Karmen Hoge. Productive Foodscape: Cultivating Food Security in the Greater Montreal Area by MaHS-MaULP

Productive Foodscape: Cultivating Food Security in the Greater Montreal Area Master of Science of Urbanism, Landscape and Planning (MaULP) Faculty of Engineering Science Department of Architecture

Author: Karmen Hoge Master Thesis Studio 2020-2021: Crisis + Urbanism, Landscape and Planning Supervised by: Bruno De Meulder and Kelly Shannon

© Copyright KU Leuven Without written permission of the thesis supervisors and the authors it is forbidden to reproduce or adapt in any form or by any means any part of this publication. Requests for obtaining the right to reproduce or utilize parts of this publication should be addressed to Faculty of Engineering and Department of Architecture, Kasteelpark Arenberg 1 box 2431, B-3001 Heverlee.

A written permission of the thesis supervisors is also required to use the methods, products, schematics and programs described in this work for industrial or commercial use, and for submitting this publication in scientific contests.

Acknowledgement I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis supervisors Bruno De Meulder and Kelly Shannon for their constant guidance and commitment throughout this thesis. I would also like to thank my fellow classmates for the companionship and international and interdisciplinary discussions throughout the past two years. Thank you to my parents for your dedication to my project and for visiting my sites, with and without me. Thank you Lore for your continuous support encouragement; thank you Fahri for mentoring me throughout this masters; and thank you Santiago.

Abstract

The dynamics of food has historically been a formidable catalyst for urbanization across the globe. As cities have traditionally been established in areas based on accessibility to resources permitting food production, the history of food has shaped the urban landscape. Recently, the industrialization of the food system, with cheap food processing, transportation and storage techniques, is placing a growing distance between natural agriculture activities and the consumer market. This is creating imbalances in ecosystems, a detachment and lack of commitment between the urban and natural world, and new levels of food insecurity in both urban and rural populations. Centrally situated along the St Lawrence River, the city of Montreal is surrounded by fertile soil, a rich ecosystem and vast water network. The availability of food that these natural conditions provide was an important driver in the early establishment of the city, yet today, there is little relation between food production and food consumption. While the fertile land is threatened by urbanization, the interaction between society and surrounding agricultural landscape is minimal. Merging the availability of industrially produced foods with the challenges posed by the harsh winter climate in maintaining year-round local food production, food importations are considered essential in meeting the population’s food demands. Current agricultural practices and dynamics of the food industry that feed the diverse population often result in destructive consequences for the environment and various degrees of food insecurity amongst both urban and rural dwellers. Nonetheless, small-scale sustainable food initiatives are emerging across the metropolitan area and the population is eager to eat locally and sustainably. This thesis proposes to use the process of producing and consuming food to restore ecology and build a connection between nature and society, creating new qualitative forms of urbanism. The design intervenes on three levels viewed through the lens of food: biodiversity, water and urban development. It works with the extreme contrast in seasonal conditions to develop a unique strategy for Montreal. The project progresses with successional changes required to cultivate the land and establish food systems, beginning with vacant spaces and food-insecure sites, and gradually taking more space over time to create a landscape that is immediately and always valuable. Former industrial sites are transformed to bring an unprecedented scale of agriculture and biodiversity to the city. A topographical irrigation system is designed to feed rainwater and melted snow and ice to the low-lying agricultural sites. These interventions attract a new density and variety of food-based urbanism across Montreal. While the design aims to assure food security for local inhabitants, it also uses the urgent need to re-think food systems as an opportunity to improve the quality of living by introducing new ways to live with food.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Location of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Source: Google Earth. Accessed May 12, 2021. 5

Glossary

Foodshed Walter P Hedden, How great cities are fed, 1929, p. 17 A foodshed was originally compared to a watershed by Walter Hedden as “the barriers which deflect raindrops into one river basin rather than into another are natural land elevations, while the barriers which guide and control movements of foodstuffs are more often economic than physical”.

Arthur Getz, Urban Foodsheds, 1991, p. 26 The urban foodshed was re-introduced by Getz as “the area that is defined by a structure of supply” to determine “where our food is coming from and how it is getting to us”.

Food security World Food Summit, 1996 “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”.

Food sovereignty Via Campesina, 2002 “Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems”.

Food desert Kwantlen Polytechnic University While several interpretations exist, a food desert is generally understood as “a geographic area characterized by few healthy food retail options or areas in which people lack “easy access” to healthy food”. In this thesis, food deserts are understood as places with insufficient access to a variety of food options to fulfill both health and social food needs.

Food swamp Kwantlen Polytechnic University A food swamp is “a geographic area characterized by a large number of unhealthy food options, which are thought to crowd out other food retail options, decreasing the consumption of healthy foods”.

Food mirage Lois Abraham, The Canadian Press, 2016 “Food mirages […] are neighbourhoods where nutritious foods are available but not affordable”. Food mirages here are understood as places that provide a sufficient variety of healthy, local and sustainable food options, however, not at an accessible price for all.

Food oasis National Association of Community Health Centers, 2017 A food oasis is “a place where self-sustaining and innovative practices are developed to empower inhabitants […] to have better access to healthy eating environments and foods”.

Contents

Abstract Glossary

1.0

2.0

Preface

Understanding the natural systems of the St Lawrence Watershed

Introduction Study site Research objectives Hypothesis

The St Lawrence Watershed Valley system Early roots Introducing the Greater Montreal Area City of water?

City of snow Realities of urban water and snow today Forest systems The fertile plain Returning to nature

3.0

4.0

Foodshed Studies

Design Strategies

Food production in the Greater Montreal Area in a nutshell Agro-alimentary profile of Montreal Study sites Perceptions of food Food production and consumption patterns Mirabel

Montreal

Saint Hilaire West Island Montreal

Realities and potentials of food security in Montreal Food as a transformative process

Scales of water, ice and snow Nurturing biodiversity Cultivating urban diversity

Strategic detail: Agro-urban park

Current state of the site Water circuit Intermediate landscape Parks within the park Reconnecting with seasons through ice and snow Sharing food – sharing more than just a meal

Conclusions Bibliography

1.0 Preface Introduction Study site Research objectives Hypothesis

Saint Hilaire, Quebec. Photo by author, 2021. 11

Introduction

Food-based urbanism - the establishment of human settlements driven by the availability and dynamics of food – has historically been a formidable catalyst for urbanization across the globe. With many cities positioned along bodies of water in locations of fertile soil, the “feeding of cities has been arguably the greatest force shaping civilization” (Steel 2008, 10). Yet food urbanism, as a sub-discipline of urbanism, barely exists today. For centuries, urban and rural environments lived

Only recently has the industrialization of food systems, along with transportation and food preservation technologies, allowed for urban development unconstrained by geography and characteristics of the territory (Gorgolewski, Komisar and Nasr 2011). The growing distance between natural agriculture activities and the consumer market is creating an imbalance in ecosystems, while the combined effects of unrestrained consumerism, lack of environmental ethics and gradual abandonment of the countryside are setting the conditions for a

in coexistence; city and country were mutually dependent (Marot 2020). The natural world was sculpted to provide food to mankind with an intimacy “between food production and urban form [that] endures in a striking cultural landscape” (Imbert 2015, 7).

socio-ecological disaster (Marot 2020). In a world of depleting resources, biodiversity collapse, uncontrolled urbanization and climate change, food security is a multifaceted concept that sits at the crossroads of today’s most pressing crises and has become of great importance today (Imbert 2015).

The fertile soils and abundant water sources around the Island of Montreal attracted early settlers, who lived in close relation with the land. The French Engineers, -1761. The Isles of Montreal as they have been Survey’d By the French Engineers. [London: 1761] Map. https://pixels.com/featured/theisles-of-montreal-canada-antique-map-circa-1761-tinalavoie.html

Introduction

The Greater Montreal Area is a unique case where the separation between urbanism and food production is especially pronounced due to a combination of geographic, climactic, political and social conditions. Montreal is quite literally an urbanized island surrounded by fertile agricultural land and it is difficult for urban dwellers to leave the island without access to a vehicle. Thus, much of the population does not have access to the agricultural land which dominates the larger-scale landscape and simply does not make the connection between the source

While much of the fertile soil has already succumbed to urban development, the current agricultural lands are “protected” from land-use changes in the short-term by the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec (CPTAQ). However, many of CPTAQ’s policies were developed in the 1960s and 1970s and no longer adequately protect farmers from contemporary challenges (Thibault 2021). Today, the traditional family farm is succumbing to large-scale industrial practises, often detrimental to the environment, and there is little incentive for

of their food and the supermarket. Moreover, the harsh winter climate makes traditional agricultural production impossible for a significant portion of the year and therefore imported produce is essential to meet the food demands.

small farmers not to sell their land (Meldrum 2021).

The countryside landscape, just outside the Island of Montreal, is often unfamiliar to urban inhabitants. Ormstorm-Rockburn, Quebec. Photo by Sheela Khandkar, 2020.

Montreal’s population is eager to support local food systems and some markets have recently started to display the origins of their produce. Photos by author, 2021.

The distribution and accessibility to food varies greatly across the territory and the diverse and multicultural population faces challenges in obtaining healthy, sustainable and culturally appropriate food. Yet, Montreal’s inhabitants are eager for changes in the food industry. Urban dwellers are seeking a connection to nature and discover the countryside. The population wants a healthy and regional food system and is eager to support local farmers (Thibault 2021). Organic farming, food waste and urban agricultural initiatives are emerging across the city. These are, however, on an anecdotal scale. This places urban designers in a critical moment to make radical changes in the food system. It is an opportunity to restore the position of food in both the broad ecological network and the urban fabric of the city, while using food as a departure point for sustainable urban development.

Study site

Situated within the Great Lakes watershed, which contains one fifth of the planet’s freshwater, the St Lawrence River Basin is characterized by its rich natural resources (Ibañez, et al. 2017). The navigable waters, relatively mild climate, fertile soil and abundance of fresh water provide favorable conditions for food production. Therefore, the watershed and its resources were important for many Native Americans and attracted early European Settlers (Casper, Lamberti and Thorp 2005). Connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, the river’s “freshwater serves as a lubricant to industry” (Ibañez, et al. 2017, 15). The once densely forested riverbanks are now heavily urbanized and home to millions of people in the United States and Canada who benefit from its economic importance (Casper, Lamberti and Thorp 2005), while the remaining prime agricultural land is steadily being developed to accommodate the growing population. Centrally situated along the St Lawrence River, metropolitan Montreal’s location within the rich ecosystem connected by transportation infrastructure has allowed the metropolitan to develop into a focal point of food processing and distribution (Montréal International, 2020). The city is surrounded by the most fertile soil in the province, yet the harsh winter climate poses challenges in maintaining year-round food production. Moreover, the sky-rocketing land prices are unaffordable for the next generation of farmers, and traditional family farms are being purchased by large agricultural corporations or developers, introducing severe ecological and social consequences.

Research objectives

The primary research objective of this thesis is to explore landscape urbanism design strategies that can assure food security across scales in the St Lawrence River Basin and in the Greater Montreal Area while establishing a framework for sustainable urban development. The secondary objective is to accentuate the resourcefulness of the territory through regional development to move towards a wholistic and circular regional food system. The final objective is to utilize design strategies to promote a greater distribution of power in the food system and provoke policies that protect food production and improve food accessibility.

St Lawrence River Basin

Greater Montreal Area

Location of the Saint Lawrence Watershed and Greater Montreal Area. Drawn by author. Source: United States Geological Survey. Science Base. North America Watersheds. Shapefile. Last modified 2011. https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/4fb697b2e4b03ad19d64b47f 17

Hypothesis

Sebastian Marot declares that “no sound reasoning will develop on the future of agriculture and architecture […] unless those two fields of concerns, and their associated modes of living are reconnected and fundamentally rethought in conjunction with one another” (2020, 8). In the quest to restore ties between rural and urban activities, several scholars and practitioners have been exploring and seeking inspiration in historical urban and regional utopian models:

Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s The Allegory of Good Government descripts a “rare glimpse of city and country in perfect harmony” (Steel 2008, 2). The city is the “core and collector”, dependent on the rural frame for supplying essential needs, forming a “cohesive regio” (Marot 2020, 54).

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, The Allegory of Good Government, 1338, Fresco, 7.7 x 14.4 m., Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy. Accessed on May 11, 2021. https://www.thetapestryhouse.com/tapestries/view/1330/allegory-of-good-government-tapestry . 18

Johann Heinrich von Thünen’s theoretical “isolated state” model proposes “a gradient of land-use in a mostly agrarian economy” (Marot 2020, 59) in concentric rings of farmland surrounding a town, with intensive gardening activities in the inner ring and increasingly extensive and less demanding activities extending outwards. Despite the negligence towards geographical, political and social qualities, the model is a fairly accurate mathematical representation of the feeding of pre-industrial cities before the influence of the sea (Steel 2008).

Ebenezer Howard’s concept Garden Cities of To-morrow proposed a garden city where close ties between city and country, as well as communal land ownership, merge the benefits of both urban and rural settlements. With a secure market and human waste from the city as a fertilizer, the garden city guarantees prosperous and stable agricultural production (Howard, Garden cities of to-morrow 1902).

Johann Heinrich von Thünen, Der isolierte Staat, 1826 (redrawn in 1920) in Der isolierte Staat in Beziehung auf Landwirtschaft und Nationalökonomie. Hamburg: Perthes, 1926). Accessed on May 11, 2021. http://www.cahiers-ecole-de-blois.fr/reprendre-la-clef-deschamps/

Ebenezer Howard, Diagram No.7, 1898 in Ebenezer Howard, To-morrow: a peaceful path to real reform, London : Swan Sonnenschein, 1898). Wikipedia Commons accessed on May 11, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diagram_No.7_(Howard,_Ebenezer,_To-morrow.).jpg

Hypothesis

Patrick Geddes’ Valley Section, developed in 1909, conceptualizes the diverse resources and corresponding ways of settling the land across a transect. The Valley Section specifies the different ways of exploiting and domesticating the landscape in consideration to both the natural conditions of the territory and relative location to the city (Geddes 1915).

Patrick Geddes, Valley Section, 1909 in Patrick Geddes, Cities in evolution. London: Williams & Norgate, 1915. Accessed from https://transect.org/natural_img.html on June 13, 2021. 20

Permaculture seeks to design and maintain “economical, agriculturally productive ecosystems that have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems” (Mollison 1988, ix). Viewed as an adapted version of von Thünen’s model, permaculture zones are organized based on attention demand and designed with consideration to exterior influences (wind, sun, water source, pollution, etc.) and landforms of the site (Whitefield 2004). Thoughtfully and strategically working with nature, permaculture integrates landscape and society to benefit all living beings (Mollison 1988).

Bill Mollison, Broad Humid Landscape Profile, 1988 in Bill Mollison, Permaculture : a designers’ manual. Tyalgum, Australia: Tagari, 1988). Accessed on May 11, 2021. 21

Hypothesis These models provide an understanding of mankind’s relationship with nature – or desired relationship – at several key moments throughout environmental movements. Demonstrating romantic coexistences between the city and the countryside, they serve as a reminder that food has always played an important role in the visionary design of the city. Dorothée Imbert highlights that “adaptations of historical models offer an alternative to the dialectical relationship between dwelling and cultivation” (2015, 9). Yet, they fail to grasp the full potential of food urbanism of today and of the future. Firstly, rather than using food to design primarily agrarian societies, existing conditions can enhance the face of food in urban environments. Ian McHarg’s concept of intrinsic suitability recognizes the social values stemming from natural and biological processes to precede the use of natural resources (McHarg 1969). The superimposition of food design with current urban, environmental and social systems can thus position food as a process in urbanism, allowing the territory to develop landscape qualities over time. Secondly, food exhibits the utopian characteristic that it is universal and interdisciplinary. Yet, “grounded in reality”, it is not something fantastical or imaginary – necessary for survival, it encompasses both the disorder and structure of life (Steel 2008, 307). The future of food and urbanity extends beyond efficient organization of agricultural land and beyond the ability to give city dwellers a taste of the countryside. Food can determine the fate of ecological systems and the future of biodiversity. With food as a central component of social life, mankind’s intuitive desire to share a meal with one and other can serve as a model for a renewed way of living, leading to new ways of sharing of space, knowledge and lifestyles.

“We have never seen food’s true potential because it is too big to see. But viewed laterally, it emerges as something with phenomenal power to transform not just landscapes, but political structures, public spaces, social relationships, cities”

- Carolyn Steel, Hungry City, 2008, p. 307

The primary hypothesis of this thesis stems from the premise that the urban, natural and agricultural worlds have been considered as three separate entities in the Greater Montreal Area. The thesis proposes strategic interventions involved in the process of producing and consuming food, as well as all the steps in between, to hypothetically cultivate a foodscape which meanwhile restores ecology, introduces innovative water management systems and creates new qualitative ways of living.

Hypothetical design principle: Food as a landscape process. Graphic by author. 23

2.0 Understanding the natural systems of the St Lawrence Watershed The St Lawrence Watershed Valley system Early roots Introducing the Greater Montreal Area City of water?

City of snow Realities of urban water and snow today Forest systems The fertile plain Returning to nature

St Lawrence River. Quebec. Photo by Ross Hoge, 2019. 25

Understanding the St Lawrence Watershed

The cultivation of nature, Bindels and Gueze argue, is fundamental for survival and this process of domesticating the landscape contributes to the creation of social identity (1996). With topography, climate and resources in the St Lawrence River Basin laying the foundation for urbanization and human activity, this chapter seeks to understand the role of food in the manipulation of the landscape and definition of mankind’s position in the territory. As Dorothée Imbert explains, the history of food and urbanism “reveal a landscape that is codified socially, geographically, and ethnically” (2015, 2) which “offer[s] cues for design” (2015, 7). An understanding of the site is therefore crucial to imagine new forms urbanism and new ways of feeding the population that both respect and embrace the ecological limitations of the territory. The natural systems of the watershed are examined and mankind’s dynamic relationship with these natural systems over time is explored in the Greater Montreal Area.

Domesticated landscape along the St Lawrence River. Gaspé, Quebec. Photo by Ross Hoge, 2019. 27

The St Lawrence Watershed Valley System

Eco regions and urbanization of the St Lawrence Watershed. Drawing by author. Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency. Level III Ecoregions of North America. Vector digital data. Last modified May 10, 2010. https://www.epa.gov/ecoresearch/ecoregions-north-america 28

To grasp the importance of the St Lawrence River and its watershed for both human and natural activity, one must comprehend its ecological position in the broader continental framework. As part of the St Lawrence River-Great Lakes system, whose basin contains roughly one fifth of the world’s freshwater (Ibañez, et al. 2017), the main stem of St Lawrence River flows for nearly 1000 kilometers from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean (Casper, Lamberti and Thorp 2005). Due to climactic influences from these two bodies of water, as well as its position along the pathways of migratory bird, fish and mammal species, the St Lawrence supports “continentally outstanding […] biological distinctiveness” (Abell 1999, Casper, Lamberti and Thorp 2005, 986). At a geographical and ecological conversion zone, the river’s watershed contains several eco-regions and hosts a range of conditions for cultivation. While the western portion of the larger St Lawrence-Great Lakes system is relatively flat, the St Lawrence watershed is lined by the Adirondack and Appalachian Mountains south of the river and dispersed mountains to its north, including the Laurentian Mountains, rising to nearly 2000 meters (Casper, Lamberti and Thorp 2005). The topographies of the St Lawrence Valley have structured urbanization and utilization of the site, with most of the urbanization concentrated along the bodies of water, including two of Canada’s largest cities, Montreal and Toronto.

Urban

Agriculture

Forest

Water

Toronto

Montreal

St Lawrence Watershed Valley system: Ways of settling the land with respect to topography in Montreal and Toronto. Source: Google Earth Imagery. Accessed December 13, 2020. Profiles derived from United States Geological Survey. Earth Explorer. North America Watersheds. Digital elevation model. https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/. 29

Early roots

The Saint Lawrence River Basin and its resources were essential to the livelihood and culture of many First Nations communities, especially the St Lawrence Iroquois, who occupied much of the basin from 1200 to 1600 (Gagné 2013). Their territory extended for 700 kilometers along the river (Dagenais 2017), known as Kaniatarowanenneh in the Iroquois language, translating to “the big waterway” (Casper, Lamberti and Thorp 2005). The St Lawrence Iroquois were horticulturists, settling in villages near streams on slopes away from the St Lawrence River. While hunting and fishing were primary subsistence activities, the cultivation of corn, beans, squash, known as the three sister crops, were also of great importance, contributing to 75% of their diet at the horticulture peak in the 16th century (Gagné 2013). The seasons governed their way of living: the men departed the village for hunting and fishing during the spring and fall, while the women and children spent the summer and fall preparing and harvesting the fields as well as gathering berries (Gagné 2013). Social life in the village was seasonally influenced and greatest during the winter months. This was also when the preservation of surplus crops was of most importance, and they developed sophisticated methods of preserving corn. Without any fertilizers, the St Lawrence Iroquois shifted the location of their fields to avoid complete soil degradation and eventually relocated the villages as cultivable fields became increasingly far from the living areas (Gagné 2013).

With a food system and social system in tune with the rhythms of nature, the First Nations lived seasonally with relatively little ecological impact on the watershed (Casper, Lamberti and Thorp 2005). The variability of their diet demonstrates a profound understanding of the natural resources and a culture connected to nature.

Drawing of Iroquois settlement in Hochelaga (Montreal) in 1556. Giacomo de Gastaldi, La Terra De Hochelaga Nella Nova Francia, 1556, in Giovanni Battista Ramusio, Delle Navigationi et Viaggi, volume III, 1565. Wikimedia Commons accessed May 21, 2021. https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Fichier:Map_of_Hochelaga.jpg

In the 16th century, French explorers encountered an indigenous community at the fortified indigenous village of Hochelega near Mount Royal in present day Montreal. Unlike other First Nations groups of Canada, those living around Montreal were sedentary, expert famers, recognizing the benefits of the fertile soil along the river (Perron 2017).

[Opposite page, top] Iroquois women preparing a corn-based dinner. Vidéanthrop, Les femmes préparent le repas fait à base de maïs. n.d. Sociétés et Territoires, Montréal, accessed May 28, 2021, https://primaire.recitus.qc.ca/nosimages/photos/iroquoiens-1500?start=28.

[Opposite page, bottom] Seasonal sources of food for the St Lawrence Iroquois. Drawing by author. Information based on Gagné, 2013 and St-Pierre, 2014. 31

Early roots

Cultivated land lining the river in New France. Richard Colebrook Harris, Arable and pasture per family in Canada in 1739, 1984 in Richard Colebrook Harris, Seigneurial System in Early Canada. Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press. Accessed on May 21, 2021. 32

In the 16th century, French colonizers arrived in the gulf of the St Lawrence in search for the Northwest passage, claiming the river as part of France. For early settlers, the domestication of the land was a daunting and laborious task, with forests to clear, land to plough and a hostile winter. Yet, the great river and endless forests presented an outstanding

new scale of resources and opportunities, and the river was a catalyst for development, as both the primary natural resource and mode of communication (Mathieu 2013). Thus, early cultivation was concentrated along the river’s arable banks, where wheat was the staple crop (Harris 1984).

The new scale of landscape led to the experimentation of land settlement and ownership regimes (Harris 1984). One prominent example is the seigneurial system, in place in New France from 1627 to 1854, where 80% of the population lived in rural areas (Mathieu 2013). With the objective to promote systematic land settlement, the seigneur granted land to families under the loyalty system for

into narrow rectangular river parcels, or rangs, in a way that facilitated interaction between habitants and provided each family with multiple points of access to the water (Harris 1984, Mathieu 2013). The spatial organization of the long narrow rangs remains as the backbone for both rural and urban form today.

subsistence agriculture (Mathieu 2013). Seigneuries were typically 5 by 15 km trapezoidal parcels of land with the long side along the river, divided

The seigneur organized communes, established laws and rights and issued hunting licences in their respective seigneuries (Mathieu 2013). The system was one of high social hierarchal and this rural landscape created a sense of family and community stewardship, which long outlived the seigneurial system. “The closeness of this agricultural society to the soil led naturally to a feeling that land was included in one’s patrimony, to be passed from generation to generation” (Mathieu 2013). Alimentary activities were closely linked to the seasons and resources of the land, and processing techniques, such as the transformation of livestock products and baking, allowed access to “out of season” foods. However, it is noteworthy that the seigneurial landscape is one where cultivation, politics and social order were closely tied. The necessity to conquer the land to meet food demands left an imprint on Quebec tradition – the land was viewed as “economic unit essential for survival” (Mathieu 2013) and the sense of loyalty to the family farmed remains strong in rural Quebec today. As Bernard Rudofsky argues, the creation of landscapes in response to the climate and natural surroundings forms a common identity and cultural heritage (1964).

Seasonal sources of food in New France. Drawn by author. Information based on Sociétés et Territoires (n.d.).

[Above, left] Seigneurie of St Hyacinthe: organized to provide communication between neighbours and access to river. J.P. Reneault Blanchard, Extrait d’un plan du Domaine de la Seigneurie de St Hyacinthe, May 18 1844, Library and Archives Canada. Accessed on May 21, 2021. 33

Introducing the Greater Montreal Area “In its situation, at the confluence of the two greatest rivers, the St. Lawrence and Ottawa ; opposite the great natural highway of the Hudson and Champlain valley; at the point where the St. Lawrence ceases to be navigable for ocean ships, and where that great river, for the last time in its course to the sea, affords a gigantic water power ; at the meeting point of the two races that divide Canada, and in the centre of a fertile plain […] ; in these we recognize a guarantee for the future greatness of Montreal, not based on the frail tenure of human legislation but in the unchanging decrees of the Eternal, as stamped on the world He has made” - John William Dawson, Geologist and Principle of McGill University, address before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1857

Topographic water, forest, agriculture and urbanism in the Greater Montreal Area. Drawing by author. Source: Google Earth Imagery. Accessed December 13, 2020. Profiles derived from United States Geological Survey. Earth Explorer. North America Watersheds. Digital elevation model. https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/.

The city of Montreal lies at the convergence of various natural resources. These resources have been used to explain the development of Hochelega as well as the later establishment of the city of Montreal (Perron 2017). By the early 17th century, the St Lawrence Iroquois had mysteriously disappeared and the uninhabited island appeared as a strategic French colonial settlement (Perron 2017), and thus Montreal was established as a trading post and occupied under the seigneurial system. As the city urbanized, the natural features persisted as important in structuring land occupation of the territory. The north slopes of the valley, unsuitable for cultivation, remain heavily forested, while dense urbanization is concentrated along the edges of water, and the fertile plain is predominantly agricultural. To understand the evolution of food and urbanism in the Greater Montreal Area as well as its potential, one must examine the ecological systems that power the two: the water system, the forest and the fertile plain.

The river system is inarguably one of the most important natural features of the city. However, in attempts to capitalize the river’s opportunities, the river’s “naturalness” was seen as more of an obstacle (Dagenais 2017). As the port of Montreal marked the western limit of navigable waters, the St Lawrence became a “construction site”, with a series of canals, channels, dams and mechanisms to prevent flooding and break up ice, as a means to tame the water and allow navigation towards the Great Lakes (Dagenais 2017). As the St Lawrence became in-

City of water?

Port of Montreal

creasingly navigable, it continued to be perceived as an essential resource, however, its importance as a water source for food diminished, meanwhile the importation of food became increasingly accessible.

[Left] Waters of the Greater Montreal Area today. Drawing by author. Source: Google Earth Imagery.

The St Lawrence’s riverbanks were once a social and recreation space. William Henry Bartlett, The St. Lawrence, at Montreal, 1841, ink and watercolour on paper, 21.5 x 27.5 cm, McCord Museum, Montreal. M16634. 36

The river became an active industrial place in Montreal as a growing city. Montreal, 1892, 1892, coloured ink on paper, 65.6 x 114.3 cm, McCord Museum, Montreal. M984.210.

Small water courses, non-existant today, once covered the island of Montreal. Valérie Mahaut. Carte des anciens cours d’eau de l’île de Montréal, 2018, 152 x 76 cm, 1:50.000, Université de Montréal. Faculté de l’aménagement. École d’architecture, accessed April 11, 2021, http://hdl. handle.net/1866/19929.

Within the city, smaller water courses, namely the St. Pierre River, St. Martin Creek and Little River, were prominent features, defining the boundaries of the fortified city and also serving as communal public space for drawing water and bathing (Dagenais 2017). However, towards the end of the 18th century, the perception of water changed: starkly contrasting against the city’s rectilinear structure, water was a nuisance to both the growth of the city and daily life, accumulating waste, emitting unpleasant odors and obstructing travel (Dagenais 2017). For the first half of the 19th century, rather than to render the waterways “irrelevant by hiding them”, there was a trend to bridge them (Fougères 2007, 105). With over 60 bridges of various shapes and sizes, Montreal became “a city of water”, overloaded with the construction of bridges, river channels and road repairs, in attempts to live with water (Fougères 2007, 105). During the 19th century, urban water in cities across the globe became “convincingly and dramatically linked to public health”; its sanitation and removal from the city became a top priority (De Meulder and Shannon 2008, 6). Montreal’s watercourses were “an object of fear and at times disgust” (Dagenais 2017, 27). Like in many cities, urban water was “sanitized, canalized, covered, cleaned, piped – hidden” (De Meulder and Shannon 2008, 6). Completely absent from the city, most Montrealers today would be surprised to hear that water once flowed throughout their city. 37

City of snow

With over two meters of snowfall every year (Current Results n.d.), the management of snow and ice has always been of significance in Montreal, both as a constraint and a symbolic part of the city’s identity. The city has seen a series of innovative techniques to live with the massive amounts of snow. At the port, inhabitants worked together arduously to remove ice every year. “Snow blockades” were capable of halting rail transportation, and thus, in the late 19th century, snow ploughs were attached to the front of trains to cut a path through the snow (Ibañez, et al. 2017). Pre-industrial removal of ice at the Port of Montreal was a gruelling task every year, demanding collective effort from the inhabitants. 1880-1945, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Édouard-Zotique Massicotte collection, P720-4-235-b. Retrieved from Dagenais, Michèle. 2017. Montreal, city of water : an environmental history. Translated by Peter Feldstein. Nature, History, Society. Vancouver, British Columbia: UBC Press.

In the city, the typical wheeled horse-drawn carriages had difficulties moving in the thick snow during winter months. Consequently, inhabitants would change their mode of travel in the winter: by attaching a horse to sleds, they could “travel the streets atop the new seasonal topography, defined by both large and temporary hills of snow” (Ibañez, et al. 2017, 80). By the end of the 19th century, the Montreal Street Railway company had 1000 horses for the 150 streetcars that only operated in warm months (Ibañez, et al. 2017). During the winter, the company would trade the streetcars for sleds, forming a network of urban horsedrawn sleds. When vehicles became the main mode of transportation, the snowstorms posed even further difficulties for mobility, leading to the design of various types of snows ploughs, specialized mechanic snow-removal machines, and systematic methods of to rid the city of snow. Horse-drawn sleds were used as an alternative wintertime urban mobility system. 1Robert Auchmuty Sproule, Saint-James Street, Montreal, 1830, McCord Museum, Montreal. M300. 38

Realities of urban water and snow today

Water and snow management on the Island of Montreal today. Graphic by author. Sources: Google Earth Imagery. Ville de Montréal. Sites d’élimination de la neige. Shapefile. Last modified May 24, 2021. https://www.donneesquebec.ca/recherche/dataset/vmtl-depot-neige. Ville de Montréal. 2017. Travaux effectués sur l’intercepter sud-est. Bilan et interprétation sommaire du suivi du déversement. January 31, 2017.

Realities of urban water and snow today

Snow ploughs remove snow from the city and transport it to the snow dump, where it accumulates and melts away gradually. Graphic by author.

Today, the city operates an aggressive snow removal system, which involves the motorized removal, loading, transportation and disposal of snow, treating it more as “solid waste or garbage than as a form of seasonal precipitation” (Ibañez, et al. 2017, 81). While the snow was formerly directly disposed of into the St Lawrence River, today, roughly 70% of the snow is transported to one of the snow dumps, where it melts until the beginning of summer (Ibañez, et al. 2017). The remaining 30% goes down the storm water sewers, where it is mixed with domestic water, transported to the wastewater plant where it is filtered (and not sanitized), and then returned to the St Lawrence River (Dewsnap 2019). Only in the western suburban part of the Island is the rainwater and domestic water separated.

Ibañez, et al. state that “while other cities focus on getting freshwater into the city, Montreal is firmly committed to getting it out” (2017, 82). For a city that owes much of its history to the presence of water, water is rather absent and highly engineered. There is clearly a need to reconsider the fate of water and snow in the city of Montreal.

While water management is on the urban agenda, there is little mention of the future of snow. There is thus a great untapped potential to re-imagine and re-use the abundant amount of snow in Montreal in future drought scenarios. As irrigation is essential an component of the food production system, the return of food production to the city is a calling to bring water back into the city. Urban agriculture thus presents a dual opportunity to “more creatively imagining the city in relation to water” while addressing water-related ecological concerns (Shannon 2013, 165).

Snow dump in Montreal in June, over two months after the last snow fall. Montreal. Photo by Ross Hoge, 2021. 41

Forest

The Island of Montreal and its surroundings were once completely covered with forests known for their ecological diversity. With a range of geological influences, such as diverse soil types, numerous landscape topographies and climactic influences from the water bodies, the “transition forest” region contains a mixed-wood ecology with a combination of boreal and deciduous species (Drushka 2014).

Mont St. Hilaire Mont St. Bruno Rougemont Mount Royal

Forests of the Greater Montreal Area today and locations of the Monteregion Hills. Drawing by author. Source: Google Earth Imagery.

Not only were the forests crucial for the survival of indigenous peoples and early colonizers, who relied on forest resources for food, shelter, fuel and clothing, but the forests also played an important role in the colonization and urbanization of the land. The forest resources were the primary incentive to establish a fur-trading colony and most fur trading posts, including that in Montreal, eventually became permanent settlements and the nuclei of urbanization. After centuries of logging, agriculture and urbanization, little of the natural wild forests remain today. 42

Fragemented forest, altered by infrastructure, even in the most “wild” areas outside the city. Photo by Ross Hoge. 2019.

In the Greater Montreal Area, the northern uncultivable soils contain larges patches of fragmented boreal forests, while the Monteregian Hills, to the south-west, are important sources of biodiversity conservation. The Monteregian Hills form a range of isolated hills, including Mount Royal, an iconic feature of the city of Montreal, and which gave the city its name. The forested slopes of Mount Royal are the heart of ecological biodiversity within the city and public spaces in Mount Royal Park’s serve as symbolic recreational spaces for the inhabitants.

Throughout the 20th century, urban forests gained recognition for their recreational, social, ecological and economic benefits, and became of great importance as “green lungs” in industrial cities (De Meulder and Shannon, Forests and Trees in the City: Southwest Flanders and the Mekong Delta 2014). Thus, ash trees were planted in public spaces across Montreal and its suburbs, as small forests stands, in parks and along city streets. However, today, the mass of ash trees has created the perfect habitat for the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle which is damaging thousands of trees in and around Montreal.

Mount Royal’s wooded used as recreational Photo by author. 2021.

public spaces

areas are year-round.

In this domesticated landscape, where forests have been highly exploited and fragmented and are ecologically vulnerable, urban forestry can serve as a tool for the “naturalization of the (artificial) city” (De Meulder and Shannon 2014, 429). Working with the existing forested areas, the introduction of food production introduces the much-needed opportunity for an alternative method to restore ecological diversity and thus create ecological resilience across the site.

Ash trees, which contsitute much of Montreal’s canopy cover, are dying with the emerald ash borer infestation. Suburbs of Montreal. Photo by Ross Hoge. 2021.

The fertile plain

Montreal’s position, “in the middle of its plain like a spider at the centre of its web” (Blanchard 1947), has had tremendous impact on the food production, urbanization and socio-economic activity of the city. Due to a combination of pedoclimatic conditions: the favorable relief, relatively non-podzolized soils and mild climate, the plain offers the most fertile soil in the province of Quebec, constituting the “heart of Quebec agrarian space” (Courville 1999, 367). Towards the end of the seigneurial system, orchards and vegetable gardens in Montreal’s plain exceeded subsistence level and the church cultivated large gardens, both contributing to feeding the urban population (Castonguay 2017). With little space for livestock, and therefor insufficient manure for fertilization, crops suitable for the soil, such as wheat and barley, were harvested in rotations to avoid nutrient depletion. At the beginning of the 19th century, a combination of bad weather, pests on wheat crops and market competition lead to a shift towards fodder production to feed the growing livestock herds in surrounding the city (Castonguay 2017, Castonguay and Dagenais 2011).

Agricultural land in the Greater Montreal Area today. Drawing by author. Source: Google Earth Imagery. 44

The urbanization of the Island of Montreal and the needs of its population governed the transformation of the plain’s landscape. The rapid urbanization of the peri-urban areas on the Island of Montreal in the second half of the 19th century resulted in the fragmentation of agricultural plots, and the growing population struggled to meet their food needs. Urban working-class families who traditionally acquired sufficient fruits, vegetables and livestock through subsistence farming became increasingly dependent on markets and the agro-in-

The surrounding agrarian landscape responded to the new food demands: the dairy industry benefitted from disappearance of livestock in the immediate vicinity of the island and consequential higher demand for milk from the growing population. As agricultural land continued to be urbanized, the remaining productive land became regionally specialized, with more intensive practices and access to processing facilities (Castonguay 2017). Dairy farming proceeded to dominate the landscape.

As Dorothée Imbert states, “cities were not just supported, but defined by agriculture” (2015, 7). The plain’s natural fertility propelled urban development in the Greater Montreal Area to such point where the roles were eventually reversed, and the urban population and their demands oriented agricultural production.

dustry (Castonguay 2017). Thus, with a significant proportion of produce imported from outside the province by the mid 20th century, public markets became an important social space (Castonguay 2017).

City and cultivation: fields and orchards were part of the urban landscape. James Duncan, Montreal in 1832, 1830-1832, painting, McCord Museum, Montreal. M312. 45

Returning to nature

The processes of cultivating the land for food in the Greater Montreal shaped the spatial, cultural and socio-economic landscape. It can be observed that the colonial food system marked the beginning of a new relationship to the land. While the indigenous diet consisted of what the land provided at that moment in time, the colonial diet involved a greater level of conquering of the land, of altering natural systems and introducing processing techniques to increase the variety of food options. Food production gradually transitioned from soil and resource-based towards market and industry-based. This trend continued exponentially as industrial food processing and transportation techniques were developed. It is not mere coincidence that the domestication and alteration of natural resources coincided with the disappearance of local food systems. The bond between settlement and food diminished the moment the water, forest and agricultural systems became separate from urban systems. As food has the power to link ecology to society, the re-thinking of the food system in the Greater Montreal Area is thus a tremendous opportunity to renew “the historic tie between culture and cultivation” (Imbert 2015, 7) and re-establish a respectful relationship to the land.

“We have to come to terms with nature if we are to survive. We have to understand nature and feel at home with it if we are to be true inhabitants of the earth”

- J.B. Jackson, Discovering the Vernacular Landscape, 1984, p. 11.

Rougemont, Monteregie, Greater Montreal. Photo by author, 2021. 47

Dairy farming outside of Montreal. Photo by Ross Hoge, 2019. 48

3.0 Foodshed Studies Food production in the Greater Montreal Area in a nutshell Agro-alimentary profile of Montreal Study sites Perceptions of food Food production and consumption patterns Mirabel Saint Hilaire West Island Montreal

Realities and potentials of food security in Montreal Food as a transformative process

Foodshed studies

The city of Montreal is notorious for its food culture. With a multicultural population, the city is famed for its international cuisine. Food-lovers enjoy the range of local Québécois dishes, exotic restaurants, quaint cafés and trendy breweries. Grocery stores are stocked with foods from all over the world available at all times of the year. Urban agriculture and “farm-to-fork” initiatives are popping up across the city. But, amidst this gastronomical paradise, lies ignorance and inequality. While some indulge, others are left hungry and while corporative producers are expanding, family farms are pressed to give up their land. This dichotomy is “complicated by a lack of the most basic awareness of food as part of nature” (Lister 2007, 150). The interrelationship between food production and urbanity in Montreal today is no longer based on the qualities of the landscape but rather the complex dynamics between geography, the global market, politics and society. The industrialization of the food system and dissociation between the city and its food sources brings forth a range of concerns, from malnourishment and obesity to pollution and climate change (Gorgolewski, Komisar and Nasr 2011). This chapter aims to understand the current realities of the food system in the Greater Montreal Area. The foodshed studies investigate the general dynamics of food production and consumption in the Greater Montreal Area and the influence of food on the city. A general overview of the journey of food in the Greater Montreal Area is explored and studies in four sites are conducted.

“As far as urban consumers [are] concerned, all the ancient fears about food – the fertility of the soil, the sun and the rain, the strength of the harvest – translated into one concern: the size of their weekly shopping bill” - Carolyn Steel, Hungry City, 2008, p. 38.

Summer terraces in Outremont, Montreal. Photo by Ross Hoge, 2021. 51

Food production in the Greater Montreal Area in a nutshell

Like in most of Canada, food production practices in the Greater Montreal Area have industrialized and evolved into major agri-businesses, mass-producing monocultures and operating large dairy farming systems (Lister 2007). The industrialization of agriculture is a double coup: a “war against ecosystems” and a “war against farmers” (Shiva 2003, 121,125). While provincial cooperatives formed in the 20th century fought to provide stable incomes and crop insurance to farmers (Union des producteurs agricoles, History n.d.), this also led to high quality requirements, the mixing of produce for “zero-traceability” and standardized farming practices (Patelli, Duval and Turmine 2020). To meet these standards, mechanized farming practices, intensive irrigation and high fertilizer and pesticide use have become widespread in farms across the province, damaging the soil, disrupting natural ecosystems and homogenizing the landscape (Lister 2007).

Agriculture in the Greater Montreal Area is dominated by dairy farming where industrial farming practices are omnipresent. Graphic by author.

These capital-intensive and high-yielding practices favor cheap produce from large corporations. Merged with urban pressures on agricultural land and increasing land value, the future is not bright for the traditional family farm. While much of the fertile soil in Montreal’s plain has already been developed, the remaining agriculture land is protected from “over-night” land-use changes with the CPTAQ’s zoning law developed in the 1970s (Thibault 2021). This law, however, does not consider contemporary challenges to the family farm, and offers little protection or reward to small-scale farmers. Further land acquisition and growth become easier as farm size increases (Meldrum 2021). Over the past century, the number of farms in Quebec has significantly decreased, while the average size of farms is on the rise . Today, 20% of producers generate 70% of revenue from agricultural exploitations in Quebec (Holtslander n.d.). As land ownership and control over food production shift towards largescale corporations, the food system becomes increasingly vulnerably. A major concern in the Greater Montreal Area today is whether the next generation of farmers will be able to purchase land for food production.

The number of farms in Quebec are decreasing, while the average farm size is increasing. Graphic by author. Data source: Canada Statistics. 2021. Table 32-10-0152-01. Number and area of farms and farmland area by tenure, historical data. Table, Ottawa: Statistics Canada. doi:https:// doi.org/10.25318/3210015201-eng. 52

In the province of Quebec, only 2% of all land is dedicated towards agriculture (Union des producteurs agricoles n.d.) and nearly three quarters of the provincial agricultural production is tied to livestock; most of which is dairy farming (Holtslander n.d.). The city of Montreal prides itself as unique from the rest of the province and most North American metropolitans, as 58% of its surrounding area is cultivated for agriculture due to the fertile soil, and most of the provincial vegetable production is concentrated around Montreal (Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal 2020). Nonetheless, a glance at the main crops produced reveal that they do not provide the diversity to fulfill health and raises questions about where the food that feeds the population comes from.

Agriculture and major crops produced in the Greater Montreal Area. Graphic by author. Source: La Financière agricole du Québec. Base de données des parcelles et productions agricoles déclarées 2020. Shapefile. https://www.fadq.qc.ca/documents/donnees/base-de-donnees-des-parcelles-et-productions-agricoles-declarees. 53

Agro-alimentary profile of Montreal

Montreal’s central location along the St Lawrence River within the rich ecosystem connected by transportation infrastructure has allowed the metropolitan to develop into a focal point of food processing and distribution. The city has been referred to as “a world-class agri-food industry” and the “epicentre of the food processing industry in Quebec” (Montréal International 2020). However, what it means to be “a world-class agri-food industry” is rather unknown to many, with food processing occuring as a behind-the-scene business. Carolyn Steel states that the food served at the table “has often travelled thousands of miles through airports and docksides, warehouses and factory kitchens, and [has] been touched by dozens of unseen hands” (2008, 6). The efforts and processes involved in bringing food to the table are foreign to most consumers.

“Enough food has to be produced, transported, bought and sold, cooked, eaten, disposed of […] every day, for every city on Earth; it’s remarkable that cities get fed at all”

- Carolyn Steel, TED Conference, How Does Food Shape Cities? 2009, 0:36

The agro-industrial shed overlays the major processing, distribution and waste centers in Montreal’s foodshed as well as the critical transportation routes for imports and exports. The industrialization of the food system has managed to supply the city with cheap food from across the globe with an ease that appears to be inconsequential, while the food produced just outside the city undergoes a series of processing and transformations before its consumed. Montreal’s food system has become such a complex matter of logistics it’s no wonder consumers are disconnected from their food source.

Montreal’s agro-industrial profile. Graphic by author. Interpreted from multiple sources. Source: La Financière agricole du Québec. Base de données des parcelles et productions agricoles déclarées 2020. Shapefile. https://www.fadq.qc.ca/documents/donnees/base-de-donnees-des-parcelles-et-productions-agricoles-declarees. World Imagery, 2021.

Study sites

To understand the spatial implications of food in Greater Montreal’s diverse landscape, four sites of 4 x 10 kilometers are sampled for analysis. With a site in the urban center, a site in the suburbs, and two peri-urban sites, these sampled locations represent the distinctiveness of Greater Montreal’s landscape. The relationships between food production, consumption, the territory and urbanism are studied in all four sites. A more thorough analysis and the mapping of potentials is conducted in the urban site.

Note: much of the information presented in this section is obtained from fieldwork interviews.

Mirabel, located north of the Island of Montreal, was once entirely farmland and is now a mixed-use area. Agricultural practices range from small family farms to industrial-scale monocultures. The agricultural landscape is intersected by a major highway and patchworks of suburban development.

Mirabel. Photo by author, 2021.

Saint Hilaire is a peri-urban area in the Montérégie region, where the most fertile soils in Quebec are found. Amidst the rapidly developing suburban neighbourhoods, where the real estate game is on the rise, and the heavily farmed monoculture plots are small-scale family farms and isolated neighbourhoods.

Saint Hilaire. Photo by author, 2021.

The urban center of Montreal contains dense neighbourhoods with distinct tissues in which the impact of food on the city varies greatly. With food production almost completely absent from the city, the food supplied primarily by large commercial corporations does not meet the needs of the diverse contemporary population. Montreal. Photo by Ross Hoge, 2021.

The West Island of Montreal, which not too long ago was farmland, is covered with suburban neighbourhoods and a landscape dominated by large-scale vehicle infrastructure. Between the sprawled neighbourhoods are large commercial complexes and commercial streets containing a surplus of fast-food options. West Island Photo by author, 2021. 57

Perceptions Seasonal of food relationships with food

In the quest to re-connect the urban and natural worlds through food, it is first important to understand the current place of food in society and in the landscape. As the four sites contain distinct urban forms and landscape features, it is expected that the environment should influence the role

of food in daily life in each site. As the natural environment changes drastically throughout the year in Montreal, the perception of food throughout the different seasons can provide an indication of the relationship between society and nature across the four sites.

Seasonal perspectives of food with respect to urban-built up area. Graphic by author. Source: Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques. Cartographie de l’occupation du sol des Basses-terres du Saint-Laurent. FGDB. Last modified Oct. 15, 2018. http://data.ec.gc.ca/data/sites/systems/land-cover-mapping-of-the-st.-lawrence-lowlands/?lang=fr 58

A comparison of the seasonal perception of food with respect to the percentage of built-up surface area across the sites reveals that the peri-urban areas witness four “food-seasons” whereas the sub-urban and urban sites have two and one food-seasons, respectively. In Mirabel and Saint Hilaire, the winter agricultural landscape is snow-covered and bare. Farmers compensate with alternative activities to generate income, whereas the population purchases all their food from supermarkets. In spring, the landscape is in a phase of rapid transformation, with a feeling that “spring is in the air”. In the summertime, agricultural fields are in blossom and farmers are busy with cultivation. Small road-side markets provide local berries to inhabitants. The main harvest is in the fall, where the landscape is in cultivation. The road-side markets sell local fruits and vegetables, and larger farms deliver their produce to the city. In Saint Hilaire, an influx of “tourists” come from the city of Montreal to pick apples, a traditional autumn activity in the area.

In Montreal’s urban center, the “winter” season marks the period when food is an indoor activity: purchased from the grocery store and prepared and consumed at home. In the summer, the warm weather is celebrated through food, with terraces opening-up onto streets and picnics in the parks. Moreover, urban inhabitants occasionally visit open markets where products from peri-urban farms are brought in. Finally, in the West Island suburb, there is only one food season: the grocery-store season. Due to sprawling and car-centric urbanization, purchases from the grocery store remain constant year round, while the lower population density makes it infeasible for farmers to profitably sell their products. In a city with extreme seasonal weather diversity, the “food-seasons” are relatively uniform. Nina-Marie Lister asserts that “sensitivity to place and seasonality is a subtle and elusive goal in the contemporary marketplace” (2007, 151). This is a calling to both accept that food production is indeed seasonal, that not all foods are readily available at all times, and to re-imagine the winter landscape to create a new relationship with food in winter months.

Mirabel: mis-aligned production and consumption

The landscape in Mirabel is primarily dominated by agriculture, with relatively small family farms in rural plots in the immediate vicinity of peri-urban suburbs. One would expect local dynamics in the food system in this area containing intertwined urban and rural settlements. However, upon closer inspection there is a great misalignment between this highly productive landscape and food consumption. Firstly, many of the farmers produce fodder for dairy farming, and there for the produce in the landscape does not directly contribute to the foodshed. While there is a range of scales and types of production, much of the land can be considered as a production swamp – where there is an overabundance of monocultures.

Conceptual scheme the journey of food in Mirabel from farm to table. Drawing by author. 60

Secondly, due to the high quality demands of the market, much of the produce goes through series of transformations before it is available for consumption. The dairy industry, for example, is highly standardized. Every other day, a truck from the cooperative collects all the milk produced in the area and brings its to a processing plant near Montreal, where it is mixed, transformed and packaged, then brought back to the countryside where it is sold in the grocery store. The purpose of this system was originally to provide security to farmers and provide provincially homogenous milk. Due to this excessive transportation of produce in and out of the countryside and city, there is little relationship between the suburban settlements and the surrounding agricultural landscape. Farmers live in food deserts, where food is out of reach, whereas fast-food hubs around the highway create food swamps for suburban dwellers.

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Mirabel. Source: World Imagery, 2021.

Food production and consumption ecologies in Mirabel. Drawing by author. Interpreted from multiple sources.

Saint Hilaire: up-and-coming rural suburb

Saint Hilaire lies in the Monterégie region, on the edge of some of the most fertile and heavily cultivated land in the province. The soil on the slopes of Mont Saint Hilaire is suitable for orchards, and therefore apple picking and the cider industry are of great importance. While orchards are perennials and are readily available for food consumption, the concentration of apple production and lack of diversity is damaging the soil. Furthermore, the slopes of Saint Hilaire provide beautiful views and are consequently of high value on the real-estate market in this rapidly developing peri-urban area. Farmers are increasingly concerned about the pressures of urbanization and the rising land prices.

In the historic city center along the Richelieu River, a variety of quaint food consumption options exist as well as social services for the provision of food. The municipality has undergone great efforts to map food security in the area. However, outside of this central area, many neighbourhoods are completely isolated from a suitable food options.

Saint Hilaire, on the edge between suburban and heavily farmed land. Photo by author, 2021. 62

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Saint Hilaire. Source: World Imagery, 2021.

Food production and consumption ecologies in Saint Hilaire. Drawing by author. Interpreted from multiple sources.

West Island: fast forward to fast food

The suburban West Island area of Montreal reveals a different relationship between food production and consumption. Less than a century ago, the West Island was completely agricultural, however today, food production is nearly entirely absent, apart from farms on university-owned land on the far western edge. While the site contains many green spaces, these are valued as non-agricultural land. The West Island landscape is dominated by sprawling neighbourhoods and car-centric urbanization, and vehicle ownership is considered essential to access food. Fast-food hubs line the large streets and drive-throughs are popular meal destinations. While most families are well-off and have the access to vehicles to obtain the range of food offered at super markets, this raises questions about the meanings behind food security.

These areas are thus considered as food deserts in this study, as they do not have sufficient access to the full potentials of food, nor do the exhibit sustainable practices. Sainte Anne de Bellevue, on the far western edge, remains as an exception on this site as a food oasis. The older neighbourhood has a defined main street which contains small restaurants and grocery stores. Food here acts as a social catalyst, bringing inhabitants together on this main street. Perhaps, the scale of the neighbourhood and the history of the area contribute to the distinct food consumption ecology.

Is a population considered “food secure” if they have access to food, but the practices involved in obtaining this food are unsustainable? Is it satisfactory to have easy access to all types of foods, but the act of selecting ingredients has turned into buying in bulk for the next month? And what does it mean for society when meals are consumed in the passenger seat instead of at the dinner table?

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West Island. Source: World Imagery, 2021.

Food production and consumption ecologies in the West Island. Drawing by author. Interpreted from multiple sources.

Finally, the dense urban center of Montreal contains distinct urban neighbourhoods and a layered analysis is used to understand current food consumption patterns, beginning with food production. Today, traditional agricultural practices no longer exist on the site, however, urban agriculture initiatives of different scales and types are emerging across Montreal. Ranging from highly technical hydroponic practices for rooftop urban agriculture on a commercial scale, to shared gardens between families, to university projects, and to partnerships

Montreal: fragmented food production

Lufa Farms is internationally known for its commercial-scale rooftopurban agriculture. Photo by Ross Hoge, 2021.

with nearby local farms, the city of Montreal and its population are taking initiative to bring food back into the city. While Montreal is praised for several of its innovative and high-quality urban agriculture projects, these projects exist on their own. Urban agriculture is widespread across the city, but in fragmented patches. A city-wide food production system that considers the features of the landscape and spatial potentials across the city is needed for urban agriculture to truly make an impact in the city.

A cultivated street (underused during the winter) at Santropol Roulant, an organization that aims to provide food for people with a loss of autonomy. Photo by author, 2021. 0

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Montreal. Source: World Imagery, 2021.

Main existing urban agriculture initiatives. Drawing by author. Interpreted from the Peter-McGill District Green Map.

Montreal: layered food consumption ecologies

The study of food consumption patterns across Montreal can be understood by assessing the different components of each food consumption ecology. The analysis was completed by first mapping the areas with sufficient accessibility to a variety of food, which was determined based on the types of food available ad the origins of the food. Within these spaces, areas with healthy food options were recorded and from here, the affordability of food options was gauged. From these layers, the food deserts, swamps, mirages and oasis were derived. These definitions are particularly challenging, as urban form and social conditions can change around the corner in Montreal. The multicultural population has very different food needs and food security is thus a sensitive topic. In can therefor be understood that food security most importantly requires a diversity of food options. Moreover, the food ecologies studies revealed that certain spaces, such as pedestrian streets or main commercial streets, act as converging elements for food consumption, where the availability of food brings people together. This thus emphasises the importance of public space in food design.

Food consumption ecologies across the site. Drawing by author.

[maps on left] Derivations of food consumption ecologies in Montreal. Drawing by author.

Food availability

Healthy food availability

Affordable and healthy food

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Realities and potentials of food security in Montreal Cultural plays an important role in food availability in Monteal. With a multicultural population and distinct neighbourhoods, a food desert for one can be a food oasis for another. China Town, Montreal. Photo by author, 2021.

Little Italy, Montreal. Photo by author, 2021.

The foodshed ecology studies demonstrate that food security is a complex and sensitive topic. The definitions of food deserts, swamps, mirages and oasis’ require a revisiting - the proximity to food production areas or supermarkets does not necessarily translate to food security. Rather, food security is tied to spatial relationships, socio-economics, culture and preference, public space and recreation. As one of human’s most basic needs and as a crucial part of everyday life, it is important to have access not only to the food one desires, but to have appropriate space to produce, prepare, consume and enjoy food. The food consumption and production studies are nonetheless valuable in understanding the manifold dynamics of food security and identifying target locations to intervene. While urban agriculture initiatives demonstrate the population’s enthusiasm for a sustainable food system and assure a promising step in bringing food production back to the city, they on their own will not automatically assure food security nor will they realize the full potential of food and urbanity. Without a strategic citywide systematic design, these initiatives risk becoming anecdotal, beautifying or gentrifying projects. A continuous and integrated food strategy is simultaneously a necessity to bring food security to Montreal and reduce the environmental impact of the city’s food system, and an opportunity to use food’s interdisciplinary characteristics to bring quality space to the city.

The experience of purchasing food also impacts the relation with food. Supermarkets are efficient and cheap, and grocery shopping their is less of an enjoyable activity. Photo by author, 2021.

Small and local stores provide a more pleasant and slow shopping experience. Photo by author, 2021.

Food as a transformative process

Gorgolewski, Komisar and Nasr state that spaces that provide local opportunities “offer the most immediate windows for implementation” and must first be identified to integrate food production into the existing tissues of the city (2011, 15). Schools and alley ways offer spaces for immediate interventions, due to their small scale, eager communities and care for the land as a common good. Considering the long-life cycle of trees, parks provide public space with clean soil where tree nurseries can be established and later transplanted to other locations on the site. Places in transition, such as brownfields and underused industrial sites, are often considered as waste spaces which meanwhile exhibit a momentum for change. Furthermore, the identified food deserts and swamps are given high priority for early interventions. Beginning with these spaces gives food an instantaneous status in the city and initiates the cultivation of the city as a process of continuous transformations.

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Spaces offering potential for food transformation. Drawing by author.

A Ruelle Verte, or green alley, is a place of community mobility for greening the city. Photo by author, 2021.

The former industrial sites along the railway are places in transition. Photo by Ross Hoge, 2021.

The industrial port of Montreal is now underused and presents vacant space for food production. Photo by author, 2021.

Park along the former railway in the industrial-in-transition area. Photo by Ross Hoge, 2021. 74

4.0 Design Strategies Montreal

Scales of water, ice and snow Nurturing biodiversity Cultivating urban diversity

Strategic detail: Agro-urban park

Current state of the site Water circuit Intermediate landscape Parks within the park Reconnecting with seasons through ice and snow Sharing food – sharing more than just a meal

Design Strategies

The principle of project is to utilize the processes of producing and consuming food to choreograph a landscape, or foodscape, that establishes an ecological and resilient relationship between the urban and natural worlds. As the ecology studies showed, the proximity to food production areas does not translate to food security, and therefore, urban agriculture on its own will not automatically assure food secure. The intention of this project is not to completely eliminate the city’s dependency on the countryside or on the global market. Rather, bring-

The project works on two scales: on the scale of the city of Montreal, where a focus is placed on the wholistic city-wide ecological and water systems. Interventions on the 4 x 10 km site consider the topography, prominent natural features, underused spaces in the city and the studied food consumption ecologies, and can serve as a prototype for the entire city. A detailed design of the agro- park within the industrial areas that are currently in transition provides a prototype for the transformative processes, with an emphasis on the ways food can plausibly

ing food production into the city can create a degree of self-resiliency and “ improve the quality of life in those cities by acting as the missing public space” (Desvigne, Peri-Urban Land Stakes. Interview with Michel Desvigne 2014, 343). This project proposes a framework for ecological urban development through three intervention strategies that contribute to food security:

guide qualitive new ways of living.

1. An integrated and innovative water management regime 2. An extensive biodiversity restoration system 3. An intertwining of urban intensity within the water and biodiversity frame

Utilize food to: Revive urban water management Restore biodiversity Introduce qualitative ways of living through food

Conceptual scheme of design strategy. Drawing by author. 77

Scales of water, ice and snow

Merging the need to re-think urban water and snow in Montreal, seen in chapter two, with the essence of water for agricultural irrigation, a strategic water system is critical. The topography of the site is the structures the proposed water system, with modeled natural drainage patterns and historical rivers are used as a reference. Furthermore, the existing rainwater pipes, green alleys and Promenade Fleuve Montagne, which a pedestrian pathway connecting the mountain to the river, are considered in the design. When one proposes an urban agriculture initiative in Montreal, the obvious greatest uncertainty and cause of doubt is the cold winter climate. Thus, existing initiatives often do not plausibly contribute to food security and public space year-round as they attempt to ignore the particularity of the winter climate, disappearing for half of the year. The unique winter weather has yet to been perceived as an opportunity for food production. The variation in seasonal precipitation and seasonal weather in Montreal poses an opportunity to manage water taking advantage of its different phases: liquid, snow and ice. These phases allow a multitude of uses and ways to store water for irrigation in warmer dry months.

Conceptual scheme of design strategy - water Drawing by author. 78

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Modelled and historical water flows. Source: Historic rivers from Valerie Mahaut, Cartographic survey of the island of Montreal’s former watercourses showing thalwegs and crest lines. 2016. Derived rivers based on raster data from earthexplorer.usgs.gov

Existing water infrastructure considered in design. Drawing by author. Source: Ville de Montreal. Données ouvertes. Montreal, Quebec. 79

Scales of water, ice and snow

The project proposes a topographical water system, stemming from the peak of the city: Mount Royal. Modelled water accumulation areas are used as a basis to establish a soft-infrastructure drainage network, connecting the major green spaces to the agricultural parks. The drainage network proposes various typologies: “natural” flowing rivers running through the city, canals on the side of the road, and blue alley ways.

In the winter and spring time, water is stored using a smaller scale version of the innovative artificial glacier Ice Stupa from Ladkeh, India. Water and melting snow collected from Mont Royal and high points in the city drains towards the low-lying agricultural parks with the various above-ground drainage typologies. Before reaching the agricultural park, wthe water disappears from urban sight, piped underground to build up pressure. On plateaus, branches from pruning in the agricultural park are piled above a dome-shaped structure, where a sprinkler extends from the pipe. The pressurized water sprays upwards and freezes on the branches, forming an artificial glacier. The vertical geometry of accumulated ice has minimal surface area, thus receiving little sunlight in comparison to a flat ice field, allowing the ice to melt slowly until the summer months (icestupa.org n.d.). Basins are placed adjacent to the ice stupa to allow further storage of melted ice. The water then drains towards the agricultural lands, where it is managed for irrigation. The second seasonal water management regime recycles snow that would otherwise be considered as waste and transported to snow large snow dumps outside the city. Snow cleared from the city streets and sidewalks is ploughed to plateaus on the edge of the agricultural parks, creating snow forms. These localized masses of snow melts gradually above a net, where sand particles are filtered out. The melted snow then flows through phytoremediation plants, where it is cleaned and can be used for irrigation.

Seasonal waters flow from the mountain to the ice stupa, where it accumulates with pressure, gradually melts and is used for downstream irrigation. Graphic by author. 80

The water network is composed of a system of rivers, canals, underground pipes and blue -green alley ways and the relevant existing rainwater pipes and green alleys.

Ice stupas are proposed on ridges and snow forms are proposed on flat open spaces accessible by truck.

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Overall water managment system. 81

Nurturing biodiversity

The city, in nature, is “an unsustainable element” and urban forestry provides an opportunity to establish “self-regenerating ecosystems” to the city (De Meulder and Shannon, Forests and Trees in the City: Southwest Flanders and the Mekong Delta 2014, 429). Kelly Shannon states that “the design of the urban forest […] must be understood as a critical component of contemporary urban infrastructure” (Shannon, Urgent interventions needed at the territorial scale—now more than ever 2018, 209). While the city of Montreal contains various green

This is an excellent opportunity to connect Montreal’s heart of biodiversity and most “wild” park to the various existing and proposed green spaces in the city. The unsealed vegetated surfaces in which the water accumulates and flows contributes to the cleaning of the water as it travels downwards for irrigation.

spaces, the “urban forest must also be understood as a larger system that extends as a continuous, interconnected regional system,” (Shannon, Urgent interventions needed at the territorial scale—now more than ever 2018, 210) to conceivably restore biodiversity. The project proposes to reinstate ecology in the city through two main schemes. Firstly, the proposed agro-park introduces a grand scale of green, unsealed and ecologically active space to the city. As Peter Latz argues, “ecology as art is made visible in landscape architecture by being incorporated into new interpretations of spatial pattern” (Latz 2002, 99), and therefore, the agro-park can be understood as a variant of ecology embedded within the city. Secondly, the proposed trajectory of water, originating from the city of Montreal’s high point, Mont Royal, towards the low-lying agro-parks and St Lawrence River, creates a continuous flow.

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Mount Royal and the St Lawrence River, the main sources of biodiversity in Montreal, as well as Jerry and Lafontaine Parks and other prominent green spaces are identified as key ecological sites. Drawing by author.

A large-scale agricultural intervention is proposed along the industrial zones in transition, introducing a grand alternative form of ecology. Drawing by author. 83

Nurturing biodiversity

The proposal establishes a hierarchy within the existing parks, ranging those who hold high biodiversity potential to those who will act as stepping-stones within the system. The ecological connection will be maintained along the water course with various typologies in consideration to the food consumption studies. In the food deserts and swamps, ecological interventions that contribute to food production are proposed, such as urban agriculture, community gardens and fruit-producing trees, in addition to heavily forested areas, parks and recreational places. In the food mirages and oasis, interventions serve primarily to sustain the ecological connection. The embedding of ecological typologies creates an “archetypical dialogue between the tame and the wild” where “the image of nature can be made of the ‘untouched’ and the ‘built’” (Latz 2002, 97).

Conceptual scheme of design strategy - biodiversity Drawing by author. 84

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Existing green spaces along the proposed water network are identified as stepping stone parks, to be considered as part of the biodiversity connection. Drawing by author.

New green areas are proposed along the water network, creating a continuous biodiversity connection between the Mount Royal, proposed agricultural park, existing important existing green spaces and the St Lawrence River. Drawing by author. 85

Cultivating urban diversity

The water recovery and biodiversity restoration interventions bring added value to the land, hosting ecological processes while holding the potential for recreation. The edges of these interventions are “intrinsically suitable”, described by Ian McHarg as the “optimum use and enhancement of social values” characteristic of the natural processes which form a place (1969, 12), for ecological urban development. Multi-purpose urbanism is proposed alongside the new ecological places, where food is used as a medium between the natural and built environment. With an emphasis in the food deserts and swamps, urban intensity is built through densification and the addition of a variety of food-related activities, both productive and recreational. By situating food as both an essential and social component of everyday life, these new public spaces strive to foster a healthy environment for people of all ages and lifestyles. The new ways of inhabiting the city through food are explored in the strategic detail design.

Conceptual scheme of design strategy - urban Drawing by author. 86

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While ecological interventions are proposed continuously across the network, food deserts and food swamps are identified as key zones for urban interventions. Drawing by author.

Mixed-use urbanism is proposed in the food deserts and swamps alongside the water and ecological interventions. Drawing by author. 87

Cultivating urban diversity

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Final proposal of Montreal’s foodscape. Drawing by author. 89

Strategic detail: Agro-urban park The agro-park along the industrial railway line is the spine of the project. The plots adjacent to the railway are home to, in many cases, brownfields or forgotten and underused industrial infrastructure, and in other cases, sites of new development. The spine is abandoned and at the same time up-andcoming. The project strengthens this transitionary momentum in its proposition of a grand-scale food production development. The selected site for the detailed design is sandwiched between a food desert and food swamp and demonstrates the contrasting characteristics of the area. This site was formerly home to the Outremont Rail Yard and is now a place in transition. The proposal for the site contains an ice stupa and a snow form which connects the site’s water supply to the larger system. The detailed design of this area along the agro-park serves to provide a prototype for the various ways of inhibiting the land through food.

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Location of agro-park detailed design site. Drawing by author. 91

With several contaminated and abandoned brownfields, oversized parking lots and industrial buildings, as well as primary, secondary and university schools, a community center and new parks and public spaces, there is both the space and potential for ecological urban development.

Current state of the site

Satellite image of site. Map source: World Imagery, 2021. 92

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Existing conditions on site. Drawing by author.

Brownfield near the railway.

Existing new park along former railway.

Existing hardscape park.

Univerisity and pedestrian crossing over the train track.

Community centre.

Brownfield near the community centre.

Photos by Ross Hoge, 2021 93

Water circuit

The contrast between the brownfields along the railway with the adjacent grid of the residential areas, on the one hand, give the impression of a place with a lost form. On the other hand, the contrasting geometries provide an opportunity to bring a new identity to the space that creates a dialect between the past and future of the site and the natural and built environment. A topographical water circuit for the irrigation of the different productive elements in the park structures the geometric layout of the park. This circuit originates from the access points of the snow form and ice stupa which connect the park to the large-scale water system. The canals that branch from the reservoirs of the snow forms and ice stupa unite the urban and natural forms, capturing water from the adjacent streets and emphasizing the axis’ of the former railway and existing pedestrian crossing over the bridge, while shifting towards more organic trajectories following contours towards the railway.

Derivation of the irrigation circuit which structures the site. Drawing by author. 94

1. The agro-park lies along the railway, sitting alongside a proposed system of inner alleys, street fruits trees and bioswales.

4. A secondary network of canals creates terraces and structures vegetation patterns.

2. Snow cleared from surrounding streets is ploughed into the park, creating two snow forms and water melting down from Mount Royal accumulate in an ice stupa.

3. A network of canals originates from retention tanks next to the ice stupa and snow forms and captures water from adjacent streets as well as from the former railway line.

5. The geometries of the canals work with height difference to allow controlled water flow to the various productive areas.

6. The ice stupa and snow forms have their respective watersheds in which water is managed. 95

Intermediate landscape

The transformation of the site from a contaminated brownfield to a lively park is an ambitious task, where key stages – land acquisition, soil decontamination, tree growth, infrastructural construction and a shift in urban density – are all lengthy processes which require time. As the city of Montreal finds itself in a unique moment to drastically change its food system, the project can proceed with successional steps to that give the site “an immediate landscaped quality” (Desvigne 2009, 45). The cycles of trees and plants are used to remediate the soil, clean the water for irrigation, guide urbanism all the while providing recreational spaces. “Intermediate natures” described by Michel Desvigne, “provide positive attributes to the sites […], giving the land an immediate status, maintaining it, and accepting its transformation” (2009, 38).

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Phases of cultivating the agro-park. Drawings by author. 97

Intermediate landscape The remediation of contaminated soil is a complex task and must proceed thoroughly to assure healthy food production and public space. The project proposes a use of phytoremediation that is both ecological and offers value to the space. Indigenous trees and grass species are carefully selected based on the contaminants present on site to clean the soil and prepare the land for food production. Saules and mulberries are fast growing trees that remove C10-C15 and HAP for up to 25 years and 40 years, respectively, with stems cultivated every two to three years. Indian mustard is a fast-growing herb, that can hyperaccumulate lead on short cycles, while poplus has a high evapotranspiration potential for metals (Société québécoise de phytotechnologie 2016). In later stages, nitrogen-fixing trees are intercropped to prepare the soil for cultivation. The harvested stems be brought to the ice stupa, where the branches are used to form the tower, and harvested timber is used for construction on site. Meanwhile, water collected from the ice stupa and in the snow form can be applied to the contaminated soil to accelerate the remediation process. These species develop at different durations, creating an ever-changing landscape. While the transformation of the site is one that requires time and exhibits a certain degree of uncertainty, its intermediary qualities create a sense of belonging to the park as one witnesses its development. While the transformation of the site is one that requires time and exhibits a certain degree of uncertainty, its intermediary qualities create a sense of belonging to the park as one witnesses its growth and meanwhile allow for a multitude of activities of develop.

“Accepting a fragmented world means doing so without the complete overall picture and leaving room for the coincidence pf nature in the web of the layout”

- Peter Latz, The Idea of making time visible in About Landscape: Essays on design, style, time and space. 2002, p. 97

Successional stages of preparing the soil and inhabiting the park. Graphic by author. Soil contamination data: Gouvernment de Quebec : GTC - Répertoire des terrains contaminés. https://www.pes1.enviroweb.gouv.qc.ca/AtlasPublic/CartesPubliques/ cartesmddelcc.html?cfg=TerrainsContamines.json Phytoremediation plants: Société québécoise de phytotechnologie : La phytoremédiation. June 1st 2016. 99

Parks within the park

The agro-park strives to bring qualitive new public spaces by defining diverse ways of inhabiting the park through food. Michel Corajoud’s concept of “scenes” where “the proposal organizes places” in contrast to “a project that organizing functions” (Corajoud and Corajoud 1981), is used, proposing a set of parks within the park. The importance of diversity in public spaces here is threefold. Firstly, the dialect between natural and artificial and past and present is emphasized. Secondly, the multitude of environments caters to the of the diverse inhabitants in the surrounding area throughout the year, fostering a combination of lifestyles and activities. Finally, as the food studies in chapter three demonstrated, food security requires more than simply agriculture and grocery stores – it requires accessibility to a variety of food production, consumption and social spaces. Water elements intersect the park, with the snow form and ice stupa as major public infrastructure, and canals irrigating the different productive zones and acting as new mobilities. The forest scene contains an array of trees, planted according to slope, providing a massive amount of public space along the railway spine.

Agro-park design proposal. Drawing by author. 0

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Extruding from the park’s main figure is a system of inner alleys and streets lined with fruit trees. The inner alleys are de-sealed surfaces, where there is an intermediate scale of collective agriculture and rainwater harvesting. An asymmetrical street system is proposed based on sunlight: the southern side of the street remains claimed for parking while fruit trees are planted along the northern side of the street, adjacent to bioswales which feed the park’s water system.

Parks within the park

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Regular street scene

Proposed street scene

North side: Fruit trees and bioswales

South side: Parking space

Blue-green alley Storm water harvesting and collective gardening

North side: Fruit trees and bioswales

South side: Parking space

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Street park scenes. Drawings by author. 103

The management of water not only structures the figure of the park, but also becomes an integral part of park life. While the ice stupa and snow forms utilize the seasonal variations in precipitation for out-of-season irrigation and, in their nature, celebrate the extreme temperatures in Montreal, their infrastructures also exhibit a further potential to re-direct one’s activities and eating habits through seasons.

Reconnecting with seasons through ice and snow

The ice stupa is formed on a valley ridge from rainwater and melted snow draining downwards from Mont Royal towards the agro-park. As the ice melts and it is filtered and stored in retention ponds. This ice stupa structure is adjacent to an existing pool, which allows for water storage and flexible use of the water. The watershed of the stupa serves the upper agro-urban park. The interior of the ice stupa structure can simultaneously act as a giant freezer, where fruits and vegetables harvested in the fall can be cold-stored well into summer months. Snow ploughed to the snow form gradually melts and is filtered into a pools where it decontaminated with phytoremediation plants during summer months. The pools are placed at different elevations on the slope, and connect to the terraced agriculture. The during the winter, the frozen pools are used as skating rinks.

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The backside of the snow form is a season center, serving to educate the population about eating food seasonally. In the spring and summer months, the season center provides information about picking wild berries, herbs and mushrooms, which can be practiced, in a less wild context, in the adjacent forest. Workshops about food preservation take place in the fall and winter, where inhabitants learn how to make jams and store fresh produce throughout the year.

Winter snow form

Skating rinks and snowy terraces

Season center

Snow accummulation and filtration

Season center

Picnic area above water storage

Snow ploughed from streets

Summer snow form

Retention pools with phytoremediation Irrigation canals and terraced agriculture

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Summer and winter snow form activities. Drawing by author. 105

Sharing food – sharing more than just a meal

The agro-urban scene acts as an intermediate between the city and nature and is the heart of park life. It includes a mosaic of agricultural gardens which benefit from the close proximity to urbanity to practice sustainable agricultural techniques. Orchards and crops are intercropped in terraces according to the slope with attention to the microclimate, and compost from the neighbourhood fertilizes the soil. In this sense, it achieves the lost mutually beneficial relationship between agricultural land and city. A new density of housing is proposed within the park. Mixed-use buildings are proposed in the extended hardscape park, which host a multitude of food-related activities, such as restaurants and cafes, collective kitchens, local grocery stores and markets, bringing city life into the park. This establishes a new strong axis towards the pedestrian bridge which crosses the railway and creates a plaza within the existing hardscape park and over-sized road. Similarly to agricultural settlements envisioned by Migge and Kropotkin, where food production is considered as “a secondary occupation, in combination with other forms of labor” (Imbert 2015, 24) an inhabitant of the agro-park “is no cow-farmer, but a fully cultured citizen” (Migge 1932, 34). The park is meant to invite a diversity of people, who each have their own roles to play in the food system. While some make a living from full-time farming or food processing, others take up gardening and cooking as leisurely hobbies. Some come to the park in search of employment, while others come to spend time outdoors, enjoy a healthy meal or learn about sustainable food systems.

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“Vegetables and fruit can be grown in such quantities that men could be provided with a, rich vegetable food and a profusion of fruit, if they simply devoted to the task of growing them the hours which everyone willingly devotes to work in the open air, after having spent most of his day in the factory, the mine, or the study. Provided, of course, that the production of food-stuffs should not be the work of the isolated individual, but the planned-out and combined action of human groups”

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- Peter Kropotkin. Fields, Factories, and Workshops. 1898. p. 189

Agro-urban scene

Agricultural fields

Residence with community and rooftop gardens

Agricultural gardens

Removable greenhouse

Public park space

Humans are genuinely generous with sharing food: the offering food is a common gesture of hospitality, locals are eager to share their cuisine with travelers and eating meals together constitutes a major part of social life. Thus, the sharing of food can serve as a model for a new collective way living in the agro-park. The roots of this model stem from the care for the land as a common resource. The space for food production is collective, the responsibilities of growing and producing food are shared, and the rewards are shared.

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Food is then understood as a vehicle for the combination of lifestyles. The recreational activities offered in the park accommodate people across generations, from the elderly who enjoy gardening, to kids who play in the park and young adults eager for the up-and-coming food scene. With greenhouses that mimic global climates, Montreal’s multicultural inhabitants can produce food from their different backgrounds. The park then becomes a knowledge center, where cultivation techniques from across the globe are exchanged and international dishes are shared in the collective kitchens. By considering food as in integral part of everyday urban life, opportunities for a transformation of spatial, societal and political dynamics emerge.

Agri-urban park scene. Drawing by author. 107

Conclusions

The agro-park demonstrates that understanding food as a landscape process can restore ecology and transform the city into a habitable natural environment. It is essential to acknowledge that the cultivation of the foodscape is under sustained progression. The rhythms of seasons, vegetation and water play a critical role in the preparation of the site and its successional development, establishing a rooted connection to the natural environment from within the city and emphasizing the importance of caring for the land. The coming and going of inhabitants

Food, as a tool for urban design, is incredibly interdisciplinary. Food has the unique characteristic that it is both natural and manufactured, both essential and festive. It has the exceptional power to connect disciplines and peoples across time and space.

that occupy the park also play an important role in defining the site’s character. As people of different backgrounds and histories visit the park, new tastes arrive, knowledge is exchanged and the types of food and methods of cultivation adjust accordingly.

in nature and in urbanity. Living through food can be understood as accepting one’s place within the landscape.

While food security is of increasing importance in the face of the climate crisis, the shift towards localized alternative food productions has also proved as a worthy tool in response to previous crisis’ (Imbert 2015). The adaptive character of the site builds a resilient ecological framework for sustainable urban development in the face of climate change while encouraging sustainable ways of living. Moreover, the ulterior motives to securing food are equally diverse.

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The agro-park demonstrates that living through food can significantly contribute to better quality of living, better care for the environment and a rooted connection to the territory. Cultivation in the agro-park provides one with a place of reference

“The cultural landscape develops out of the productive landscape as the outward symbol of the culture of a people, as the expression of their being on earth”

- Leberecht Migge, Die wachsende Siedlung, 1932. p. 17.

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