We don’t live in Dickensian London, but summer smog and tainted soil might have you rethinking the merits of urban planting. Be not afraid. According to Toronto Public Health, reaping a clean urban harvest isn’t a major problem, if you’re careful.
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Here are the main issues:
ROAD DUST It’s not going to enter the root system of your veggies but can accumulate on plants. Still, it’s not more significant than what you get on food from factory ?farms where gas-?guzzling farm equipment roams the fields. If you factor in commercial pesticides, you’re way better off with organic homegrown. Just make sure to wash everything.
SOIL CONTAMINATION Community gardens aren’t obligated to have a soil test, but Parks does it anyway. The city’s tips on reducing lead exposure read like a haz-mat checklist (designate separate clothing, wear gloves, don’t eat when gardening and so on). Mixing soil with compost, aerating, fertilizing and planting away from building foundations are all good ideas, too. (For soil cleansing, see page 20.) Also worth considering: don’t put community gardens next to cemeteries, derelict chemical plants, gas stations, garbage dumps or other places where you wouldn’t want toddlers to scamper.
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS Probably not the fields you dream of tilling, but 10 of 12 allotment gardens are in these zones. Some studies raise flags, but there’s no official city ban on farming around hydro towers. Even if they don’t affect food, avoiding potentially carcinogenic rays is still a prudent plan.
