[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="415" caption=" Sidewalk, Bank and Laurier"][/caption] Two food-related stories have been making the rounds in Ottawa this spring. First is the great patio debate: how much should businesses pay for the right to operate patios on City streets? Second is the street food question: why is it so difficult for street vendors to offer more than poutine and sausage in food trucks and food carts? Each issue is governed by a discrete set of government regulations, but have a common implication for the livability and enjoyment of city space. The patio issue is one of public space, as articulated by the municipal encroachment by-law . This by-law defines how public space is governed when a private business seeks to use and/or profit from a space that is owned by the City, such as a sidewalk or a piece of city property used for parking. The regulation also sets out a schedule of fees the City may collect from businesses for the use of these public spaces. The intent of the regulation seems fair as it allows the City to collect a form of rent from private businesses that profit from the use of a space that is ostensibly free to everyone. A recent staff report notes that the fee is justified as restaurants with patio space gain a competitive advantage because the patio increases the size of their restaurant. The downside to this arrangement is that the space becomes privatized and is no longer free; rather it is only available to paying customers. The by-law also regulates the permissible distance of patios from residential areas (no more than 30 metres).

__________ Last month’s unseasonably warm weather has had me looking forward the 2010 farmers’ market season. While cautious in my own gardening habits – I did not plant early lettuce, beans, peas, radishes etc… - I have been patiently waiting for the arrival of fresh spring vegetables after a winter’s worth of rather tired greens, canned tomatoes and heavy root veggies. A great thing about Ottawa is that many neighbourhoods within the City’s urban core are well-served by farmers’ markets (Parkdale/West Wellington, Mainstreet/Old Ottawa South, the Glebe). These markets offer opportunities to buy fresh produce, often grown by people within the Ottawa valley. However, recent debate over the “value” of one of the City’s markets – the Ottawa’s Farmers’ Market located in Parking Lot #4 of Lansdowne Park – raises some questions about just exactly how the City sees / understands the role of the farmer’s market in the modern city. Specifically, recent staff reports and Council decisions heavily emphasize the economic role of the farmers’ market rather than broadly interpreting the market as a public good.

Kalle Hakala’s December 17th post  ("After the thaw: could this be a farm by next spring?") brought to mind the relationships between food production, consumption and urban landscapes. Community gardens, community-shared agriculture (CSA), farmers’ markets, patios, street vendors and even Ottawa’s new green bins are among just a few examples of the presence of food in public and private spaces of the city. The following post by Emily Sinclair is the first of series in which she will examine the impact of food issues on the experience of urban space. Easily dismissed as an antithesis to modern city-building by planners and other urban administrators at the turn of the 19th century, issues of food production and consumption have helped shape the physical form and social content of the modern city. Activities relating to food production – the messiness of soil, pests and livestock; the rural nature of labour for food cultivation – contradicted the cleanliness and modern appeal of urban life. Through zoning and land development, food production was banished from city parks and lawns to the rural countryside where it was deemed a more “appropriate” use of land. On the other hand, activities relating to food consumption, and in particular the decidedly urban pursuit of food retailing, quickly became the realm of private enterprise. The regulation of food consumption was assumed almost entirely by private market forces and surfaced only as a social concern in the narrow contexts health and welfare agencies.