Sex sells... apparently, so does food!

When you purchase a car, don't you find that it suddenly seems as though your type of car is everywhere around you? You notice it all around. Such is the case for me with this diet. The more I immerse myself into this subject of where food comes from, the more I seem to hear about it, particularly in the media. To me, it seems to be everywhere. Granted, I'm a bit of a geek for my love for all things CBC, but it's crept up in other places as well. I was in Hunstville a couple of weeks ago, and there was a store that focused a bit on local foods. There was a magazine in the store that was talking about everything I was trying to do. And I came to the realization that I'm not alone in this. (I knew I wasn't, but sometimes I do feel like a bit of an oddball) There are many more people than I could have imagined who do care where there food comes from. A family in Edmonton who just completed a very strict year of the 100 mile diet. A documentary on CBC Radio 1 called Diet for a Hungry Planet. Tonight I was listening to the radio and a show called The DNA Files, where they were exploring some of the benefits of modified food. A gentleman in my program who I have yet to meet, lives and works on an organic farm out in BC. A show on tv recently that entailed a feast for 50 people with chefs using just local ingredients. Restaurants in Toronto and elsewhere that are committed to serving local food on their menus. A lot of this stuff seems to be coming to the forefront. Or perhaps I'm just noticing it more because I'm immersed in the subject.

Regardless, I feel encouraged that where our food comes from has had more coverage in the media. My good friend George who hosts the Hour on CBC had Michael Pollan as a guest and I just came across the interview clip. I just bought his newest book called In Defense of Food, but this attached clip is worth watching (only 11 minutes!)

www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=729498103

I realize it's common to blame the government for everything, but they make a point of chatting about the tobacco industry, and how after years of reaping the benefits of taxes from cigarettes, the government finally had to put a halt to supporting it because of the health-related issues it was causing. Will the government be proactive to help support healthy eating, or will they be content footing the increasing bill for heart disease, certain cancers, obesity and diabetes?

Falling behind...

Although my "diet" is still plowing along, my writing seems to have taken a brief hiatus! I have recently started some more schooling, and have felt the crunch of a few assignments and readings.

I am in the routine of going to the market on a weekly basis, but am getting frustrated still with the grocery store, and the lack of food I can buy there. Although, today I was in my local Foodland, and there was quite a bit of produce from Ontario, which was encouraging. It's good to know that if I miss a market, I will at least have some veg to eat!

I have tried to give some pertinent information in previous blogs, and today, it's not going to happen. But I've been harassed to get a new entry up, so as weak as this is...

My creativity is suffering a bit... I've had chicken and potatoes 3 times this week.
But I must admit that every time time I finish my dinner, I feel satisfied.
Breakfasts consist mostly of toast with honey or fried eggs and toast.
Lunches are grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato or a turkey sandwich with tomato.
Oh, and lots of fish for dinners too. Foodland has rainbow trout fom Manitoulin Island, so I have been enjoying that cooked on the barbeque.
More soon...

Great Canadian lakes... bottled!

When you're behind the wheel cruising those highways and biways, it's common to glance around at other drivers to see what they're up to. Typically, there are cellphone talkers, self-talkers, nose pickers, makeup artists, and that guy that's just rocking out to some tune, two hands gripped around the streering wheel, head shaking violently back and forth, singing at the top of his lungs. It's always a fun game to see if you can find the radio station playing that particular song, that is if he's not listening to a cd! One of my favourite things to do while driving is listen to CBC Radio 1. And one of my favourite shows is Sook-Yin Lee's DNTO (Definitely Not the Opera). A couple of weeks ago, she explored the topic of water, and what water has meant to various individuals growing up. Most of us who have grown up in Canada will likely have some memory of water, be it swimming at the lake in the summer or those awkward shower moments at the local pool. Because food takes vast amounts of water to grow and produce, I thought I'd explore the topic of water in this particular blog. Specifically, bottled water.

Yesterday, Stats Canada just released their findings on Canadians and bottled water. It turns out that 3 out of every 10 households use bottled water as their primary source of water! (Well, I should say used, as the survey was done in 2006). As the environment moves to the forefront of newscasts, and has become the number 1 issue for political platforms, people are reconsidering their decision to dish out that buck and change for a taste of the liquid gold. And when you get right down to it, there are a lot of reasons to discourage us from buying those 600 ml bottles.

First, there is the environment to consider. Obviously, we're moving in a direction away from plastics. And although they are recyclable, Canadian stats showed that 40% of the plastic bottles don't even make it to the recycled bin!

Second, there is the global consideration. Millions of people in the world do not have access to clean water, yet we in North America decide daily to pay for our water instead of getting it free out of the tap.

Third, bottled water is essentially tap water. Ontario in particular, was rated as having the 3rd best tap water in North America. So why do we pay for the stuff?

Our perception of where tap water comes from is misguided, and we have been somehow led to believe that bottled water comes from a cleaner source. Or maybe it's just that we've convinced ourselves of this in this age of convenience.

Provinces, city councils, school boards and even some restaurants are stepping up, and deciding not to buy, sell or drink bottled water. Even politicians in the U.S have committed to head to the fountain instead of the convenience store. It's up to us, the consumer, to stop the trend of bottled water, and start enjoying one of the greatest assets our country has to offer.

Below is the link to CBC's coverage yesterday of this issue.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/consumers/bottled-water.html

Pictured above is the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories during a small canoe trip with my buddy Rob!

My current "locavore" craze...

I've always wondered whether human beings develop an ability to be opinionated at a certain age or whether it's in fact innate? There's certainly no shortage of critical opinions... over the past week, I have heard opinions about the state being involved in parenting, opinions regarding recent outcomes of First Nation's residential schools of years past, and opinions about oil, and how its rising price is going to affect our lives. I've also heard critical opinions of who was the worst dressed in Hollywood this week, and why Grey's Anatomy has gone downhill.
Add to the list of opinions that I am en "eco-snob" for writing about my local Ontario diet! I have, on occasion, been accused of being a little sensitive, but consider this... In the June 9th, 2008 issue of Maclean's, Andrew Potter wrote a piece on authenticity, and points the finger directly at people like me! He calls this whole "n-mile-diet game to be an utterly transparent form of status-seeking... it's all a bit of a laugh."
He argues that... "authenticity these days has something to do with ideas like organic and natural and local" in this whole "craze for local eating". He then goes on to call me "navel-gazing" and "narcissitic" in my quest for authenticity.

Until I read this, I had no idea how hard I was trying to be authentic! I knew I was trying to reduce the miles my food travels to get to my plate. I knew I was trying to support family farms instead of the factory farms that have a monopoly in our grocery stores. I knew I was trying to eat healthy. And I knew that I was trying to better understand where my food actually comes from. But thank you Mr. Potter for pointing out that I wasn't, in fact, doing any of this. Instead, I now see that I am making a misguided attempt simply to be authentic, and in doing so, am a snob. Perhaps I can forward your article to the likes of Barbara Kingsolver, bestselling and world renowned author who dedicated an entire book to the subject of local eating in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, so that she too can join the ranks of snobbery. I would quite enjoy the conversation that would ensue between yourself and Barbara as you explain to her why she isn't authentic, let alone narcissistic. I'm sure she'd understand... you're both writers after all.
Below is the article in it's entirety.

http://www.macleans.ca/columnists/article.jsp?id=4&content=20080528_41576_41576


Well, my snobbery and narcissism will push on!
Above is a picture of fresh strawberries I purchased at the farmer's market this past weekend.
I can't begin to describe how they burst with flavour as they melt in your mouth!
Last night, I made my first stew. Into the crockpot went fresh Ontario stewing beef, fresh Ontario spuds, fresh Ontario snow peas, and fresh Ontario mushrooms. I added a bit of water, and 5 hours later, savoured every bite, including whole wheat bread with local Ontario-milled flour that I dipped into the au-jus. Delicious!

Product of Canada...

Okay, a quick update... work has been busy and therefore I have been eating the same thing for lunch quite a bit; grilled cheese sandwiches! Granted they're the best grilled cheese sandwiches I've ever had, but Barb, one of the infamous "kitchen ladies" here at work, thought it would be a good idea to document exactly what I'm consuming. I will admit to getting a bit tired of eating the same things, but I think once I have a bit more time on my hands (next week!), I'll put a lot more effort into my meals. Also, people who know me well would tell you of my Coke addiction. It was usually two a day. I'm proud to report that I have not had a Coke in two weeks! Small victories in my world...

Okay... so in the fall of 2007, CBC aired a program on Marketplace about the Product of Canada label on food. Consumers were assuming that if their food had this label, the food was grown or made in Canada. Nope! It turns out that only 51% of the total cost of the product had to be Canadian. If you have 21 minutes in your day, I'm attaching the link, because this is worthwhile to watch. And because of this, I won't inundate you with any rants, other than this one fact that shone above the rest for me. High Liner frozen fish, which you can find in any grocery store carries Haddock and Wild Pacific Salmon, both fish that could be caught in Canadian waters. However, after some research was done, it turns out the fish are caught in Russian waters, shipped to China, then to Halifax or Maine, and then to the plant for processing. These fish have travelled over 25,000 kilometres to get to our plates... unbelievable!

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/product_of_canada_eh/

As a follow up, which you'll see if you go check this story out, Stephen Harper held a press conference this past May announcing that in our grocery stores, Product of Canada labels will mean that... "all or virtually all contents are Canadian."
Baby steps!

Where food comes from...

When elementary students come up to our outdoor centre, their first meal is usually dinner, however, staff must go through "Mealtime Procedures" first, where they explain all the ins and outs of the dining hall and how mealtimes work. During this explanantion, 6 students are chosen by the staff, taken downstairs and given costumes representing the sun, water, soil, the farmer, the trucker and the cook. The rest goes like this:

Andrew is on stage and takes a piece of food off the table. He takes a bite, and then discards it on the floor, telling students he didn't really like it. Erin, who is at the back of the dining hall, asks Andrew what he is doing. Andrew replies that it was just a piece of lettuce and he didn't really like it.
Erin... "Do you know how much energy went into that piece of lettuce?"
Andrew... "Erin, it's just a piece of lettuce... no big deal."
Erin... "It is a big deal and I have some friends to tell you why!"
And so the sun, played by a student, comes up on stage and tells Andrew that they are the source of light for all living things and that without the sun, there would be no food at all.
Andrew plays along and asks Erin, "So you're telling me this piece of lettuce comes from a flaming ball of fire?"
Erin proceeds to bring the water up, and Andrew continues to play along, not quite understanding what the point of this is.
One by one, the sun, water, soil, farmer, trucker and cook all give their two cents as to the energy that it takes to produce the food that is being served on the student's plates.
Andrew finally "gets it" at the end and decides to not waste any food. He picks up the piece of lettuce that may or may not have been trampled on by students throughout the skit, but at the very least, has some dirt or sand on it, and finishes it off, much to the students groans of disgust.

On Friday night, I went to the grocery store to pick up some asparagus, one of the only veggies I can guarantee is from Ontario, because the sign at the front of the store boldly states it!
But as I meandered my way through the isles, salivating for a bag of chips or some chocolate eclairs, I realized that there is really not a whole lot in that grocery store that I could purchase, primarily because I don't know where the ingredients came from. When I walk into my local grocery store, first off is the vegetable and fruit section. Here, they actually tell you what country it's from! But then I hit the bakery section, with breads and pita shells and hamburger buns. Followed by canned soups, spaghetti sauce, crackers, frozen pizzas, cereals, juices, canned beans, olives, pickles, etc...

Never mind for a moment the ingredients that are in some of these items. Do we have any idea where this food is coming from? My guess is no. On the packaging, they'll tell you the ingredients, nutritional info, date of expiry and the name of the company that is producing it, but they won't tell you where that pepperoni is from on that delicious McCain rising crust pizza! We live in an age of convenience in North America, which we must take for granted if we don't even care where the ingredients are coming from. Should we care that the chickens we are buying are pumped full of hormones? Do we care that those chickens might be travelling thousands of kilometres just to reach our plate? And where the heck are those chickens coming from?

When we purchase cars, a determining factor can be whether it's North American, Japanese or European. When we buy something off eBay, we want to know what country we're buying it from. We're extremely interested as to where our beer is brewed. (Micro breweries are all the rage right now). Hell, even when we buy that little plastic gadget for the whatcha-ma-call-it to fix the such and such, it even tells us that it was made in China. So why can't our food tell us the same?

Rules and Regulations...

Every season, new staff come in, and I'm the one who gets to bore them with things they are allowed to do, and things they're not! I would say for the most part, that the rules are fairly black and white; first aid kits must be brought to all lessons, helmets must be worn while running high ropes, facilitators must check in with teachers at the end of the day... you get the picture! Over the past couple of months, as I have been chatting about this diet with friends and coworkers, I have come to realize that with some, there is an expectation that every single thing I consume is going to be local Ontario ingredients. The "kitchen ladies", as they're affectionately called at work have been very quick to question my every move (they're like my second mom)! Clearly, this is not a black and white subject. In fact, there's a whole lot of grey that I should talk about. Simply put, the authors of "100 Mile Diet" were hardcore, if I'm allowed to use such a word. In order to publish this book, they took things to the extreme... readers wanted to see if they would break on things like coffee, chocolate, and other things like bananas that we take for granted will always be in our grocery stores.

Even Alisa and James admitted that this strict version of the diet would be difficult to maintain for years on end. Their recommendation was to eat as much local food as you could. And that is what I am trying to do. I have started keeping track of what I'm eating throughout a given week, and eventually I will find an organized way to post this info. But I am confident that over the course of time, the average will be above 80%. But in this culturally diverse country we live in, it would be foolish to give up things like sushi, thai curries, and naan.

So here are my rules (so far):

1. Overall, the meals that I eat at work and home will be local Ontario food. Exceptions will be

things like salt and pepper, mustard and salad dressing. But the vast majority of what I

eat will contain local ingredients.

2. If I am invited over to a friends house for dinner, I will eat what is served.

3. On occasion, I will still enjoy meals out at restaurants. I am hoping to eat out less, but if friends are going out for a night on the town (rare in Haliburton), I will join them.

4. As of now, I am still having the occasional beer. Hops are hard to come by in this country, but

I am buying beer that is brewed in Ontario.

5. I will still have the occasional piece of chocolate, but again, I am going to reduce drastically the

amount I have normally consumed. And the chocolate I do purchase will be organic and fair

trade.

In time, I would like to see if I can go for a stretch without beer, or without chocolate. But again, this diet is not meant to be the grade 7 teacher who keeps giving detentions for no apparent reason. I'm not out to punish myself! I'm simply trying to think about what I eat and where it comes from. And let me tell you, it's not easy right now.

As I am writing this, students and staff are upstairs enjoying a lovely roast beef dinner, with fresh bread and vegetables. I'm thinking about how I can change the way I cook potatoes tonight to make it more interesting! And I'm hungry!!

Feel free to give suggestions for other rules that you think might be pertinent!