Give me some Ontario produce, please!

I'm like a little kid on Christmas Eve anticipating the start of the Toronto farmers' markets spring /summer season. With that in mind, I was reading in thestar.com about a report being released today: Fifteen Year Comprehensive Strategic Plan for the Ontario Apple, Tender Fruit and Fresh Grape Industry, which is a response to the closure in June 2008 of CanGro, the last of 32 fruit canning plants in Ontario.

Trader Joe's "schooled" by Greenpeace

I'm sure I'm not the only person out there who was completely smitten with Trader Joe's the first time I walked in. I was in graduate school in Boston and someone said that they had very tasty wine at a low, low price. I was sold!

Weigh in on Toronto's food strategy

If you're part of the Folks Gotta Eat Toronto audience, you're probably more than aware of the myriad of amazing, thoughtful organizations, programs and projects related to food security and healthy communities in Toronto today. (For a little reminder, check out my earlier post with some highlights.) The City of Toronto's new consultation report (that means they want regular folks like us to weigh in), Food Connections: Toward a Healthy and Sustainable Food System for Toronto, seeks to build on this exciting work by making links between what's already happening, as well as establishing a vision for the future.

Stick a label on that thing

My favorite food policy news sources are keeping strong tabs on the provisions of the health care bill that recently passed the House in the U.S. While it makes sense to me that a health care bill seeking to maximize its impact on the health of the citizenry would include some pretty serious reform of the food industry, others seek a more watered-down bill that rocks as few boats as possible. Sigh.

Shana's eggplant & parsley salad

In the summer when markets are overflowing with eggplants, I make this salad. Luckily, because my office is on the edge of Chinatown, I have access to the long, thin Japanese-style eggplants for a good price all year 'round. 

Your Friday night agenda

Rarely will I just blatantly re-post the whole of another text, but something fabulous just came across my desk that requires sharing. Tonight, TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution comes to America, and you might want to watch it. (Oh, and if you aren't familiar with the TED talks available for free online, check them out, as it's the most inspiring, interesting and educational way to spend a little free time.)

Farming - not just for old, white folks

In my years living in Seattle, I became so politically correct, I was even annoying myself. The more of the world I get to know, the further I get from "P.C. Melanie" (not to be confused with P.C. Barbie). You see, there is a difference between living correct and living your convictions. One group of folks that continue to inspire me, as they are truly living their convictions, are young folks of all backgrounds breaking into sustainable agriculture.

The event of the year (for food geeks like me)

I read something today in the Canadian Organic Growers email update that made me jump out of my seat with excitement! Dr. Vandana Shiva, the seriously bad-ass writer, activist, philosopher, feminist, concerned with all-things-food/seeds/sustainable mamma jamma, is coming to Toronto on Tuesday, April 6th.

Another tip from Shana

I hate Rachel Ray. I find her voice grating and her catch phrases "Yummo!" and "EVOO" beyond annoying. 

Wait, isn't Walmart the devil?

Growing up in rural Missouri, I thought that the Walmart located 40 miles away was a pretty cool spot. I could use my hard-earned allowance to buy music (cassette tapes by Depeche Mode and Midnight Oil) and find some cute clothes that fit into my mom's budget. 

Nescafe or straight up "cowboy coffee"?

This morning, as I depressingly scooped the instant coffee into my cup (I'm in South America, which seems to be the home of Nescafe), I wondered if I had enough tools here at the beach cabana (no kitchen) to brew my own. I mean, haven't you heard of cowboy coffee?

Water water everywhere...

It's World Water Day, and the issues are all around me. I woke up to the sound of my hostel's water truck backing into the property. You see, every day, the owners of this beautiful Ecuadorian property have to send their giant, hand-painted water truck half an hour away to a river to procure enough water to keep these lush gardens and organic roof garden quenched. 

My book of the year? The Edible City...

Since my official emigration to Canada in 2005, I've repeatedly encountered three opinion groups:

1. Montreal rocks
2. Vancouver rocks
3. Toronto sucks

Pancetta: home-cured goodness

I'm curing pancetta at home in our basement again. I'm following the instructions from Michael Ruhlman's book Charcuterie and several food bloggers who have tested his recipe and method. 

Next step, black market milk?

When I was growing up, a nearby farmer delivered raw milk to our house a couple of times each week, and friends, let me tell you, it was tasty. There was a layer of cream on the top of the glass jug so thick, you almost had to cut through it to get to the sweet milk below.

Forget Orange Julius. Turn that mall into a community garden.

I hate malls. I could lie and say it's because of the obvious political and environmental reasons, but no, it's because malls scare me. 

Bye bye bluefin?

I've got tuna on the brain this week. Generally, when I think of tuna, three things immediately come to mind that make me giggle:

Change.org announces winning ideas

If you haven't already checked out Change.org, you should take a few minutes to get connected. They seem to be blossoming in the online advocacy space. Most recently, they completed an online "crowd-sourcing" competition that asks citizens to submit ideas for addressing the myriad of challenges the U.S. faces. 

Economics of soda pop

For this week's "Teach Me Tuesday," we're going to learn about price elasticity of demand (I'm going to get economic on you). Let me preface this post with the obvious - I am not an economist, but I do dig on economics. 

Shana's luscious scrambled eggs with parsley

Like the 1980's French cookbook in my mother's kitchen, the parsley in this recipe dresses up regular scrambled eggs, and then makes them seem more special (half a log of chevre and two tablespoons of butter doesn't hurt either). These luscious eggs are great for a lazy Sunday morning with your honey. 

Bees, continued...

It's hard not to think about the role of bees here on the coast of Ecuador. I started the day with fruit salad and fruit juice - none of which would be possible without the unique pollinating qualities of the bees.

Happily stung by a bee

I've not only been without Internet for the last few days while recovering from near sun stroke, but to top it all off, I was just stung by a bee. Normally, I would take this as a painful hint that the universe is not happy with me. However, given what I know about the bees' current struggle for survival, I'm nursing my sting as a sign of prosperity and hope.

Eating my way through the cupboard

As much as I may talk about saving money and economizing, I realize I live a pretty comfortable life. There are currently four kinds of mustard in my fridge, including a fancy tarragon-dijon from France. We also have (no word of a lie) five kinds of cheese in the cheese drawer, and one of them is a goat brie.

Help preserve North American apple varieties

My absolute favorite memories come from my Grandma Royal's house in St. Louis, Missouri. Grandma had three beautifully-gnarled apple trees out in the back of her house situated half-way up a hill. (This is the same woman that used to mail me glass jugs of apple juice in care packages when I was in university, because she knew if she just sent me the money, it would definitely not be used to buy juice.)

Shana's parsley pesto-like thing

There are all sorts of variations of this - it seems almost everyone and every nation has a version. The Italians have Gremolata, a chopped-herb condiment made of garlic, parsley, and lemon zest. 

"Yes in my back yard" gardening project

Have you ever stood on your tiny apartment balcony and gazed longingly at your neighbour's huge, unused backyard, plotting how you'll slip across the fence under the cover of night to plant a few vegetables? No? Maybe that's just me. However, if you want to garden, but don't have any space, The Stop in Toronto has a program for you.

Manhattan plans for regional food system sustainability

Instead of taking in the Peruvian beach town party culture last night, I excitedly had my face stuck to my computer reading Food NYC: A Blueprint for a Sustainable Food System - a February 2010 report from the Manhattan Borough President, Scott M. Stringer. My interest in the report comes from the systemic thinking and public input behind it.

Shana's adventures in carrot soup

I got this recipe from an old roommate. It was in one of her vegetarian cookbooks, but I can't for the life of me remember the title - I just remember that the word "cream" was in quotation marks, because as you will see, this is a vegan soup.

Top five winter staples

While eating my Peruvian breakfast of mango and papaya fruit salad this morning, I was temporarily snapped back into the Canadian winter I am happily missing. David Orr from Change.org posted a handy little piece on his top five "must haves" for sustainable winter eating.

The failure of the Clean Water Act

Before I could even get half a cup of coffee down this morning (it's slow going, as I'm currently in Peru, which seems to be the home of instant coffee), the New York Times broke my heart just a little bit with a report about the failure of the Clean Water Act of 1972 in the U.S.  It seems the ol' Supreme Court may have left uncertain which waterways are protected - um, how about if we protect them ALL?