Posted by Sheryl Kirby in news and media, rag round-up on May 24, 2007 at 7:31 pm
To start off the Rag Round-Up this week, we head to NOW, where Wayne Roberts offers some sobering statistics on farming in our country;
Alert health officials might also be alarmed by another trend. There's little relation between what Canadian farmers grow and what Canadian health guidelines say people should eat. The government puts $4.8 billion a year into programs that fund farmers, but there's no sign that one of those dollars is attached to any directive about enviro or dietary health goals. About half of Canada's farms raise livestock of various kinds, beef cattle way out ahead, and about 40 per cent raise field crops (wheat, hay, canola, feed corn, etc), much of which goes to feed livestock or, more recently, to fuel cars.
Only 5.5 per cent of farms produce fruit and veg. Sweet corn, tasty but devoid of many nutrients, takes up a quarter of the land devoted to fruit and veg, and potatoes, most destined for heart-dumb French fries and potato chips, take up much of the rest. The best fruit lands are devoted to grapes for wine, said to be good for the heart but bad for cancer, and displace apples and tender fruit, good for both.
It seems we've got our priorities all messed up.
Also in NOW, Steven Davey dines at the much-acclaimed Foxley, Chef Tom Thai's new restaurant on Ossington where both the menu and the prices sound unbeatable. Graham Duncan enjoys sandwiches but not the Asian cuisine at Three's Company. In his Drink Up column, Duncan is all about France with Yellow Jersey, and Martell Cognac.
At Eye, Kathryn Borel dines at Camros, an organic vegetarian eatery at Yonge & Bloor that offers alternatives to your typical food court lunch crap. Very tasty and healthy alternatives, as a matter of fact.
Billy Munnelly of Metro urges us to go out and buy some Chenin Blanc before the LCBO stops carrying it, while Chris Atchinson examines the trend toward upscale cocktails with unique ingredients.
Also in Metro, Nina Dragicevic reports that The Fairmont has commissioned a special blend of tea to celebrate its 100th anniversary. It will be available at their daily afternoon tea (not "high tea", yo!) service paired with a selection of sandwiches and pastries. And finally, Dragicevic reviews Indus Junction, a new modern Indian restaurant on Queen West.
