Taste Local, Taste Fresh in St. Jacob's, Ontario

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to attend a fabulous local food event, celebrating the foods and flavours of the St. Jacob’s region. Coordinated by Foodlink Waterloo Region, Taste Local, Taste Fresh pairs 20 food producers with 20 food presenters. Using local talent and the region’s finest ingredients, each pair creates a truly culinary delight.

Having never attended Taste Local, Taste Fresh before (it’s in its 8^th year), I had no idea of what to expect. Upon arrival, I was led to a table covered in handcrafted pieces of pottery, created specifically for the event. Each piece was unique, and we were asked to choose one – the pottery was to serve as our tasting dish for the afternoon. I was lucky enough to arrive early and therefore got to make first choice from a beautiful selection. We were told that we were allowed to keep the piece at the end of the day.

Along with our pottery dish, we were each given an event passport. The pages of the passport contained information about all of the pairings – farmers and chefs, producers and caterers – and the dishes they had created. In the back of the passport, space was provided for stamps. As we visited each booth, our passport was stamped and we were offered a small sampling of the pair’s creation. We were also given the opportunity to speak personally with those who had taken part in creating the dish.

The day couldn’t have been better and Riverside Meadows Park in St. Jacob’s proved to be the perfect location for the event. Aside from a stiff breeze that threatened to topple neatly displayed autumnal assortments, the weather was perfect. The sun was shining and the attendees were in high spirits. The Tim Louis Jazz Trio played softly in the background, further contributing to an already perfect atmosphere. If you stopped to listen, you could hear people everywhere talking excitedly about food and agriculture. That in itself made the event a total success in my mind.

Being no stranger to foodie festivals, I came armed with a healthy appetite. I wanted to make sure that I sampled everything on offer in order to get a true feel for the region’s flavours. I don’t know how I did it, but I made it to every single table and tried absolutely everything. By the end of the day, there were some clear favourites. Here were my top five picks for the day.

5. Benjamin’s Restaurant Inn & Faul Farms

Faul Farms’ grilled flank steak was served in a Panini, topped with River’s Edge chevre spread (amazing!), fresh arugula and roasted cherry tomato. It was a beautiful creation. The ingredients were so obviously fresh, and when combined, brought amazing clarity to their individual flavours.

4. Whole Lot-a-Gelata & Martin’s Family Fruit Farm

I’m so glad that I had enough foresight to save this tasty treat until the very last. It was truly the perfect dish to end a perfect day. This pair decided to combine their love of gelato with local, fresh apples from Martin’s Family Fruit Farm to create a truly unique dish: Cheddar Cheese and Smoked Apple Sorbet served on brioche with a slice of canned peach – a dish that was perfection in my mouth.

3. Puddicombe House & Top Market Rabbitry

Puddicombe House is a restaurant, spa and bed and breakfast located in New Hamburg. Chef Lance Edwards used top quality rabbit meat offered by Top Market Rabbitry in Ariss, Ontario. A beautifully displayed appetizer, pulled rabbit was placed on a slice of crusty bread, served with crab apple barbeque sauce, red onion marmalade and a crisp slaw. The combination of sweet and savoury was perfect; the dish was a pleasant surprise to food lovers who were trying rabbit for the first time.

2. Seven Shores & Fertile Ground

Before beginning our taste adventure, my partner and I circled the park and looked at everything on offer. Visually speaking, the one that stood out the most was the creation by Seven Shores Urban Market & Café and Fertile Ground. It was so brightly coloured and fresh – a combination I knew promised to be flavourful. They made rice paper spring rolls filled with mixed Asian greens, beets, carrots and fresh herbs. The rolls were not only vegan, but also gluten free. Most importantly, they were absolutely delicious, making it easy to put at the top of the list.

1. Wildcraft & Baer’s Vibrant Farms

Perhaps because it combined many of my favourite flavours, Wildcraft and Baer’s Vibrant Farms’ creation was undoubtedly my personal favourite. Wildcraft’s chef carefully placed crusted sous vide blade roast, slow-cooked to unbelievable tenderness, in a handcrafted sesame cone stuffed with sweet quinoa slaw. Topped with a sprig of cilantro, the taste combination was the perfect mix of nutty, sweet and earthy.

It was extremely difficult to narrow it down to five selections, there were so many wonderful culinary creations to sample at Taste Local, Taste Fresh. What it goes to show is that there’s no end to the dishes you can produce when you combine the region’s finest ingredients with its most talented food artists. And the pottery was a really nice touch too. It bought it all together – culture, craftsmanship and community. I can’t wait to attend Taste Local, Taste Fresh next year. Special thanks goes to the event’s coordinator, Anna Contini, for inviting me to participate in such a fabulous day.

Fiskars Big Grip Garden Knife

Now I know I just said yesterday that I don't normally promote products - and I don't - but this one needs to be shared. Honestly, it has saved my garden this year. I don't know what I did before I had Fiskars Big Grip Garden Knife.

I think I mentioned that I let the weeds rule this year. I got busy - and so did they. I didn't go up to the garden for at least 2 weeks, and when I returned it resembled something out of The Day of the Triffids. This handy little tool really made taking the Triffids down that much easier. It has a sturdy handle - trust me, I've lost too many garden tools to count. It has a serrated edge, perfect for cutting those vines that crept up my deer fence. It has a blade on the opposite side, perfect for cutting tougher roots or unwanted weeds. Perhaps my favourite part of this tool, though, is its forked end. The edges are sharp and the shape of the blade makes getting it deep into the soil a breeze. Once there, you can actually use the forked blade to cut the roots of extra tough weeds. My garden has never looked better and I never would have been able to do it without this handy tool. Yes, it resembles something out of a Klingon's armoury, but it works. So I have to give a big shout out to Fiskars for making this Big Grip Garden Knife. Favourite garden tool, hands down.

Garden fresh tomato salad

If you’re a tomato lover, like most Canadians, then this is probably one of your favourite times of the year. There is really nothing better than popping a delicious cherry tomato, fresh from the vine, into your mouth. My garden’s full of them and they’re just starting to ripen.

The first time I popped up to the garden and located a ripe and ready to eat tomato, I was thrilled. I’ve been making daily appearances ever since, making sure that I don’t miss the exact moment that they’re ready to eat. It’s an exciting time for a tomato lover. I’ve got 9 varieties of tomatoes in my garden, along with cucumbers, basil, beets, carrots, radishes, squash (summer and pattypan), fresh greens, spinach, Swiss chard, peppers, snow peas and eggplant. I never tire of walking the aisles, inspecting their progress. Last week, I had just barely enough of everything I needed to make my first garden fresh salad. It’s hands-down my favourite and I’d like to share it with you.

Tomato, Cucumber & Basil Salad (Serves 2)

In a salad bowl, mix ingredients for salad dressing. Add salad fixings and mix.

Salad Dressing

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp whole grain mustard

fresh ground pepper, to taste

pinch of sea salt, to taste

Salad Fixings

4-5 basil leaves, chopped

1-2 small cucumbers, depending on their size

1½ cups of fresh picked cherry tomatoes, cut in ½ depending on size

¼ feta cheese

½ cup Nature’s Path Heritage Heirloom Whole Grain cereal*

*Now I don’t usually do any sort of product promotion, but this cereal is perfect for this recipe and it’s extremely healthy to boot. It’s very high in fibre and uses grains like kamut, wheat, oats, spelt, barley, millet and quinoa. Sounds like a weird salad addition, but trust me on this one, it tastes delicious!

* This recipe is also found on the Moving Mum website - helping seniors downsize to smaller living spaces.

Celebrate National BBQ Day the Locavore Way

August 6th is National BBQ Day and people all across Canada will be firing up the grills and entertaining friends and family. This year, why not make National BBQ Day not only about food, but food awareness as well. If you think about it, it's the perfect time to discuss how and why we make the food choices that we do, especially since our food choices impact important aspects of our lives, including:

• Our health
• The environment 
• Local farmers and food producers
• Our local economy
• Food politics

Many of us make conscious and informed food choices, but have friends who do not. Why is that? Is it that they simply aren't aware of the impact of their choices, or are they simply not concerned? Our choices indirectly say that we are okay about certain things. For example, if we choose to regularly eat fast food we are indirectly saying that we're not concerned about our health. If we choose to eat genetically modified foods sprayed with chemical pesticides and herbicides, we're saying that we're not concerned about their impact on the environment. And if we choose to buy cheaper commodities without considering why they're so cheap, we're saying that we're not overly concerned about fair trade in other nations.

Here's a thought: let's talk about it. Let's turn National BBQ Day into something more than just a meal. Let's inform our friends and family about our choices and tell them why we've made them. We don't have to get all pedantic about it. We can do it indirectly and subtly, without ramming it down their throats, by making the right choices ourselves. Make it into a game. Why not implement an all-local menu and see who can come up with the most creative 100% local dish? 

Participate and possibly WIN WestJet Tickets while you're at it!

In support of local food economies across Canada, Meal Exchange is calling on Canadians to host a BBQ of locally-grown food. Here's what you can do if you're interested in participating.

1. Sign up for the event

2. Buy local food fare - luckily, the event is hosted on Saturday, the same day that your local farmer's market is open! Why not try something you've never tried before - a new vegetable, a local cheese, or locally raised meat. 

3. BBQ!!! Invite your friends and family and enjoy fantastic local food and drinks. 

4. Possibly win 2 WestJet tickets. How? Easy. 

a) Share your BBQ pictures and stories with nationalBBQday@mealexchange.com

b) Post on www.facebook.com/mealexchange

c) Live Tweet your BBQ using #nationalBBQday 

I can't wait to register my BBQ. Why not register yours today too?

Pictures from the Garden

Well, it's been a while. Unfortunately, as a paid freelance writer, I don't often get to write for myself anymore. But I promise I'll try to make it back here more often than I have. 

I've had trouble keeping up with the garden this year. First of all, I got the plants in late. The ones that I grew indoors all flopped. I think they sensed what Mother Nature was up to outside - they knew it wasn't time. I ended up buying plants from Vera Top of Trout Lily Nursery. Once I did garden in things got out of control pretty quickly. Last fall, I never bothered to clear out the plants in my garden. I just let them die and left them. Bad idea. The seeds from those plants ended up falling to the earth. In the spring, when we tilled the soil, the seeds spread throughout the garden and started growing like crazy. I literally had hundreds and hundreds of tomatoes growing everywhere. I've been pulling my coveted tomatoes like weeds ever since - a very strange feeling, indeed. I left the garden to its own devices - another bad mistake. When I did finally make an appearance, it resembled something out of John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids. It was so overrun with weeds, they were knee-high in some spots! It took me 3 days - 9 hours in total - of sweaty, dirty labour to rid my garden of those weeds. Never again, I say. Never again. 

The garden looks great now! I've had no problems with bugs this year - probably because of the garden's full-time tenant, a bright green Northern Leopard frog. Everything is growing nicely; in fact, someone recently commented that it looked like my tomatoes were on steroids. They are pretty happy in their home. Here are some pictures of the results of this year's labour.

It's that time again - setting up the bathroom greenhouse

Recently, someone said that sounds of spring were in the air. They were referring to the sounds of geese honking as they returned to familiar ground. Where I live there are geese year round, so this wasn't exactly a mark of spring for me. But that's not to say that I'm not noticing my own signs. The daffodils are poking their heads from out of the soggy ground. There are sounds of red-wing blackbirds - a sound that I strongly associate with summer. My little kitty-cat friend has been chasing bugs all week. But, for me, the biggest sign of spring is the arrival of my seed catalogues. Once they start coming in, I know I can safely start planning my garden for the year. I'm getting anxious to get back out there. Although my canned goods have lasted me longer than every before this year, I'm dying for some fresh garden greens and herbs.
I have devised what I think is a little ingenious greenhouse in my bathroom. I have tied an old pine bookcase to my radiator and fixed a little grow light to the inside. My greenhouse has natural light coming from the big window it sits in front of, a greenhouse light and warmth from the radiator. Also, there is more moisture in my bathroom that anywhere in the house and the plants seems to love this.
Now, what to plant? And when?
Any suggestions?

Consumer confusion prompts push for organic labelling clarity

© AgMedia Inc.

January 19, 2011

A U.S. effort to clarify organic labelling reflects consumers’ desire for improved food labelling system says Canadian Organic Growers spokesperson

by MELANIE EPP


Proposed changes to organic labelling standards in the United States reflect a growing consumer demand for a clear and standardized labelling system for all food products, says a spokesperson with the Canadian Organic Growers.

“I guess what we failed to understand was that as soon as a food label like organic becomes successful in the marketplace, you’re going to have hundreds of others jump on the bandwagon,” says Laura Telford, National Director of the Canadian Organic Growers in Ottawa.

And as consumers make their choices, keeping up can be an even bigger challenge for the farmer, she cautions.  “Eventually, those choices will trickle down to the farmer, because they’re the ones who have to grow things according to whatever claim is being made,” Telford says.


With so many labels making different claims, “consumers don’t know what types of decisions to make,” she says, calling the confusion grocery store paralysis. Consumers “may have it in their head that they want to shop ethically or they want to shop for healthy foods, but these various labels don’t make it easy for them to do that.”

The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program published adraft guidance concerning “made with organic” products last week. Guidance documents are developed through public participation and once finalized will represent the program’s current thinking on the issue. The final guidance will be included in a USDA handbook that provides interpretations of organic regulatory requirements and best business practices to organic certifying agents and certified operations.

The guidance asks for input on the use of non-organic ingredients in “made with organic” specified ingredients or food groups and the use of percentage statements under the “made with organic” labelling category. The goal is to clear misconceptions and provide consistency across the organic food industry. The comment period closes March 14.

Currently, in order to bear the USDA’s certified organic label, a product must contain at least 95 per cent organically produced ingredients. Products that contain 70-94 per cent organic ingredients cannot bear the certified organic logo but can use the “made with organic” claim. The guidance says the decision to address the labelling approach was prompted by questions and concerns that were raised by consumers.

Telford says, “Their challenges were issues in interpreting.” She doesn’t see the changes as having a great impact on Canada's organic labelling system, “because we haven’t had the same problem with consumers questioning our system.”

But if there are communication problems here, she suggests the U.S. proposed changes “can only help because now we can just point to the U.S. clarity and say it’s pretty much the same here.”

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency website, Canadian organic product regulations, introduced by the federal government in 2009, permit products with 95 per cent or more organic content to make the organic claim or use the Canada organic logo. Products with less than 95 per cent organic content cannot make the claim or use the logo. However, products with between 70 and 95 per cent organic content can promote the percentage of their organic content and those with less than 70 per cent organic content can include organic claims in the product's ingredient list. The regulations do not permit Canadian processors to use “made with organic” claims.

“The intent of organic,” says Telford, “is to create a better kind of food system, but then you have to try and legislate that with words.” BF

My year in food

I just had to get one more blog in before the end of the year. My apologies to those of you who regularly look for blog posts from me and sometimes don't find them. Sometimes I'm too busy. Other times I simply don't have anything to say. Today, I thought it would be nice to sum up my year in food - it really has been an eventful one! (PS this WAS started before the new year, but I've had some serious problems with Blogger - they have all been sorted out now, at last).

The Garden

This year, since I live in the country, I thought I'd take local to a whole new level. Throughout the winter last year I carefully plotted and planned my garden, lest it be the disaster it was when I was a child. I purchased books that taught me organic pest control, deep bed methods and how to start plants indoors. Come spring, I had turned the bathroom into a virtual greenhouse. I made a few newbie mistakes, but generally speaking, everything worked out well. I planted too much, got overrun with weeds, underestimated the amount of work involved, and planted everything too close together. But, by harvest season I was still overwhelmed by the amount of food I had grown. What did I do with all that extra food? I canned and canned, made huge batches of soup and froze whatever I could. I must say, there is nothing like enjoying the fruits (and vegetables) of your labour in the dead of winter. I learned a lot and regret nothing. It was worth every second.

Twitter

Twitter has done some interesting things for me, but most importantly, it has connected me with like-minded souls. There ARE, contrary to what some of my real life friends think, people out there just as interested in food as I am. I'm NOT alone! I have made a lot of new and interesting friends on Twitter and even joined them in Toronto for a potluck dinner (Meatluck 2). It was a fantastic experience! 

Media

There has been no shortage of media coverage this year. In August, I was contacted by a reporter from the Globe and Mail. She was profiling 4 people from across Canada (so-called global food drop-outs) and she had chosen me as one of them. You can read Way of the Locavore: Four ways to escape global food here. Shortly after that, I was asked by OMAFRA if I was interested in being in a short video that promoted eating locally. Of course, I said yes. You can watch the Foodland Ontario video here.

Somewhere around the same time, I received an email from Sarah Elton, author of Locavore: From farmers' fields to rooftop gardens - How Canadians are changing the way we eat. She was writing an article for the Globe and Mail on root cellars and was interested in learning more about the methods my family and I have used to preserve food. You can read The food storage secret our grandparents knew here.

Wellington County Rural Romp


This is the second year that Alex and I have gone on the Wellington County Rural Romp (hosted by Guelph Wellington Local Food ), but this year, along with the regular romping, they were also holding a photo contest. Alex and I don't really need an excuse to get out there with our cameras, so off we went to spend the day on a number of farms with our cameras. I submitted 7 photos and ended up winning the "farm category." You can view the photos here. Here's the one that won be some great stuff.



Hunting


This year saw one more major change in my life - my acceptance of hunting as a means of acquiring sustainable meat. Now, I must admit that I still haven't hunted myself, but I went bear hunting, duck hunting and goose hunting with my brothers. I also attended the Hunter Safety course in Toronto and studied for my Firearms Safety Certification. I'm very excited - I should be ready to join my brothers this fall.


What's in store for 2011?

Well, I hope to have another amazing garden experience this year. I will be applying all of the lessons I learned from mistakes made this year. For Christmas, my wonderful boyfriend gave me a pressure canner, so there's more to learn. Expect some blogs on pressure canning. You can expect more information to come out of things I've learned on Twitter. If you're thinking of joining Twitter my handle is @100milemel.Finally, once I have learned how to use my pressure canner, I plan to host a series of canning and preserving workshops in the Guelph area. For those of you who are moving toward a more local diet, preserving is an absolutely necessary skill - and fun!Anyway, who knows what 2011 will bring? Stick around and find out...

Way of the locavore: Four ways to escape global food

WENCY LEUNG


Globe and Mail

Published Friday, Nov. 26, 2010 6:19AM EST

Last updated Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010 11:58AM EST

Lesson 1: Be aware of your choices

Even if you can't afford to buy local, free-range and organic, and don't have the resources to grow your own, the first step is to simply be mindful of the consequences of your food choices, says Jes Goulet of Cobble Hill, B.C.

Ms. Goulet grows much of her own fruits and vegetables, raises hens for eggs and buys her other groceries from an organic delivery service. She recognizes not everyone has the time, yard space, inclination and ability to do the same.

But, she says, it starts with “sitting down and in your head evaluating, ‘Okay, these are the different sources for this particular food? Which one of these is ideal? Can I afford it?'… and trying to get the best you can with what you've got.”

That often requires making sacrifices. Ms. Goulet estimates she spends $200 a month on organic milk alone for her family of four, but has cut costs in other areas to keep her total grocery bills to about $400 a month. Even though it's less expensive to buy organic milk in plastic jugs, she's willing to pay more for the stuff that comes in glass bottles, since she prefers the taste and the bottles can be reused instead of recycled.

Ms. Goulet says she was raised on homegrown food, but since having children of her own, now aged 5 and 8, she's had a greater interest in where her food comes from.

“It no longer is about, ‘What am I putting in me?' ” she says. “I can make bad choices all I want, but I wanted them to have the best start.”

Lesson 2: Start small

If you were to analyze the lifecycle of every grocery item you bought, you'd be paralyzed whenever you went shopping, says Liz Gaige, the Vancouver resident behind the website LocalDelicious.com.

“You don't have to change your whole diet,” she says. “But if you just shifted 5 per cent of your grocery budget into eating more locally, eating more healthfully and … thinking about where your stuff's coming from, it has this huge impact.”

Ms. Gaige says she's always had an interest in “the artisan approach to stuff,” and has been buying her food at farmers markets long before it was popular to do so. She believes in supporting small, local businesses as a way of strengthening the local economy and building community ties.

But it doesn't matter what your motivations are for dropping out, she says; every step has greater consequences. If you start buying organic meat, for instance, simply because you want a better-tasting option, that decision may also be better for the environment and more humane, she says. And once you start examining one aspect of your food, it becomes natural to scrutinize other parts of your diet. For example, if you consider buying organic, free-range eggs, you may soon find yourself buying organic, free-range chicken and other meats too.

“I never expected to be like a tree-hugger, but I kind of am just because of these small, incremental steps that I take,” Ms. Gaige says, noting that she grows some vegetables in her yard, and buys non-medicated meat and organic produce.

“I'm not going to agonize and spend my life freaking out about every food decision, but it's about, on a greater consciousness, ‘Okay, what am I trying to accomplish here?' ”

Lesson 3: Plan how you'll feed yourself over the long term

When food doesn't come in packages and isn't shipped from other parts of the world, it isn't fast. But with some planning, it's possible to eat local, organic and ethically raised food year-round, says freelance writer Melanie Epp of Guelph, Ont., who writes the blog 100 Mile Mel, Amateur Locavore.

To eat more healthfully, she began buying locally grown fruits and vegetables about two years ago, after reading that imported produce is less nutritious when it's picked before its prime.

But Ms. Epp admits her path to healthier eating has taken some trial and error. Once, she says, she and her partner drove 30 kilometres to a farm to buy local berries, only to discover they had been sprayed with chemical pesticides. Not only did ingesting pesticides conflict with her intentions, she says, “we were like the carbon Bigfoot because we were driving 30 kilometres to get berries that we could pick up at the grocery store.”

A much smarter idea, she says, was to plan out how much food she required over a longer term. She found a nearby farm that raises cows, chickens and pigs ethically, where she buys a family-sized package of meat that lasts her most of the year. She also grows all kinds of organic produce in her garden, which she preserves by canning and freezing. She freezes big batches of homegrown vegetable soup in yogurt containers for quick and easy meals throughout the winter.

Sure, growing and carefully sourcing your food takes time, she says. “But you have time for things that matter.”

Lesson 4: Collaborate with others

Whether you're gardening, harvesting or preserving your own food, it's more efficient – and more fun – to do it with friends, says Lorraine Johnson, Toronto author of City Farmer: Adventures in Urban Food Growing, who has farmed multiple gardens around her city.

If you don't have much outdoor space of your own, you could join a community garden or collaborate with friends and neighbours who do, she says. Participating in shared fruit picking, and holding canning and pickling parties, also make feeding yourself a social affair and helps distribute the cost and workload, she says.

“On every score, it makes so much sense. You run into a problem? You have five heads figuring it out. You're lugging around a bushel of tomatoes? Your friends can help carry.”

For Ms. Johnson, becoming a global food dropout was initially a matter of seeking flavour. But over the years, she's also developed a distaste for conventional food production practices, and is especially concerned about the mistreatment of livestock.

Ms. Johnson emphasizes, however, it's important to recognize it's a luxury to be able to refuse to eat certain foods.

“The system itself has to be changed,” she says, “so that everyone is able to make those choices.”