Sundance Harvest: Building a Just Food System from the Soil Up
Sundance Harvest is a vibrant, youth-led farm rooted in principles of food justice, ecological sustainability, and labour equity. Operating across two dynamic sites—a newly acquired 2-acre rural farm in Mount Forest and a small urban demonstration plot in collaboration with its sister non-profit, Sundance Commons—Sundance Harvest is reimagining what a resilient, just, and inclusive food system can look like.
Founded on a commitment to no-till and ecological farming practices, Sundance Harvest grows a diverse mix of vegetables, melons, herbs, mushrooms, eggs, and cut flowers. Their practices include cover cropping, compost mulching, interplanting, and cultivating native pollinator hedgerows. While not certified organic, their methods uphold and exceed organic principles, deeply respecting soil health, biodiversity, and climate resilience.
The farm has cultivated a loyal customer base across Toronto and southern Ontario, selling produce through a CSA program, at two farmers’ markets, and to restaurants and grocers, including long-standing partners like the Dufferin Grove Farmers Market and Rise Up Foods. Demand for their produce consistently exceeds their current transport capacity—a testament to the farm’s quality and community reputation.
2025 will mark a major expansion year. Like many farmers, Sundance rented land for several years; now, Sundance Harvest is proud to own its rural farm site, which includes two greenhouses, a potting house, and six unheated caterpillar tunnels. These new structures will significantly extend their growing season and expand production across 130 market garden beds. The farm’s new infrastructure has been entirely financed through personal savings and reinvestment—an intentional, debt-free growth strategy that reflects Sundance Harvest’s careful and values-driven approach to scaling.
To fully realize the potential of this expansion, Sundance Harvest is seeking support from the Fair Finance Fund to purchase a cargo van. Their current vehicle, a 2011 Ford Ranger, poses a significant logistical bottleneck: it cannot meet the volume of produce currently being harvested and transported. With a cargo van, the farm could drastically increase deliveries to markets and wholesale clients, all while unlocking capacity to hire more farm workers, especially those facing barriers to entering the agricultural industry.
Sundance Harvest is not only focused on growing food but also on growing opportunities. As a living wage employer offering paid sick days, the farm is setting a strong example for ethical employment practices in agriculture. Their new farm property includes on-site housing options for up to four workers, which will help address the rural housing shortage and make jobs accessible to urban-based workers looking to enter the sector. Sundance Harvest is bridging the urban-rural divide by creating dignified, well-compensated positions and offering on-farm housing.
Their urban demonstration site, supported by Sundance Commons, provides free land access, mentorship, and training to new farmers through weekly educational programming, and crops grown on this site directly support workshops and community events.
The farm is majority youth-, racialized-, and women-led, with a team that actively practices anti-oppression and inclusive hiring principles. They view sustainable agriculture as a vehicle for systemic change that centers on worker rights, community self-determination, and environmental stewardship.
After surviving a challenging 2023 season marked by crop losses due to climate-related flooding, Sundance Harvest has continued to adapt with vision and resilience. Their investments in season-extension infrastructure have improved climate adaptation and opened up new revenue streams. Their planned expansion with support from the Fair Finance Fund is a natural next step that will boost local food access, create meaningful employment, and strengthen food sovereignty across Ontario.
