Rhona McAdam, Digging the City: An Urban Manifesto

At the last census in 2006, just over 80 per cent of Canada's population lived in urban centres. How we feed and protect the food sources of that population is an enduring subject of debate in food security circles these days. As consumers and citizens, we all need to take a hard look at the deficiencies in Canada's ability to feed the urban poor, our dependence on imported foods and centralized food processing, our detachment from our food sources, the often problematic solutions to food security devised by governments, municipalities and nonprofit groups, and where we are headed if we change nothing in these times where change is urgently needed. Many efforts are being made to introduce urban agriculture initiatives all across the country, to address the problems we've created, and to protect our cities from real and potential crises in the food supply. Digging the City is Rhona's first nonfiction book.

Rhona McAdam is a poet and food writer who has eaten well in many countries. She has a master's degree in Food Culture & Communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Slow Food's university in northern Italy), writes a food and poetry blog (the Iambic Cafe), and is active in Victoria's food security network. She developed and taught an online course in urban agriculture and food security for St. Lawrence College in Ontario, Canada.