After arriving in Canada, in the summer of 1999, I was chasing after a dream I had about the merger of the internet and the television. A dream that had plagued me while living in Nairobi, Kenya, and the only course available in the whole entire world, at that time, was being offered in Etobicoke, Toronto at Humber College.
The technology was my world and I was fortunate to work with and brush shoulders with the teams that actually pioneered online video marketing.
The thing is, after realizing this dream and sitting with these great minds, I started to realize that this wasn’t my Why.
The 2014 -16 season was a very depressing time. I was unsettled with the work I was doing in tech. Everything was mechanical, I felt disposable, my work was here today, gone tomorrow. I was at the mercies of businesses whose profit margin determined if I had a job or not. I wasn’t there to provide a solution, I was hired to make money for someone else.
Then a friend of mine who was aware of my situation, sent me a CBC podcast of an urban farmer in Vancouver by the name of Michael Ableman.
Listening to this podcast hit every note that my spirit was seeking.
I quickly realized that the reason my Spirit was unsettled in me while in tech was that it wanted to move in the opposite direction!
Not knowing and doing anything about it was the source of my depression.
When I realized that going against the grain was actually the path for me. I then dived deep into the world of farming in the city.
The idea that Michael built a successful market garden, that is tightly knit within the fabric of his city, enveloping those who were considered as the outcasts, left by the wayside, almost disposed of members of our community. He had built these amazing SOLE FOOD FARM gardens in Vancouver downtown Eastside.
When able, I highly recommend reading the book. It’ll blow your mind how the power of a community can conquer and heal even the craziest of situations within the fabric of our communities. (Yes I use the word fabric a lot😂)
I launched myself onto all resources I could devour about urban farming. I knew exactly what I needed to do and immediately started putting the resources together to start my own urban farming operation in Toronto.
My Why? has now crystallized through the years farming and very excited and eager to do the work.
I sleep better now, and the ideas that I couldn’t understand started clearing up with the possibilities of building a resilient local economy as Michael did.
This journey has been incredible. My spirit is fueled every day I’m out there. When I bring good food to my farm share friends and share a meal at the farm or participate as a source of sustenance where there is none, I am alive!
