Can organics feed the world?

This question was posed to the closing panel at this year’s Canadian Organic Growers Conference. Organic farmers, food producers, nutritionists and writers convened in Toronto this past Saturday to examine the issues and explore how organics is changing the world.

The day-long event included a keynote speech by Helge Hellberg of Marin Organic from Marin County California, who is hard at work to make Marin the first completely organic county in the United States. Hellberg, a Certified Holistic Nutrition Counselor recounted a visit to Marin County by Prince Charles, who is one of the world’s leading supporters of the organic movement to visit the Marin County farmers market. Hellberg’s inspiring speech set the tone for the day, as participants broke off into different seminars that ranged in topics directed towards farmers, food producers and consumers.

Continue reading Can Organics Feed the World? »

Just before the holidays a group of activists staged a protest outside of Pusateri’s. What was it they were protesting? Child labour? Underpaid employees? Unsafe foods from China?

No, they were protesting the sale of foie gras.

Foie gras gets a bad rap in the press. It’s an easy target. And because it’s an easy target some anti-animal-agriculture groups use it as a wedge issue in their campaigns against meat eating in general.

Some of the most vocal carnivores often draw the line at foie gras (The super-fatty liver of ducks or geese) for its perceived cruelty. Gavage (a fancy word for “force feeding”) is an unsightly process, but most of the meat we eat, even the green, organic free range stuff is the product of unsightly processes.

So what’s an omnivore to do?

Continue reading Foie Gras Ducks the Issues »

The start of every New Year is associated with feeble attempts to make resolutions; vows that are often guaranteed to last no longer than a glorious scoop of Solferino’s (38 Wellington Street East) pistachio gelato under the hot summer sun. Of course this fact doesn’t excuse one from accepting challenges. There should still be a willingness to step outside of one’s comfort zone, especially if it involves good eats. A New Year means new beginnings, and what better way to approach 2008 than to do so with a ready stomach. Listed below are 10 food related tests to tantalize the taste buds and open the palate. It isn’t difficult considering that there are 12 months in a year. Really, that’s less than one feat to conquer per month. By the end of the year, the budding foodie residing within will truly be able to stake claims of having been there and done that.

Continue reading Daring Food Challenges for the New Year »

One of the biggest complaints about local food is that it’s hard to find. Sure, farmer’s markets are popping up in many neighbourhoods, but the issues involved in getting local food to local tables, particularly restaurant tables, are many and diverse.

As part of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, a panel discussion and networking event that connected farmers and chefs took place on Monday, November 5th. Panel members included moderator Lori Stahlbrand from Local Food Plus; Tobey Nemeth, Chef de Cuisine at Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar; Elizabeth Harris, organizer of the Brickworks Farmers Market; Mark Trealout of Kawartha Ecological Growers; Dan Taylor, Economic Development Officer of Prince Edward County; Paul Finklestein from the Screaming Avocado and Food Network Canada Show, Fink; Barry Monaghan from Fresh Start; and Sasha Chapman of the Globe and Mail.

Each participant took a few moments to discuss the question, “What is the most important thing farmers can do to address local food opportunities?”

Continue reading Going Local »

I’m not sure how I feel about Jamie Kennedy these days. He will forever be the arbiter of local food, lending his presence and his bed head hair to Greenbelt gatherings in the name of sustainability. No one can deny him this title. However, at the Gardiner Museum’s recent lecture, From the Ground Up: Nurturing the Art of Sustainable Living, nothing sounded new. Was I growing tired of his refrain?

The Gardiner Museum has never struck me as local food’s chief advocate. Ceramics, clay, delicate and pretty things just don’t mesh with the gritty, earthbound perspective of farmers, though the erudite moderator Lori Stahlbrand, founder and president of Local Food Plus, was quick to quash my initial hesitation with the simple remark that clay is part of the soil in which food grows. Oh. Ok.

Continue reading Green is the New Little Black Dress OR It Takes A Village to Make a Meal »

2007 has been a truly remarkable year for Toronto’s food culture. In the early part of the year, conferences and gatherings such as Slow Food Green Link, Terroir: A Sense of Place, and the Canadian Organic Growers Conference allowed local food producers, suppliers, chefs and consumers to come together and foster an increased sense of community, and the success of Harvest Wednesdays at the Gladstone and the recent Slow Food Picnic at the Brickworks showed that the momentum continues.

Over the spring and summer, the number of farmers markets within the city expanded dramatically from previous years, and a campaign for better street food led to an astoundingly successful lunchtime event at Nathan Phillips Square and a change to provincial legislation that should hopefully lead to a bigger and better variety of food being available from Toronto’s street vendors starting next spring. And in the media, the mainstream press jumped on the local and organic food bandwagons with an abundance of coverage, while the grassroots food media grew with newcomers like Taste T.O. and Edible Toronto joining stalwarts such as City Bites and Gremolata.

One might expect this flurry of activity to slow down now that we’re entering the cooler months, when the season’s bounty runs dry and the markets and festivals pack up for the year. But for the next few weeks at least, food will remain at the forefront of many people’s minds, as one of Toronto’s foremost arts collectives, Alphabet City (AbC), has made food the theme of their latest book - Alphabet City: food, published this month by MIT Press - and the accompanying multidisciplinary FOOD Festival which kicks off this weekend for a three-week run.

Continue reading F is for Food: Alphabet City FOOD Festival »

As the race continues towards Ontario’s upcoming provincial election, Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank is ramping up the pressure on the incumbents and candidates of all political stripes to do more about the poverty and hunger that continues to affect a large portion of our population.

Launched in early June, the Food Bank’s “Hungry City: Make Your Mark” initiative was kicked into high gear this past week with flyers being distributed to commuters during rush hour, and a guerilla campaign that featured empty refrigerators covertly left at several downtown locations. Via the hungrycity.ca website and blog, the charity is encouraging everyone to “join with thousands of others to make your voice heard for real political change, to elect a provincial government committed to ending hunger and poverty on October 10th, 2007.”

Yesterday also saw the launch of the Food Bank’s annual Fall Food Drive, which runs until Friday, October 19th. Cash donations can be made via the Food Bank website, while food donations can be dropped off at any fire hall, Loblaws or Real Canadian Superstore. Items most needed include: peanut butter, baby food and formula, canned fruit or vegetables, canned fish or meat, pasta and sauce, rice, lentils, cans of stew or hearty soup, powdered or canned milk, cheese spread, cans of beans, and macaroni & cheese.

For those who haven’t gotten their fill of locally-sourced food this summer from their neighbourhood farmers market and events like Harvest Wednesdays and the Slow Food Picnic, you’ll be happy to know that even though the warm months are coming to end, there are still a few more chances to stick to a 100(ish)-Mile Diet before it’s back to several months of icky imported fruits and veggies.

One of them will be happening this weekend in lovely downtown Parkdale, where federal MP Peggy Nash (NDP) will be hosting a 100-Mile Brunch at The Rhino (1249 Queen Street West). Taking place on Saturday, September 22nd from 10am to 2pm, it will feature a bountiful buffet created by a number of local chefs using ingredients sourced within a 100 mile radius of Toronto. Renowned chef and long-time local food advocate Jamie Kennedy will be stopping by to say a few words, and all proceeds will be donated to FoodShare Toronto’s Good Food Box campaign, which distributes food and money to community kitchens. Good food cooked by good people for a good cause - what’s not to love?

Tickets for the brunch are $25, and can be purchased at Rhino and other area restaurants and shops including Café Taste, Tinto, Silver Spoon and Another Story Bookshop. For more information, call Kara at 416-769-5072.

The Butchers
2636 Yonge Street
416-483-5777

I showed up at the organic meat tasting schvitzing like a pig. Which was figuratively significant because I was there to eat a pig. I was late and ran 10 blocks (ok, I walked for one block and stopped in to the Puma shop to catch my breath and look at sneakers). In the past two weeks I’ve gone out, three times for Chinese, twice for ribs, and arranged an all-chorizo dinner. Sheryl, maybe for my next assignment you can send me to a colonoscopy party.

Continue reading He Ain’t Pretty No More »

On Sunday, September 16th, over 50 chefs, producers, farmers and winemakers will team up with Slow Food Toronto and Evergreen at the Brick Works to host a picnic celebrating the best of Ontario.

With the little snail as its symbol, the Slow Food Companion reads, “Slow Food links pleasure and food with awareness and responsibility”, and pleasure is what I was in search of. What followed, naturally, was in fact awareness and responsibility, but much to my delight, respect, discipline and passion.

For those who are new to the idea of Slow Food, you’ll be glad to know that it is indeed a revolution based on pleasure. Paul DeCampo, Convivium Leader of Slow Food Toronto and a man of youthful exuberance, tirelessly shares his expertise when we meet one afternoon. “It’s a little bit like apple pie,” he chuckles, “who’s going to say, No thanks, I’d like Velveeta please?” There is, however, the nagging notion that the pursuit of pleasure affords itself only to an elite few. While this resistance might seem to have plagued the movement in theory, in practice chefs are aligning themselves with Slow Food faster than its name would lead us to believe.

Continue reading Ready, Set, Slow Down »

The message from the lines that snaked up and around Nathan Phillips Square for the Toronto Street Treats Event was as clear as a bell; we want more food, and we want it cheap from the street. Despite stirrings in City Hall and by Toronto Public Health, our food vendors can’t offer us more than sausages. Dr. Liette Gilbert from the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University put it perfectly when she asked “Why is the most multicultural city in North America limited to hot dogs?”

She and three other panelists at the Street Food Vending Project Panel Discussion on August 11th all had their unique explanations to the question posed. Each presentation showed hurdles to be overcome if we are ever to chow down on colourful cuisine from a cart.

Continue reading Why We’re Eating Mostly Wieners »

FoodShare’s Good Food Box is a box of produce available by special order to the general public. The boxes come in a variety of sizes with options ranging from a small box for $12 to a large box of organically grown produce for $32. These are very affordable prices for delicious fruits and vegetables, which may include a box of Clementines or a bag of freshly harvested tomatoes.

According to Zahra Parvinian, Good Food Box and Produce Manager, prices are low because of the relationship the organization has with produce distributors and the free labour involved in the warehouse through volunteers. However, though price may be a major concern from a consumer standpoint, Zahra is quick to point out that the price is not the point; nutrition, knowledge and quality are. “Education and empowerment is in everything we do,” says Lori Nikkel, communications manager for Food Share.

Continue reading FoodShare’s Good Food Box »

Cynthia Beretta tells me she was raised on garden-grown food by an Italian mother who was “ahead of her time” when it came to eating organic.

The key to spotting trends must run in the family. When Cynthia and her husband Mike bought their first farm in Wingham, ON, in 1993 and converted it to organic to raise their livestock, there wasn’t much public awareness about a green lifestyle. But after moving to a bigger farm in King City and experiencing an organic craze about three years ago, the business at Beretta Organic Farms is booming.

Continue reading An Organic Kind of Life »

What are these people waiting for??

Curried Vegetables and Rice Hopper from Jamie Kennedy.

Continue reading Sweet Treats on the Street »

If you read any US-based food blogs, websites or magazines, you’ll know that Americans tend to go a little coo-coo about what they eat for the Fourth of July. Whether it’s a frighteningly patriotic and sickly sweet Flag Cake, or a meticulously planned backyard BBQ that goes to hell when Uncle Bill drinks one too many cans of Coors Light, it seems that you’re just not a real American if you don’t spend the holiday stuffing your face with something red, white and/or blue.

Up here in Canada, we take a somewhat less nationalist tone when it comes to what we eat on Canada Day. If you head out to a celebration in or around Toronto this weekend, you may find yourself sampling African-style seafood or Jamaican Jerk Chicken at Harbourfront, Mexican specialities or variety of delicacies from around the world at Yonge-Dundas Square, or - somewhat ironically - good ol’ American style BBQ at Centennial Park in Etobicoke.

Continue reading Celebrating Canada at Splendido & Sustainability at Scaramouche »