Posted by Cathy Bouchard in greengrocers, shops on June 2, 2007 at 3:03 pm

Organics On Bloor
468 Bloor Street West
416-538-1333

As a nutritionist, I am always trying to find great places to shop and to tell my clients about. My criteria isn’t too strict really, I just demand simple things like local suppliers, organic options, reasonable prices and also it's nice if it is run by someone with a conscience. Organics On Bloor is not only a great place to find local, organic produce and other items but it’s a place with a great deal of integrity. It also started with a great love story.

Owner Monica Walker originally hails from the UK and spent many years working in marketing for a large corporation. Five years ago, she left her corporate life behind and came to Canada. This is where the love story part comes in - she says she moved to Canada after meeting the love of her life on a trip around the world. Arriving here, she and her new husband Floyd were dissatisfied with the level of produce available at grocery stores. According to Monica, “When I arrived here in Canada, I could not taste the food. Tomatoes tasted of nothing, peppers hmm, need I go on? When I found out the levels of pesticides used, my mind was made up.”

Posted by Cathy Bouchard in grocery, shops on May 19, 2007 at 1:30 pm

The Mercantile
626 College Street
416-531-7563

The Mercantile is a uniquely cozy shop on College Street, just east of Grace. At only 8-feet wide, it’s easy to miss on the busy Little Italy strip. Shannon Doyle opened The Mercantile in May of 1999 after years of bartending. She decided she could not bear to ever serve another beer. Trained as an actress, she thought opening her own business would be a great way to still be able to audition and act while making a steady living. She had lived in Little Italy for years and felt that a there was something missing in the area.

“I put a bit of a twist on the health food shop by incorporating gourmet foods (that don't carry any additives, of course) and also created The Mercantile to be a gift basket company, therefore allowing me to ship products out as well.”

The gift baskets have become a great way for people that are not in the area to be able to use the store. The website became a way for people to order all sorts of themed baskets like, “Thai Me Up for Dinner” or “I Will Never Wheat Again”. The store also has its own line of spice kits nicely presented in silver boxes, making a simple, elegant gift. Customers can also pick out their own basket or other container from the store's selection and fill it with whatever they choose to create their own package.

Posted by Cathy Bouchard in indian, nutrition, restaurant review on May 5, 2007 at 10:26 pm

Banjara Indian Cuisine
796 Bloor Street West
416-963-9360
Dinner for two with tax - $25

Just west of Christie Pits Park is a strange building that sort of looks like a strip mall. It has been home to many a sad coffee chain, at one time it looked a lot like a Coffee Time but was cleverly named "Coffee Tip". So when I heard from a friend that a “really good Indian place opened up there”, I was a bit surprised. I would not say it was the ideal location for any restaurant, let alone the spot for really freakin' good Indian food!

Banjara Indian Cuisine set up shop at this location a few months ago. It used to be at Yonge and Bloor under the name Mr. Maharajah, which was frequently packed. A Yonge Street Banjara was added to accommodate overflow and after closing for a short while, it moved to Bloor and Christie. The owner is Chef Raj Veerell, who has an extensive list of credentials, from chef at Sassafraz to working with Jamie Kennedy. I trust that Chef Raj knows what he's doing.

Posted by Cathy Bouchard in events on April 21, 2007 at 12:53 pm

This past weekend was the Total Health Show and this year, I only had one day (Friday) to pack as much in as I could. I met up with my friend Jae and we set out to stroll the booths and take in a talk or two. One of the talks we saw was Why Buy Organic: Evils Of Factory Farming presented by Pam Killeen.

Pam Killeen refers to herself as a "Health Watchdog", questioning news stories and practices that contain health claims. She is an expert on health and co-author of the book The Great Bird Flu Hoax with Dr. Joseph Mercola. Of all the talks happening on the first night of the event, this one seemed the most promising. We got there a few minutes late and due to some technical difficulties, the talk hadn't started yet. Right off the bat, Pam seemed a bit put off but I figured it was just due to the blurry projection of her slides. Despite the slide problems, the talk began. She began with a quote from The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

"Food is flavoured by what we know about it."

Posted by Cathy Bouchard in beverages, nutrition, wine on April 7, 2007 at 9:04 pm

I am a wine snob. I admit that. There is nothing I hate more than sitting down to a glass of wine and not enjoying it. That being said, I am also a nutritionist, and I like to think that my indulgences can also serve my body. Luckily, there has been a real trend towards organic and alternatively processed wines. The result is some really fantastic wines with premium flavour and antioxidant power that can make you feel good about your occasional glass with dinner. The really great thing is that they don’t have to cost an arm and a leg.

Let’s first talk about the grape. Grapes contain flavinoids, which are phytonutrients and they are what gives the fruit their colour. The more flavinoids there are, the darker the grape. These flavinoids help protect your heart, protect against certain types of cancer and also lower the bad (LDL) cholesterol. This is why the French seem to have it all figured out with their high fat diets, balanced out with lots of red wine. Many people also suffer adverse reactions to red wine and this is sometimes due to high levels of tannins. Tannins are also a flavinoid, which does its anti-oxidant thing and also releases serotonin, causing headaches in some people.

Posted by Cathy Bouchard in nutrition, products on March 16, 2007 at 6:52 am

We sure do love our take out. Give us anything, as long as we can have it to go! At one time, the only option for your latte or bowl of soup was a Styrofoam container, plastic or waxed paper at best. Styrofoam is made from crude oil, a non-renewable resource and it doesn't ever break down. It is also loaded with a slew of toxic substances that are absorbed into warm food and in turn, your body. Times have certainly changed but there is still a whole heck of a lot of it out there, in use and in landfills. Other options are out there like bagasse (a form of sugar cane), potato and corn-based products that are non-toxic and 100% biodegradable.

Many organizations in Toronto are working to change the face of takeout and making the public aware of the importance of choosing places that offer takeout in non-toxic containers. NaturoPack is a group that wants to get the word out to go green, acting as a sort of middleman between city council and businesses who, working alone, may be viewed as agenda pushers. Their campaign is to ban Styrofoam in the city and pass legislation for citywide use of environmentally friendly containers. Portland does it, and many Toronto activists believe that we should be next.

Posted by Cathy Bouchard in indian, nutrition, restaurant review on March 2, 2007 at 7:48 am

Veda Fine Indian Takeout
874 Yonge Street
416-840-3132

Combos from $5.65. Packaged teas and spices available.

People throw around the term “healthy” a lot these days. As a nutritionist, I feel like I spend a lot of time dispelling myths and crushing dreams that packaged food and take-out can ever be truly healthy. Bottom line is that it’s all about balance. Reality is, though, that people fear the fat, and they want the fast food that goes along with their busy lifestyles. I suppose this was the concept that owner Jared Ross had when he came up with the idea for Veda, a “health-conscious” take out Indian franchise. The idea behind it is to offer people fast Indian food that uses minimal oil.

Traditional North Indian food, which is mainly what we see here in North America, is cooked with a lot of ghee. Ghee is a clarified butter and an important part of Vedic culture. According to Ayurvedic tradition, ghee has many healing properties that promote movement in the joints and increases digestional fire. The thing is that most Indian restaurants use a vegetable oil version that is high in saturated fat, which could contribute to digestion issues and weight gain.

Posted by Cathy Bouchard in grocery, nutrition, shops on February 23, 2007 at 8:07 am

Shopping in Kensington for whole foods can be tricky. Sure there is fruit and veggies as far as the eye can see, but are they fresh? Most of the food stands are peddling GMO-ed, well-traveled produce that is cheap for a reason. This used to be the only option. Thank goodness, the market is now becoming a great place to buy whole and organic at fairly cheap prices. The key to fresh, whole, organic shopping in the market is knowing where to get what, and being prepared to make several stops. It's there if you know where to go.

4 Life Natural Foods
257 Augusta Avenue
416-591-6800

A great place to buy organic produce. In the winter, find a great selection of apples and seasonal veggies, some of which are local. In the summer there’s a wide selection of fresh and often local fruits and veggies spilling out onto the street. If you can’t make it to a farmers market then you can shop here and still feel like you're making the effort. They also have a good selection of Canadian whole grain flours in large bags and the fridge is well stocked with Harmony Organic dairy products. The prices aren’t too bad and are getting better now that they are more established.

Tutti Frutti Famous Foods
64 Kensington Avenue
416-593-9281

I love this store! This is the place for bulk items like organic rolled oats, raw almonds and other nuts and seeds at the cheapest price in the market. They also have a great selection of loose herbs like organic milk thistle, a great liver detoxifier.

Posted by Cathy Bouchard in nutrition on February 16, 2007 at 8:11 am

To be honest, I had no idea that there was a new Food Guide in the works. I don't use it, I don't plan on using it and I wasn't at all waiting for an updated version. There are still four food groups and Canadians are still stuck into narrow categories. Those things were kind of expected. What I didn't expect was that there was absolutely no mention of things like organic, sustainable or local. I looked at it again, thinking maybe I was missing it. Nope, it’s just not there. Neither is anything about choosing the least processed foods possible. Organic farming is on the rise and produce is more accessible now. Am I the only one who thinks that publications like the Food Guide are where organic and healthy living awareness needs to start? In a world of big business stakeholders, I guess I am.

The guide suggests that:

“vegetables fresh, frozen or canned – are nutritious options.”

Seriously? If the Food Guide is supposed to be targeting families and teachers with little nutrition knowledge, then why is it not giving them any education? Why isn’t it promoting fresh, local produce? Canned fruits and veggies are highly processed and not as nutritious as fresh, and they're far more expensive. Promoting regular old canned fruits and veggies to the average Canadian is negligent as far as I’m concerned.

But wait, it gets better. The Food Guide tries to give preparation suggestions.

“Steam or microwave vegetables in a small amount of water for a few minutes to retain more nutrients than boiling.”

Microwaving food kills many of the nutrients. I agree that boiling is not the best way to prepare your veggies but microwaving is just bad news for all kinds of reasons. I realize that most Canadian families have a microwave and are more likely to use it, and I can get the reasoning, but that doesn’t make it right. Maybe if people were educated on the difference between fresh, steamed organic asparagus and reheated canned asparagus, the world would be a better place. Then of course there's the Milk and Alternatives group. According to the guide, milk is essential for Vitamin D, as is chocolate milk and pudding. Congratulations Dairy Council.