Growing pains: Successes and barriers in London, Ontario’s urban agriculture strategy

Abstract

Urban agriculture (UA) is gaining momentum across Canada in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, with growing public interest and municipal responses such as the City of London, Ontario’s 2017 London Urban Agriculture Strategy (LUAS). This paper examines the implementation and impact of the LUAS, drawing on interviews and workshop insights from for-profit and nonprofit urban food producers, processors, and distributors. Building on a prior study by Miedema (2019) of the city’s Hamilton Road neighborhood, we analyze the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of new and existing UA initiatives across the city. Three factors emerged as critical to UA’s success: munic­ipal gov­ernance matters, community efficacy, and the rising cost of living compounded in a post-pandemic context. We assess how London’s strategy has ena­bled progress—such as bylaw amendments—but also where it falls short due to limited communica­tion, persistent land access issues, jurisdictional misalignments, and a lack of proactive leadership. Our findings contribute new insight into the insti­tutional barriers facing UA in midsized cities and identify three key knowledge and capacity gaps—leadership, technical guidance, and communica­tion—that must be addressed to support sustained UA implementation. We offer recommendations for closing these gaps through coordinated efforts across municipal, private, and community sectors. Ultimately, this research advances the conversation on how cities can more effectively support inclu­sive, resilient, and cultur­ally valued urban food sys­tems rooted within a food justice framework.