Toronto Urban Farmer Training (TUFT) | Urban Agriculture at Seneca | Seneca Polytechnic

About

Toronto Urban Farmer Training (TUFT) is designed to support people growing plants or raising animals in the city as they create viable, sustainable enterprises. The 10-week program focuses on production, marketing and business models. In addition, it will cover how to access resources that are specific to the urban context.

Upon completion participants will be able to:

• recognize products and services that can contribute to farm viability
• assess risks in an urban farm business and understand how to mitigate them
• articulate their values and translate them into a business plan
• understand the relevance of food justice and reconciliation to urban farmers
• identify options for growing spaces based on physical characteristics, policy and zoning, marketing and business planning
• develop effective marketing strategies
• understand basic accounting practices and the information needed to prepare taxes
• create a personal business plan to guide decision-making and communicate enterprise value
• build a support network for ongoing learning and collaboration

ELIGIBILITY & REQUIREMENT

TUFT is free of charge at this time. The program is open to everyone interested running an urban agriculture enterprise – whether you are exploring ideas, you’ve started writing a business plan or you’re already farming. You could also be looking to integrate food production into your work. We recommend participants have some production experience.

The program is mainly online, so participants need internet access. Some sessions may take place in-person, depending on participant interest and availability.

Interested in taking part? Fill our intake form by Oct. 20.

DELIVERY

TUFT’s live Zoom classes will be on Mondays from 7 to 9 p.m. In-person sessions will be on weeknights as determined by the class.

COURSE OUTLINE

TUFT consists of eight modules, each taking six to 10 hours to complete. Each module has:

• readings, videos and activities to complete on your own time
• urban farmer case studies
• a live online class with instructors and group discussions
• online discussion boards
• opportunities to work on and get feedback on your own business plan
• supplementary materials if you want to dive deeper on a particular topic

In addition, some modules will feature Q&A sessions with urban farmers. Business plan consultation sessions may also be scheduled depending on the participants’ and mentors’ availability. More information will be shared during the training program.

SCHEDULE

Contact the research team for more information.

Andrew Paton

Research Manager

416-764-0394

andrew.paton@senecacollege.ca 

West Suhanic

Faculty Principal Investigator

west.suhanic@senecacollege.ca