We aim to inspire people to engage and invest in urban agriculture and growing regenerative communities.
Our primary clients are the businesses, institutions, and people who are planning, building and developing communities in the Greater Toronto Area. Hoffmann Hayes specializes in design consultation for urban agriculture, gardens, and healthy food & community development programs.
Part of what sets us apart is that our services reach past lucrative planning and consulting phases and into the challenges of helping a diverse range of people learn how to grow food, work together and implement sustainable healthy food & garden programs. We advise on short and long-term implementation needs, long before projects and programs are actualized, and focus on long-term success so that urban agriculture projects start out and remain viable. We believe these approaches help secure resilience, sustainability and yields for all involved. We strive to bridge visionary investment interests of city developers and businesses with the needs and interests of our local communities.
Daniel Hoffmann, BSW
Daniel brings 20 years of organic farming and community development experience and a degree in social work to the Hoffmann Hayes team. Daniel co-designs and leads the supervision and implementation of condo garden coaching programs and other healthy food community development and education projects for Developers, non-profits, and other institutions and organizations. His social entrepreneurial experience includes growing 10+ acres of organic vegetables and hundreds of organic farmers-in-training through The Cutting Veg. He’s the primary designer and lead facilitator of Hoffmann Hayes agri-biz trainings and farm internship programs. Daniel strives to cultivate personal, social, environmental and economic health through organic agriculture. His work encourages lifestyles that are healthy for families and the planet by providing local, organic produce through farmers markets in the GTA. Daniel is a father to Ayla and Hannah.
Jane Hayes, MES, BA, PDC
Jane is a permaculture designer, gardener, community developer and educator. She brings 26 years of healthy food program and design experience with municipalities, non-profits and socially responsible businesses. Jane is the lead designer of urban gardens, and co-leads the supervision and implementation of condo garden coaching programs for Hoffmann Hayes. Jane’s experience in the area of social permaculture and regenerative community design influences her approach to helping people of all ages learn to grow and enjoy healthy food in a sustainable way. Jane loves being in community with inspiring people changing the world through kids and community gardens, urban farming and healthy food. Jane is a graduate of U of T and received a Masters of Environmental Studies from York U. She’s been certified in Permaculture Design and as a Permaculture Teacher. She plays many roles in her large mixed family, and also runs Garden Jane.
Team, Colleagues & Advisors
Our team of colleagues and advisors is growing and evolving. Here are a few of the people who work, advise and collaborate with us on strategic development, urban agriculture, community planning and development, design, implementation, and special projects. We also consult with many other firms, and have a wide network of colleagues that support projects and advise as needed.
Urban Agriculture Strategy Team
Lauren Baker, PhD
Lauren Baker has over 20 years of experience working in Ontario and globally on sustainable food systems research, policy, planning and project management. Lauren is a skilled facilitator, specializing in conflict resolution, identifying areas of convergence, divergence and consensus building. She works with diverse sectors and people from all around the world to develop food systems priorities. Lauren’s clients have included the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, Evergreen, The Stop Community Food Centre, Toronto District School Board and several municipalities across Ontario. From 2011-2016, Lauren was a Food Policy Specialist with the Toronto Food Policy Council, leading a citizen advisory group embedded within the City of Toronto’s Public Health Division. Lauren teaches at the University of Toronto and is a research associate with Ryerson University’s Centre for Studies in Food Security. At Toronto Metropolitan University’s Chang School for Continuing Education, Lauren was involved in creating the curriculum for a newly launched Urban Agriculture Certificate Program. Learn more about Lauren.
Rav Singh, farmer, researcher and activist
Rav is a farmer and operates Shade of Miti, an organic farm that specializes in South Asian vegetables. Off the field, Rav is an active educator and farm-researcher in the farming community, working with organizations such as the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario. She founded Raised Roots Consulting to provide urban agriculture, sustainable supply chain, green infrastructure and educational services. A few projects Rav has worked on in recent years include community garden programming with the City of Mississauga and Ecosource, revitalization of a rooftop garden with Green Thumbs Growing Kids and sustainable procurement strategies for Ontario-grown barley with Avling. Rav currently sits on the National Farmers Union – Ontario board. She joins us as a consultant, garden coach, programmer and is our partner in our new municipal Community Gardens Training program.
Lindsay Purchase, BA, FSC
Lindsay Purchase has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor and strategic content specialist. She creates compelling communications that centre audience needs and client voice. Lindsay is a skilled researcher, adept at synthesizing complex information into digestible material and dogged in uncovering key details to help drive work forward. In her work with Hoffmann Hayes and Garden Jane, Lindsay has contributed to projects including the City of Mississauga’s Urban Agriculture Strategy, a Community Gardens Handbook for the City of Charlottetown and a research brief on municipal green development standards. Lindsay has a certificate in Food Security from Toronto Metropolitan University and a BA in Global Studies from Wilfrid Laurier University. Learn more about Lindsay.
Design, Planning, Implementation & Special Projects
Sheila Boudreau – Planner, Community Engagement and Strategic Direction, Landscape Architect, Indigenous-Focused Landscapes & Programs, Healing Gardens, Education Consultant, Story Telling. See more about Sheila’s work as founder of Sprucelab and with Toronto Metropolitan University. She consults and collaborates with us on a range of projects.
Anèl Dannhauser is an Environmental Assessment and Sustainability Practitioner with an MSc of Soil Science at the University of Saskatchewan. She is working towards being a data scientist. Anèl is working with us at UTSc Urban Farm and to support the development of a citizen science soils program for urban rooftop environments. You may see her in the gardens on occasion too as a garden coach.
Ben Dunn, MLA (In Progress), BA, PDC, RYT-200 – Ben Dunn joins Hoffmann Hayes as a Design Consultant. He has 6 years of experience working across Canada as a researcher, project manager, sustainability consultant, and permaculture landscape designer. Ben is a graduate of UBC with a double major in Psychology and Anthropology. Ben is currently enrolled in the Master of Landscape Architecture program at U of T. Get in touch with Ben.
Kat Gibson joins us for another year as a garden coach and programmer. She is an experienced Community Gardens Program Coordinator, Educator, Facilitator, Eco-therapeutic Facilitator, and Folk Herbalist. Learn more about Kat here: www.ofearthandblooms.com.
Adrian Hodgson – Permaculture Consulting, Writing and Design Support. Adrian advises on occasion on Permaculture Design questions. Learn more about Adrian at Design Jam Permaculture.
Jessica Hui – joins us as a Graphic Designer to support the ideation and development of creative content for food & garden programs. Learn more about Jessica.
Dave Misener – Media / Creative Community Story Development (Podcast & Video), Digital Storytelling, Micro Content Producer; Holistic Marketing.
Victoria Muir – Healthy Communities Program Development, Online Programs. Learn more about Victoria at www.myrecreo.health.
Lee Overton – Community, business and farmers market development, Marketing and communications strategy. For more about Lee, see https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeoverton/ and https://www.instagram.com/wholefoodgal/
Emma Rooney – Community Gardens Program Development, Horticultural Therapy, Seniors Engagement, Aging in Place, Storytelling, and Intergenerational Connections. Learn more about Emma at www.bloomingcaravan.ca.
Preeti Sangwan – Podcast Creative Team, Farmers Market Legal Advisor.
Dr Leigh Whittinghill – joins the team as a Research Consultant and Researcher. Leigh is an Assistant Agricultural Scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station with over a decade in experience researching agricultural production on green roofs and urban agriculture. Past projects have examined various production metrics including yield and quality in green roof test beds using different management practices and examining the impacts that agricultural production has on the environmental benefits of green roofs. One of her focuses has been monitoring runoff water quality from a full-scale rooftop farm and from green roof test beds using a variety of management practices including annual applications of varying amounts of compost. Leigh was awarded the 2023 Jeffrey L. Bruce Awards Of Excellence in Research by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities.
Lydia Wong – is on the team as a Native Bees and Pollination Advisor and Researcher. She is currently a PhD student at Ottawa University.