Our cities are places of food polarities - food deserts and farmers’ markets, hunger and food waste, fast food delivery and urban gardening. While locavores and preserving pros abound, many of us can’t identify the fruit trees in our yards or declare a berry safe to eat. Those plants - and the people who planted them - are often forgotten.

Join us for an intimate evening with Helena Moncrieff as she guides us through her new book The Fruitful City and examines our relationship with food through the fruit trees that dot city streets and yards. Tracking down the origins of these living heirlooms, Helena asks how they went from being subsistence staples to raccoon fodder and explores the surge of non-profit urban harvest organizations trying to prevent that bounty from rotting on concrete. Guiding us through her journey of slipping into backyards, visiting community orchards, and taking in canning competitions, Helena will show us that while the bounty of apples is great, reconnecting with nature and our community is the real prize.

Helena Moncrieff is a writer, professor, former radio journalist, and lifelong city dweller. Her writing has appeared in Best Health magazine, the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and many in-house publications. Her freezer is full of fruit collected from other people's backyards.

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