One cherry pick led Ryan to sharing over a decade with NFFTT
One cherry pick led Ryan to sharing over a decade with NFFTT
This winter, as we celebrate another record-breaking harvest, we’re shining a light on the community members who help bring Not Far From The Tree to life year round. Behind the scenes, our Steering Committee plays a key role in guiding the organization’s vision and long term impact.
Meet Ryan, who has been part of Not Far From The Tree since 2011. His journey began as a volunteer fruit picker, driven by curiosity about the organization and its work. Around the same time, he tried to register his backyard maple tree for the pilot Syrup in the City project. While his Norway maple wasn’t the right fit, the experience introduced him to Not Far From The Tree’s creative approach to sharing Toronto’s urban abundance.
Meet Ryan!
Ryan still remembers his first pick clearly: a cherry harvest in a backyard laneway near Queen Street East in 2011. Surrounded by people from different backgrounds, all motivated by a desire to help their neighbours, the experience felt both joyful and meaningful. Those early picks opened his eyes to the hidden network of backyard gardens and fruit trees across the city. Quiet pockets of abundance tucked into laneways and neighbourhoods.
In 2015, Ryan became a Supreme Gleaner, today known as a Pick Leader and served in this role for several seasons before joining the Steering Committee in 2023. Today, he helps guide the organization that inspired him more than a decade ago.
Over the years, Ryan has seen Not Far From The Tree grow to serve more wards across Toronto and evolve its operations. While the program began as entirely pedal-powered, recent shifts in transportation have helped lower barriers for Pick Leaders and opened new partnerships with organizations like Communauto and Bike Brigade. Today, with volunteer and tree registrant interest at record highs and a dedicated core of Pick Leaders, Ryan sees the same spirit that drew him in back in 2011 — neighbours coming together to share abundance and care for one another.
“There are fruit trees hidden in plain sight all around Toronto, and once you learn to spot them, you never look at the city the same way. Harvesting and sharing excess fruit is simple, but also radical. In a city with so much wealth, it can be disheartening to see how many people still struggle to access healthy food.”
What does “sharing the harvest” mean to you personally?
Fruit picking is the catalyst for community building and environmental education. It allows us to see ourselves differently in relation to our neighbours, our city, and the natural world.
What inspires you to volunteer your time as a Steering Committee member?
Sadly, food insecurity is only getting worse. Fruit trees alone won’t solve the problem but I truly believe that they are part of the solution. I am excited for a future in which Toronto’s stock of fruit trees are renewed, cared for, and recognized as a low cost, decentralized, community-oriented food source. I want to help raise NFFTT’s profile as a convener for community and nature-focused so it can become a trusted entity for larger discussions about land-use planning, food security and environmental stewardship.
Why do you choose to support NFFTT as a donor, in addition to volunteering your time?
Volunteering time is the most wonderful and personal gift you can give to a community organization, unfortunately it’s the only resource that’s impossible to reproduce. With only so many free hours during the day, I can’t give it all to NFFTT (unless we find a reliable way to clone ourselves!) and so that’s when a financial contribution can be a great second choice option: to help ensure that the organization is still viable and operating when I don’t have the time to give!
Looking back, it’s incredible to see how one cherry pick turned into years of connection, learning, and community building. If you’ve ever wondered how small actions can grow into lasting impact, NFFTT and the people who make it thrive are proof of what’s possible.
Further Reading
Maddie’s love for NFFTT’s model of shared abundance