nature through hiking, exploring, and cleaning up the Don Valley Park and ravine systems surrounding our neighbourhood. They also had the chance to visit an Ontarian farm to learn more about our local food systems and agriculture.
The youth stewardship program also allowed youth participants the opportunity to gain new skills through participation in a leadership program led by Toronto Public Health. During theses sessions, the young community members learned about working as a team, speaking in public and making presentations, styles of leadership, as well as advocacy, activism, and education.
by Ronnie Chatterjee | Aug 17, 2020 | Blog
I love seeing this contrast between gardener Davina’s ceiling of cucumber plants and the high-rise infrastructure in the background. This varied landscape carries a long history of growing food in cities on Turtle Island and in modern Canada. At the community gardening sites managed by the Thorncliffe Women’s Committee, we offer a space to continue this tradition of urban agriculture and to cultivate relationships with the land and our neighbors. Our organization’s mission that seeks to create healthy and vibrant communities by providing opportunities for newcomers to Canada is integrated within a rich tradition of community development that centers food as a medium for connection and solidarity.
The ongoing stewardship and innovation of Indigenous societies; the diverse contributions of Black communities; generations of settler migration, many of whom arrived as farmers and gardeners; and the ongoing migration of new Canadians from all corners of the globe, have introduced new ways of sharing food that are invited to grow at our garden projects. For many of our gardeners that have arrived in Canada from different areas of the world, our projects offer a space to nurture ancestral relationships with their home countries by growing staple foods, and to build a sense of home through the inclusive social network that is at the heart of our grassroots efforts. This 2020 season, our participants include families from the Philippines, Pakistan, and Syria who have worked to create a productive garden filled with vegetable varieties from different parts of the world. Bitter melons, a key ingredient in many dishes in the Philippines that has become prohibitively expensive in Toronto’s grocery stores, is grown for a low cost by our gardeners. This exercise allows gardeners to meet new friends and share their heritage with others. Our gardeners describe this space as a site of “therapy,” providing both relaxation and energy through garden labor.
Operating at the grassroots level, our gardens are sustained by the ongoing dedication of our gardeners, volunteers, staff, and all Thorncliffe residents who provide their support. We practice urban gardening to connect and engage; to collectively survive and thrive in our city spaces. Urban gardens breathe new life into seemingly forgotten spaces. Through our creative practice, collaboration, and hard work, we transform unused areas into “people spaces”. Observing the green canopy of Davina’s garden in the foreground of high-rise infrastructure allows us to imagine new ways of making our living spaces into “home
by Ronnie Chatterjee | Aug 31, 2017 | Blog
With the first day of school fast approaching, our children’s drop-in gardening program is coming to a close. Let’s take a quick look at some of the exciting things we’ve learned this summer!
Some of the veggies we got to enjoy were lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, and beans. We also picked and tasted some sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb.
It was a really great way for us to learn about where our food comes from – through playing games, like a farm to plate relay race, we talked about all of the miles our food often travels before we get to eat it!
We also learned about how we can grow our own food locally and the ways that it’s helpful for
our pockets, our health, and our environment.
We also got to explore our community garden space this summer, discovering all of the critters and creatures that live in our backyards.
Acting like bees and butterflies as we played pollination tag, we got to learn about why pollination is such an important natural process for nature and for us!
We teamed up and did a bug hunt in the garden, too! Drawing and naming the insects we came across helped us to discover more about how bugs aren’t just creepy or crawly, but do a lot of stuff that helps our food grow healthy and strong!
We also got to work on beautifying our garden, an important task because we learned about what an important community space it is in our urban neighbourhood! We built and decorated recycled bird feeders to attract more animals to our garden, and learned how to weed our plots and cut the grass!
We can’t wait until next spring so we can learn more about the amazing things that can happen in our own backyards here in the Thorncliffe Family Garden!
by Ronnie Chatterjee | Jul 29, 2017 | Blog
It’s that time of year again! Our youth stewardship program has returned! Here at the Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee, we’re big on the environment. For that reason, a number of our programs focus on encouraging environmental conservation and sustainability.
This year, we were lucky enough to partner with both the City of Toronto and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority to develop a really engaging and exciting program for our youth.
With the goal of connecting youth from the community with nature, our youth stewardship program gives young community members the opportunity to explore, learn about, and engage with the incredible environment we live in here in Thorncliffe Park!
Some of the programming this year included a hike and trail clean-up in E.T. Seton Park, an interactive workshop on the Don Valley Ravine system, nature photography, and tree stewardship.
Take a look at some of the snapshots from the past week to get a glimpse into this
by Ronnie Chatterjee | Jul 12, 2017 | Blog
On Wednesday, July 11th, twenty of the gardeners from the Thorncliffe Family Garden piled onto a yellow school bus, and set off to Markham, Ontario. Our destination? Whittamore’s Farm!
We spent a lovely, sunny afternoon at the farm picking strawberries together. Once everybody’s baskets were full, we took some time to relax, sharing food and stories as we picnicked in a wide, open field, surrounded by nature.
Are you interested in joining us on exciting, community-building excursions like this one? Join our mailing list for more information on our upcoming events!
by Ronnie Chatterjee | Jul 10, 2017 | Blog
This summer has been an exciting one for us here at the Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee. After yet another fruitful season of our weekly community bazaar, we hosted the grand opening of our brand new Park Café last Friday!
Thanks to our incredible supporting partners, including Ontario Trillium Foundation, Alexandra Park Neighbourhood Learning Centre, Scadding Court Community Centre, City of Toronto Parks Department, City of Toronto-Economic Development & Culture, the Metcalf Foundation, and Foodshare Toronto, we are so excited to introduce the newest innovation in our neighbourhood’s local economy.
Set in a fully equipped shipping container, our Park Café model utilizes a place-based model of local economic development by leveraging neighbourhood assets such as the park, existing bazaar, and local talent to improve livelihoods of our community members, with a focus on newcomer women and youth. Under the Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee’s umbrella, this collective model will provide opportunities by reducing barriers for low-income entrepreneurs and making the entry to entrepreneurship more feasible.
This café will also serve as an extension of our summer market, and will act as a space for our catering enterprise, Flavours of Thorncliffe, sharing resources and strengthening the local economy by linking entrepreneurship with local community development.
Our inauguration was a smashing success, with dozens of local residents crowded around the container café, as well as our local government and city officials in attendance – including MP Rob Oliphant, Premier Kathleen Wynne, and head of Toronto Parks, Janie Romoff. After the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, community members and our government officials shared stories over some delicious samosas prepared by our café staff.
If you didn’t get a chance to attend our grand opening last week, be sure to stop by the café this Friday for some tasty treats prepared by your neighbours!
