What in the world does **** mean, anyway?

One of the things I think regular folks find most alienating about the sustainable food system movement is the assumption that everyone knows what you're talking about. Terms get tossed around and we all nod as though we know what they mean. Often there is a disconnect. To help folks get on the same page with the language of food system sustainability, I'm adding a new feature on Folks Gotta Eat - definitions.

Liberals imagine Canadian food policy

I think Canada is cool. I emigrated here by choice, and only regret the decision when I hear Stephen Harper speak about, well, anything. That said, I still firmly believe that Canada is in a very important global leadership position and needs to really push the boundaries of what is possible. With fantastic farm land, fresh water and climate change generally in Canada's favour (in terms of rising temperatures extending the growing season in many regions), Canada has a global obligation to lead the way in national food policy. Enter Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.

EWG's pesticide shopping guide

One of the biggest issues folks living on a tight budget face is how to get the most bang for the buck when buying food. Throw into the mix the desire to buy the healthiest food possible, and this is where it gets complicated. If you're like most folks, a twice-weekly trip to Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck) is out of the question. (Though sometimes I'm filled with a deep longing to just roam the aisles at Whole Foods, gazing at and touching all the beautiful, expensive items - Melanie's food porn.)

Trains powered by cow fat?

I'm a girl who believes if you're going to eat animals, you'd best figure out how to make use of all the parts. I grew up in a house with stuffed deer heads and cow skulls on the wall of the animals who gave their lives so my family could have a freezer full of meat for the winter. That said, today I learned something, um, disturbing concerning Amtrak and the use of what is essentially cow fat as fuel. (Thanks, Dellinger, for calling attention to this.)

Help Shana plan her garden

I've always wanted to grow some vegetables in the backyard, but previous experiments failed miserably in the full shade of our rental yard.  After a few summers of the spindliest tomatoes (stretching desperately for ANY sun they could find), I gave up and focused my efforts on tender greens that do better in the shade.

Musings on food and democracy

This week was packed with fabulous events here in Toronto. As it is the week of Earth Day, it's no surprise that there were a few recurring themes at those events. What stood out most are the ideas concerning food as democracy versus food as elitism.

Double dollars for farmers' markets

Early every morning before diving into paid work, I'm up shoveling through the world of online news in search of a bit of kindling for Folks Gotta Eat. Once in a while, I come across a project or idea that makes me exclaim out loud - all too loud for the early morning stillness, "YES! YES! That's how it's done!" Then I generally have a few minutes where I'm shocked and dismayed that 1. I didn't know about this project or idea before, and 2. I'm upset that I didn't come up with it myself. Today's excitement? Wholesome Wave's Double Value Coupon Program.

On radical homemaking

In the weeks since my family's return from a year of living in South America, folks ask the same question again and again. "What did you gain from your time away?" That's obviously hard to respond to, but the first thing that always comes to mind is this: I gained an awareness that it is possible to work less, make do with less money and live better. Now, the real triumph will be actualizing those values in the context of Canadian/American living, where there isn't an exchange rate in our favour. Let's pick up on yesterday's thread about radical homemaking.

Are soy products my friends?

Hey folks. It's Tuesday. Let's learn about soy products! When I first became a vegetarian years and years ago, it was easy. I just substituted my meat consumption with soy product consumption. Invited to a bbq? Bring a veggie burger pattie for the grill. Craving street meat? Grab a veggie dog and smother it with spicy mustard and relish. Heading to mom's for Thanksgiving? Ask her to toss in the horrifying product known as the "tofurky" and you'll be fine!

USDA/FDA Smackdown

Folks, food policy is complex. Because I live between Canada and the United States, I try to unravel food policy without stopping at the border (though I do stop in and pay the duty on my bottles of small-batch bourbon). In my last years as a Canadian resident, I've seen how much U.S. food policy impacts Canadians. Right now, I'm keeping my eye on the power struggle between the USDA and the FDA. 

Folks Gotta Eat on Earth Day too...

Sunday is the day that I sleep really late, have two coffees instead of one, slather my toast with double the honey and butter, practice yoga, go for a walk, and then sip wine while I set my schedule for the week. As I have an event to attend tonight, I'm a little early on the schedule setting. My calendar tells me that Earth Day 2010 is coming up on Thursday. A little research later, and I have three fantastic food security-related Earth Day events/activities on my schedule. 

Heirloom apples continued...

A number of posts back, Folks Gotta Eat discussed the decline of apple varieties and numbers of apple trees in the United States and Canada (read the original piece here). If you'll recall, in 1900, there were more than 20 million apple trees in the U.S., along with as many as 16,000 varieties. Now fewer than 3,500 varieties remain commercially available. I've found some additional resources to inspire your weekend reading and listening.

Shana says, "Goodbye Leslieville"

We're moving in two days - or by the time this is posted - TODAY. Melanie, bless her heart, lets me write posts in advance and she schedules them for release on Saturdays, or more often if I'm up to it. So, if you were thinking I spend my Friday nights and early Saturday mornings writing for FGE, in actual fact they are written earlier in the week while I'm watching horrible things on TLC like Hoarding: Buried Alive and the Woman with Half a Body.

Finally, a fund appeal that doesn't suck

Toronto has done the math

The older I get, and the more "refined" my tastes are, it is obvious that the best use of an evening involves community, activism and food. Last night my buddy Hayssam and I hoofed it up to Artscape's Wychwood Barns in Toronto for The Stop's Town Hall to learn more about food and income security, and what we need to be doing now to ensure folks on public assistance have adequate funds to purchase healthy food.

Declaring our food rights

One of the highlights of Folks Gotta Eat is that awesome folks from all around the U.S. and Canada are now sending me resources to review and consider. In the last week, I've had three people send along information about Fooddeclaration.org. Today is Tuesday, and on Tuesday we learn about something. On this sunny morning in Toronto, we're reviewing the twelve points of the draft declaration for healthy food and agriculture - a declaration meant to represent the American people and our best interests to policy makers (and let's see if this messaging translates well into the Canadian scene).

Sustain Ontario rockin' the scene

Having just arrived back to Toronto after 14 months away, I feel like the new kid in town all over again. Walking through my favourite neighbourhoods, I see all sorts of new cafes and shops. Similarly, new organizations and initiatives have sprung up to move important ideas forward. I learned about one such alliance, Sustain Ontario, on Saturday while I was nibbling on yummy local wares at Slow Food Toronto's 3rd Annual Farm to Home Fair at the Gladstone Hotel.

Hands on my cheese

As part of my new year resolutions, I made a pledge to make time for the things I really love and want to learn more about. My darling husband therefore got me some of the best birthday presents ever this January: a knife-skills class at Good Egg in Kensington Market (more on that to come in a later post) and a cheese-making class at The Stop Community Food Centre.

Florida Modern-Day Slavery Museum

"I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony..."

A few nights ago I was having dinner with a friend I hadn't seen in a while. She gave me an update of her business, informing me that her new client is a subsidiary of Coke. I wasn't sure what to say, after all Folks Gotta Eat and they have to make money to buy the bread, so I just laughed and said, "I really enjoy coke with my Jack Daniel's!"

Living from a food bank hamper

The buzz online yesterday was incredible around The Stop's community/blogging experiment and campaign, Do the Math Challenge. Beginning earlier this week, ten high-profile Torontonians and their families (my girl Naomi Klein is one of them), are engaging in an important experiment with standard food bank hampers.

One seed can change the direction of your life

Last night, I went to see Vandana Shiva speak at OCAD in Toronto. I arrived to the event about one and a half hours early to get good seats. As I approached OCAD to meet up with my girl, Maggie, I saw Vandana Shiva standing in the grass with a few people giving an interview. I'm not sure why, but I hid behind one of the colourful legs of the building (if you're wondering what I mean by legs, check out a photo of the building here), and watched her speak. 

Monsanto - too big for its own britches

For this week's "Teach Me Tuesday," I'm spending some time trying to understand corn. Not the corn I roast and use in a fabulous chowder, or the corn that I have to cut off the cob because I don't like getting it all stuck in my teeth, but commodity corn. One of my heroes, Michael Pollan, is schooling me on the rise of commodity corn (sounds like a horror film, eh?) in his book, The Omnivore's Dilemma (and trust me folks, the difference between corn for eating and corn as a commodity is pretty important in understanding the complexities of food security, and also a key factor in why folks are gettin' so damn fat  - so get yourself schooled).

Dispelling myths around global hunger

Today is an exciting day. I'm counting down the hours until 5:30 p.m. when I'm going to wait in a very long line to hear Vandana Shiva speak here in Toronto at OCAD. With that in mind, today we're going to talk about global hunger.

More on the bees...

Following up on my earlier bee posts, I'm happy to report that the New York City Department of Health has lifted its ban on beekeeping. Previously, keeping hives could result in fines up to $2,000, and folks, that could buy a lot of honey. Listen to the story on NPR's All Things Considered here.

Shana says, "Hola, Jesus!"

Does this photo look like Easter to you? Likely not.

Get your pancetta on

It's a holiday weekend, and if I weren't knee deep in boxes for my upcoming move, I might just be curing a little more pancetta in the basement. Just in case you have the time and inclination, here is the recipe I promised in my earlier pancetta post.

Holiday table

As another family and food-centered holiday approaches, I'm thinking about food and what we know as "plenty" - that is when our tables are packed with lovely foods, foods we choose. I just landed back on the continent after fourteen months in South America. As we all know, the majority of families in that part of the world live with less, though their contributions are great. Aside from the readily-available and inexpensive, grass-fed beef and tasty, locally-produced red wine in Argentina, a good portion of the continent relies on a handful of staples to fill their tummies: chicken, fish, rice, beans and local fruits and vegetables.

Confessions of a Canadian maple syrup hater

I saw an article in The Globe and Mail recently that tickled me. It's about maple syrup. I've mentioned before that I grew up in cottage country in northern Ontario. My parents have a big acreage of hardwood bush, and shortly after moving there, my dad started researching making his own maple syrup. Every March Break, my dad would snowmobile back into the property, tap the trees, collect sap, and boil it down in the tin-roofed sugar shack he'd built out of scrap lumber from the local dump (Pete is the ultimate recycler).