Durham College launches centre focusing on urban agriculture

Durham College is expanding its field-to-fork educational opportunities with the addition of the Barrett Centre of Innovation in Sustainable Urban Agriculture (the Barrett Centre). 

The Barrett Centre will complement the college’s existing food, farming and horticulture programs. The vision for the centre, said the college in a release, is to “become an internationally recognized hub of excellence in urban agriculture practices, research, education and training.”

Why it matters: The Barrett Centre will be a hub for urban agriculture practices and will work with community partners to address labour gaps and spur innovation in urban farming. 

The goal of the centre is to provide students training in urban and sustainable agriculture practices, to address skill gaps and also to address food security and lack of food access. According to the Dieticians of Canada, one in eight Canadian households do not have enough money to buy nutritious food. 

The Barrett Centre will expand the current capabilities at the college’s Whitby campus, which has an established Centre for Food that features state-of-the-art microbiology and chemistry labs, an apple orchard, a 1,700-square-foot greenhouse and hoop house, two acres for production and applied research, a walk-in growth chamber, a reach-in growth chamber and a craft beer brew line.  Faculty research includes plant pathology and integrated pest management, primarily with horticulture crops; mechanical electronics (robotics); and information technology.

The Barrett Centre will be established thanks to a $5 million donation from the The Barrett Family Foundation. 

Durham College told Farmtario that the cornerstone of the centre’s activities will be a community farm, and it is currently working with the Town of Whitby to identify a site. Although not yet completed, the college said operations “are well under way” and the past seven months have been filled with creating new work-study opportunities for students, further developing the college’s existing farm, and visiting with potential partners. 

“The knowledge and experience gained from turning unused fields into a vibrant crop-bearing farm serves as a solid foundation for what The Barrett Centre will accomplish, and we are looking forward to continuing to lead the way together, with The Barrett Foundation, our students, faculty and the community,” said Don Lovisa, president, Durham College.

The intention of the new farm, said the college, is to “prove that economic, social and ecological viability in urban farming. That means we will compile evidence and demonstrate the value in pursuing a career in urban farming, in addition to the other goals of the project.”

The college said it is planning to develop a range of education and training materials in the years ahead, moving beyond the “traditional” post-secondary curriculum to include training and information resources that under-serviced groups and individuals in the community can access and use to advance their projects and partnerships. 

“In terms of post-secondary curriculum, we will look at developing new diploma and certificate programs and are currently in the process of pursuing a series of micro-credentials in urban agriculture and relevant subjects to support urban agriculture,” the college told Farmtario. Part of this process will include an environmental scan to connect with community and industry partners to ensure programming developed will support building a strong labour force. It plans to achieve this by providing students with relevant learning outcomes and work-integrated learning opportunities. 

“Bigger picture, we also want to export and import knowledge and experiences and establish our college as a first point of reference for urban agriculture training and principles.”