I thought I’d take the honour of being the first person to enter a blog here on the 100-Mile Diet site. I feel like I have so much to say and the Challenge campaign has not even yet begun!
The launching of the Eat Local Challenge happened yesterday during a beautiful sunny day at the Granville Island Farmer’s Market. Birgitta Hellman, chef and author, was serving up some fresh foods donated directly from the farmers that morning. The most delectable fruits and vegetables—I feel like it’s a new experience every time I sink my teeth into one of those heirloom tomatoes or some homemade pickled preserves. It seems like I’m indulging in rare gourmet foods, however barely prepared, that only the rich should have access to.
I pondered that thought and decided how sad it is that the foods we as a society once consumed some 80 years ago by everyone, are now thought by me to be rare (and more pricy). For they are: more rare and pricy now. This is of fundamental importance to self-justifying the amount of time I dedicate to the cause. I have two degrees and a mind-boggling debt. I have been living off my credit card for the past 3 months and paying it off every time I receive a new paycheck.
I’m quite happy with the way things are despite some financial issues. My whole upbringing was on a rather strict budget with one other sibling and a single mom. I have become resourceful and discovered that the most enjoyable things in life should not and do not have to require money. I compromise by not having two hundred dollar jeans, the car and all that gas, movie theatres, and I leave going out to restaurants for special, social occasions. Instead I have become most resourceful in my ability to fix, make and design things and I reserve my money so that I can afford to spend a little more on these most rewarding foods produced with such care.
These days’ people seem to becoming more aware of the issues surrounding the foods we produce and consume since the onset of centralized agribusiness. We became spoiled in the sense that we now had access to any kind of fruit or vegetable any season of the year. We seemed to feel fine about compromising the freshness and taste of these foods for the opportunity to have them whenever. With the incoming of large-scale industrial farms was the decline of seed varieties and small family-owned mixed farms. A few have managed to hold out against this massive competitor and you can usually find some of them at your local farmers market.
A tomato from the chain grocery store may have been picked unripe and then transported from California thereby lacking taste, moisture, and nutrition in many cases. It may or may not have been picked by people being paid unfair wages—we don’t really know. There are a number of layers between us and where our food comes from, making it extremely difficult to know the conditions in which the food was processed and produced, the environment, country, culture, economy, social conditions, etc.
I guess these are the reasons I fetch over a couple extra dollars here and there for things like a tomato the size of a squash and filled with enough juice to fill a small cup. At the farmers market you can speak with the farmers themselves directly. Ask questions about where it came from, whether or not it is organic, and if not what exactly did you treat it with and why…? Slow Food Vancouver has been organizing Cycle Farm Tours where you can cycle around on your bicycle and inspect these farms for yourself thereby making more informed choices. In the process I have gained such intriguing information about food practices and had the pleasure of meeting folks completely immersed in a food culture.
Here in North America we are lucky to have so many cultures residing with one another. Many families have carried their food knowledge and practices throughout the centuries. I have turned to my elders and my friends to discover how to jam strawberries, prepare traditional Chinese entrees, what foods to grow next to one another (on my balcony), and various other tips and gems of knowledge preserved over time.
This brings me to the notion of community kitchens, which have existed in many cultures for a variety of reasons. In Chile, community kitchens were a way of survival during the depression. Sisters, grandmothers, mothers, and daughters would combine their efforts in gathering food and preparing it for the entire community. It was cost efficient and an effective way of having time to gossip. *Along with the notion of community kitchens are those of community gardens- shared space and work often in a gregarious setting.
The 100-Mile Diet kitchen is a network of folks here in Vancouver that get together every so often to pitch in with such things as one woman’s monstrous backyard basil bush, and the contribution of farmers market bulk bought hazelnuts, hazelnut oil, and Saltspring Island cheese—presto pesto for everyone throughout the winter. Of course, like most of us we make exceptions on occasion. Local over organic, organic over local, wild over local, local over wild, little bit of wheat, salt or Okanogan wine. Everyone has their own opinions of what they choose to make exceptions for.
For me, I must admit to my coffee addiction. I love coffee. I wake up thinking about it and it puts a smile on my face as I sit on my balcony and look off into the distance sipping the warm bitter-sweet bean juice. I have committed to doing the 38-day challenge with a 100-mile radius in mind. I am absolutely nervous and very curious about what kind of changes I might go through mentally and physically (maybe spiritually) when I restrict myself from drinking coffee. Actually I have a bag of it right now that I just know is going to taunt me throughout the days. Why? Well, I guess I just like to challenge myself and I also know that I take the commodity for granted. We’ll see how many food miles I manage to save at the end when I remove coffee and chocolate from my diet completely.
I suppose this is what I hope folks get out of the Eat Local Challenge. The food system we depend on contains a complex array of issues for us to think about. The more informed we are in our communities, the better able we are to make decisions about the foods making up our mind, bodies, and culture. We’re voting with the food businesses we choose to support, whether they were responsible for displacing a community of people and their small farming practices or offering fair wages to a family-owned coffee operation in Colombia. Maybe one day we’ll choose quality over quantity and these beautiful foods will be common ground and not considered rare and for the privileged few.
Shirlene
Hey! Tomorrow the Eat Local Challenge begins, sign up for the challenge if you dare at: www.100milediet.org/challenge-signup
I've been planning to do the 100 mile diet for some time. So when I ordered my food I sacrificed broccoli and spinach in favour of veggies identified as local. But then I realized I buy some non-perishable food from organic farms in Latin America and have done so for years b/c I understood they needed support. The more organic farming, the better, and if these farms don't survive, bigger non-organic farms that supply cheap food, might end up using the land. Do you have any info about this? Has it been addressed? Thanks, Anonymous
Its a good question. My knowledge about most organics in places like South America is that they have become highly industrialized. Although they are not treated with herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers etc. (made of fossil fuels), they still require a lot of fossil fuels in the transportation. The extra cost that ensues with all of the barriers in between, including processing, transportation, storage, company trades, etc, results in the actual farmers not receiving much of the profit. Furthermore, because large-scale farms have been taking over with the globalization movement, many small, family farms have been put out by companies they cannot possible compete with- further driving there mixed production farms that provided locally to monocultures of exported items. The residents of the land are left without easy access to their once diverse assortment of foods. They become dependent on these food companies (of which there are really only a handful that are gaining unprecedented control of the world's food systems).
Now coffee, seems like one of the most obvious commodities when we think of imported goods. I have expressed many times that I am a coffee lover. I always always buy fair trade, bird-friendly, shade-grown and well, Saltspring Island actually has coffee for sale now that is carbon neutral! I can only imagine what kind of support coffee growers receive from Vancouverites, considering the ratio of coffee shops to people. In Colombia, it is one of their number one exports, next to roses and then textiles. I lived in Colombia and visited the coffee fields region for a couple of weeks. I stayed in a hacienda right on one of the farms. It wasn't an organic farm, and I have never seen such rough looking men in all my life, these were the coffee-pickers. I spoke with some of them and the owner about the conditions and the history of farming there. So many stories about how the land has been shaped over time. How bananas once provided their source of income, but a disease swept over killing off fields of trees. A depression then followed and some of the surviving farmers managed to switch over to growing coffee beans. It is dangerous for an economy to rely upon one or two foods. I am a big advocate of communities localizing their foods systems across the world. There are initiatives in South America to bring back a local food economy. In the meantime, I doubt all of Vancouver will give up coffee during the month of September. But perhaps we will cut down on our intake and learn how much we take it for granted.
It is certainly not a black and white issue. There are no doubt some exceptions whereby some produce may be sent by fair trade or directly by the farmers themselves. They would most likely be relying on our purchases if the local economy does not allow locals to be able to afford these specialty foods. I don't know if you saw the article in the metro recently, but the reporter refers to heirloom varieties and organic vegetables as "specialty" foods. I thought how sad it is that these foods that were once commonly found in the backyards and farms of this country are now considered specialty and actually only accessible to the more privileged.
I suppose in an ideal world we would all of access to healthy organic foods supplied by a strong local economy and more support for our farmers and our agricultural lands. Perhaps we would treat imported foods as special and worth paying a little extra so we know the farmers are being paid fairly.
The idea behind this challenge is to bring up questions such as the one you have here. Thank you. I am constantly analyzing and rethinking the many issues. I encourage you to express your thoughts on our blog! We're trying to get folks to bring these issues to light so we can discuss and really explore the subject of food security both local and global.
I have been amazed by the support from some of my friends and neighbours as I embarked on a month of local eating. The best was when a neighbour arrived with a birthday gift for me - a 100 Mile birthday gift. The card was hand crafted on Galiano Island, and the goody bag was filled with local honey and other treats from our local farmer's market. It got me thinking about expanding the idea of eating locally to gifting locally. 100 Mile Christmas anyone?
3 comments:
Market Musings
I thought I’d take the honour of being the first person to enter a blog here on the 100-Mile Diet site. I feel like I have so much to say and the Challenge campaign has not even yet begun!
The launching of the Eat Local Challenge happened yesterday during a beautiful sunny day at the Granville Island Farmer’s Market. Birgitta Hellman, chef and author, was serving up some fresh foods donated directly from the farmers that morning. The most delectable fruits and vegetables—I feel like it’s a new experience every time I sink my teeth into one of those heirloom tomatoes or some homemade pickled preserves. It seems like I’m indulging in rare gourmet foods, however barely prepared, that only the rich should have access to.
I pondered that thought and decided how sad it is that the foods we as a society once consumed some 80 years ago by everyone, are now thought by me to be rare (and more pricy). For they are: more rare and pricy now. This is of fundamental importance to self-justifying the amount of time I dedicate to the cause. I have two degrees and a mind-boggling debt. I have been living off my credit card for the past 3 months and paying it off every time I receive a new paycheck.
I’m quite happy with the way things are despite some financial issues. My whole upbringing was on a rather strict budget with one other sibling and a single mom. I have become resourceful and discovered that the most enjoyable things in life should not and do not have to require money. I compromise by not having two hundred dollar jeans, the car and all that gas, movie theatres, and I leave going out to restaurants for special, social occasions. Instead I have become most resourceful in my ability to fix, make and design things and I reserve my money so that I can afford to spend a little more on these most rewarding foods produced with such care.
These days’ people seem to becoming more aware of the issues surrounding the foods we produce and consume since the onset of centralized agribusiness. We became spoiled in the sense that we now had access to any kind of fruit or vegetable any season of the year. We seemed to feel fine about compromising the freshness and taste of these foods for the opportunity to have them whenever. With the incoming of large-scale industrial farms was the decline of seed varieties and small family-owned mixed farms. A few have managed to hold out against this massive competitor and you can usually find some of them at your local farmers market.
A tomato from the chain grocery store may have been picked unripe and then transported from California thereby lacking taste, moisture, and nutrition in many cases. It may or may not have been picked by people being paid unfair wages—we don’t really know. There are a number of layers between us and where our food comes from, making it extremely difficult to know the conditions in which the food was processed and produced, the environment, country, culture, economy, social conditions, etc.
I guess these are the reasons I fetch over a couple extra dollars here and there for things like a tomato the size of a squash and filled with enough juice to fill a small cup. At the farmers market you can speak with the farmers themselves directly. Ask questions about where it came from, whether or not it is organic, and if not what exactly did you treat it with and why…? Slow Food Vancouver has been organizing Cycle Farm Tours where you can cycle around on your bicycle and inspect these farms for yourself thereby making more informed choices. In the process I have gained such intriguing information about food practices and had the pleasure of meeting folks completely immersed in a food culture.
Here in North America we are lucky to have so many cultures residing with one another. Many families have carried their food knowledge and practices throughout the centuries. I have turned to my elders and my friends to discover how to jam strawberries, prepare traditional Chinese entrees, what foods to grow next to one another (on my balcony), and various other tips and gems of knowledge preserved over time.
This brings me to the notion of community kitchens, which have existed in many cultures for a variety of reasons. In Chile, community kitchens were a way of survival during the depression. Sisters, grandmothers, mothers, and daughters would combine their efforts in gathering food and preparing it for the entire community. It was cost efficient and an effective way of having time to gossip. *Along with the notion of community kitchens are those of community gardens- shared space and work often in a gregarious setting.
The 100-Mile Diet kitchen is a network of folks here in Vancouver that get together every so often to pitch in with such things as one woman’s monstrous backyard basil bush, and the contribution of farmers market bulk bought hazelnuts, hazelnut oil, and Saltspring Island cheese—presto pesto for everyone throughout the winter. Of course, like most of us we make exceptions on occasion. Local over organic, organic over local, wild over local, local over wild, little bit of wheat, salt or Okanogan wine. Everyone has their own opinions of what they choose to make exceptions for.
For me, I must admit to my coffee addiction. I love coffee. I wake up thinking about it and it puts a smile on my face as I sit on my balcony and look off into the distance sipping the warm bitter-sweet bean juice. I have committed to doing the 38-day challenge with a 100-mile radius in mind. I am absolutely nervous and very curious about what kind of changes I might go through mentally and physically (maybe spiritually) when I restrict myself from drinking coffee. Actually I have a bag of it right now that I just know is going to taunt me throughout the days. Why? Well, I guess I just like to challenge myself and I also know that I take the commodity for granted. We’ll see how many food miles I manage to save at the end when I remove coffee and chocolate from my diet completely.
I suppose this is what I hope folks get out of the Eat Local Challenge. The food system we depend on contains a complex array of issues for us to think about. The more informed we are in our communities, the better able we are to make decisions about the foods making up our mind, bodies, and culture. We’re voting with the food businesses we choose to support, whether they were responsible for displacing a community of people and their small farming practices or offering fair wages to a family-owned coffee operation in Colombia. Maybe one day we’ll choose quality over quantity and these beautiful foods will be common ground and not considered rare and for the privileged few.
Shirlene
Hey! Tomorrow the Eat Local Challenge begins, sign up for the challenge if you dare at: www.100milediet.org/challenge-signup
I've been planning to do the 100 mile diet for some time. So when I ordered my food I sacrificed broccoli and spinach in favour of veggies identified as local. But then I realized I buy some non-perishable food from organic farms in Latin America and have done so for years b/c I understood they needed support. The more organic farming, the better, and if these farms don't survive, bigger non-organic farms that supply cheap food, might end up using the land. Do you have any info about this? Has it been addressed? Thanks, Anonymous
Its a good question. My knowledge about most organics in places like South America is that they have become highly industrialized. Although they are not treated with herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers etc. (made of fossil fuels), they still require a lot of fossil fuels in the transportation. The extra cost that ensues with all of the barriers in between, including processing, transportation, storage, company trades, etc, results in the actual farmers not receiving much of the profit. Furthermore, because large-scale farms have been taking over with the globalization movement, many small, family farms have been put out by companies they cannot possible compete with- further driving there mixed production farms that provided locally to monocultures of exported items. The residents of the land are left without easy access to their once diverse assortment of foods. They become dependent on these food companies (of which there are really only a handful that are gaining unprecedented control of the world's food systems).
Now coffee, seems like one of the most obvious commodities when we think of imported goods. I have expressed many times that I am a coffee lover. I always always buy fair trade, bird-friendly, shade-grown and well, Saltspring Island actually has coffee for sale now that is carbon neutral! I can only imagine what kind of support coffee growers receive from Vancouverites, considering the ratio of coffee shops to people. In Colombia, it is one of their number one exports, next to roses and then textiles. I lived in Colombia and visited the coffee fields region for a couple of weeks. I stayed in a hacienda right on one of the farms. It wasn't an organic farm, and I have never seen such rough looking men in all my life, these were the coffee-pickers. I spoke with some of them and the owner about the conditions and the history of farming there. So many stories about how the land has been shaped over time. How bananas once provided their source of income, but a disease swept over killing off fields of trees. A depression then followed and some of the surviving farmers managed to switch over to growing coffee beans. It is dangerous for an economy to rely upon one or two foods. I am a big advocate of communities localizing their foods systems across the world. There are initiatives in South America to bring back a local food economy. In the meantime, I doubt all of Vancouver will give up coffee during the month of September. But perhaps we will cut down on our intake and learn how much we take it for granted.
It is certainly not a black and white issue. There are no doubt some exceptions whereby some produce may be sent by fair trade or directly by the farmers themselves. They would most likely be relying on our purchases if the local economy does not allow locals to be able to afford these specialty foods. I don't know if you saw the article in the metro recently, but the reporter refers to heirloom varieties and organic vegetables as "specialty" foods. I thought how sad it is that these foods that were once commonly found in the backyards and farms of this country are now considered specialty and actually only accessible to the more privileged.
I suppose in an ideal world we would all of access to healthy organic foods supplied by a strong local economy and more support for our farmers and our agricultural lands. Perhaps we would treat imported foods as special and worth paying a little extra so we know the farmers are being paid fairly.
The idea behind this challenge is to bring up questions such as the one you have here. Thank you. I am constantly analyzing and rethinking the many issues.
I encourage you to express your thoughts on our blog! We're trying to get folks to bring these issues to light so we can discuss and really explore the subject of food security both local and global.
Anyone else?!
I have been amazed by the support from some of my friends and neighbours as I embarked on a month of local eating. The best was when a neighbour arrived with a birthday gift for me - a 100 Mile birthday gift. The card was hand crafted on Galiano Island, and the goody bag was filled with local honey and other treats from our local farmer's market. It got me thinking about expanding the idea of eating locally to gifting locally. 100 Mile Christmas anyone?
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