Ryerson University | Agri-food and Agriculture

Key facilities

Centre for Studies in Food Security – Works to promote food security through research, dissemination, education, community action and professional practice. The Centre takes an interdisciplinary and systemic approach to the social justice, environmental sustainability, health and socio-cultural aspects of food security

Ryerson Urban Farm (RUF) – A quarter acre rooftop farm located in Downtown Toronto that aims to build capacity for urban agriculture through production, education and research. RUF operates spaces across Ryerson University using ecological growing methods.

The Food Research Laboratory and the Soft Matter Research and Technology (SMaRT) laboratory – Focus on development of foods and soft materials with improved physical and compositional properties.

Major collaborations

Scaling up small-scale food processing: A Strategy to promote food security among women subsistence farmers in rural Vietnam

Project led by Dr. Cecilia Rocha with funding from Global Affairs Canada and the International Development and Research Center (IDRC). The project proposes a plan for scaling up successful initiatives by Vietnam’s National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in the use of locally grown crops for the development and production of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs) as well as fortified complementary foods for children (instant pabulums and instant flours)

Urban Food Security in Africa

Several members of the Centre for Studies in Food Security have been, and continue to be involved with initiatives related to supporting food and nutrition security of urban dwellers in Africa.

Researchers

Dr. Mustafa Koc, Department of Sociology
Research focuses on food security, food policy, sociology of migration, rural sociology. Teaching interests include sociology of food, sociology of immigration, sociology of development, food security and policy.

Dr. Cecilia Rocha, School of Nutrition
Dr. Rocha’s research focuses on assessing the social efficiency of food security initiatives and programs; the role of market failures in food insecurity; and the effectiveness of markets as policy tools.

Dr. Derick Rousseau, Department of Chemistry and Biology Dr. Rousseau’s research efforts focus on understanding the physical and chemical factors that control the formation and stability of dispersed systems. His group has made important contributions in a number of areas, including emulsion stabilization in food and non-food applications, chocolate functionality, dairy product fortification, and the development of controlled release matrices.

Special programs and work integrated learning initiatives

Certificate in Food Security – Cutting edge program designed to meet the needs of today’s food security professionals. This career-related certificate provides students with relevant knowledge required to excel in this rapidly expanding field.

Urban Farm Training – Six week training program pairs practical information with hands on learning and geared towards members of the Ryerson University community and general public who want to learn production based methods for ecological urban agriculture.

University-industry research partnerships