Locavore News by Elbert van Donkersgoed
Posted: October 7, 2009
Categories: Events / News from Sustain Ontario
Perspectives on good food and farming
Fighting Hunger with Local Food
The Ontario Association of Food Banks has launched a campaign for the creation of a food producer and processor donation tax credit as an incentive for local food donations to benefit people facing hunger in Ontario. This paper outlines the rationale, benefits, parameters, models, and projected costs for a proposed Ontario Food Producer and Processor Donation Tax Credit. Campaign details. Full proposal. Sign the petition.
Visitors get Taste! of county
From the spicy to the sweet, this year’s Taste! food festival had it all. About 2,000 people were expected to pass through the Picton fairground gates Saturday during the six-hour festival. Newly named one of Ontario’s top 100 festivals by Festivals & Events Ontario, the eighth-annual event had more than 50 booths — the most vendors to date. Eighteen wineries were pouring a total of 50 county wines while food was served by 16 restaurants and seven specialty food businesses. Belleville Intelligencer story.
Eat Local! at U of T: A passion for food politics
Have you ever pondered over whether it is really possible to be a 100% locavore? Ever wondered if local trumps organic? What about culturally symbolic foods that can’t be grown in Ontario soil? Is the 100-mile diet just a trend? To help you with your ponderings, we would like to introduce you to Eat Local!, a student run initiative on campus to promote eating local, sustainable foods. UeaT blog.
Community Food Centre pulls out all the stops
We’ve heard about all the delicious work at The Stop Community Food Centre – soon we’ll be able to literally taste that work with the launch of the centre’s first cookbook. Good Food for All: Seasonal Recipes from a Community Garden celebrates local, seasonal and economical food with more than 80 simple recipes created by The Stop’s former chef Joshna Maharaj. Toronto Star story.
Food giants hop ‘buy local’ bandwagon
First there was The 100 Mile Diet , then the New Oxford American Dictionary declared locavore “word of the year,†and dozens of new farmers’ markets opened across Canada with annual sales topping $1-billion. Now the big food corporations are taking note. Globe and Mail story.
Reading, writing, growing
Home economics may be long gone, but food is infiltrating the curriculum in Toronto schools with the quiet creation of several dozen school gardens. Students are harvesting tomatoes, Swiss chard, squash, corn, carrots, lettuce, herbs and more from the 11 newest gardens. Called Footprint Gardens, they’re the brainchild of FoodShare. Toronto Star story.
Brooklin Locavore
A Brooklin resident interested in local food and farms in Durham Region. As I opened my latest farm share delivery from Coopers Farm, I was met with the earthy aroma of fresh potatoes (Red Chieftans, Papa Negras –blue potatoes and fingerlings). In addition to the potatoes, there were delicious strawberries, cantaloupe, egg plant, tomatillos, cabbage and a copious amount of corn. The weather was finally co-operating, and the harvest is now in full swing. (Coopers Farm also has now opened their 10 acre corn maze to the public which will remain open until November 1st). Brooklin Locavore blog.
Interview: Jeff Crump and Bettina Schorman
In the past few years, local food has gone from a quaint fad to a real movement. It’s with that in mind that Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann wrote their beautiful new cookbook. Earth To Table is compelling guide for eating local, filled with simple recipes but also more philosophical thoughts on why this is an easy way forward. Jeff Crump is the man who brought Slow Food to Ontario and is the executive chef of the Ancaster Old Mill. Bettina Schormann is the restaurant’s award-winning pastry chef. Earth to Table website. CBC Radio Show: Here and Now program log.
Vineland Research and Innovation Centre Leads Project to Assess Consumer Perceptions of Local, Sustainable and Organic Food Quality
With generous contribution from OMAFRA’s New Directions Research Program, Dr. Isabelle Lesschaeve, a globally-recognized researcher in consumer insights and product innovation at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, is leading a study on consumer response to local, sustainable and organic food claims. This work will forge new ground in determining how price, sensory experience, production practices and region of origin claims affect Ontario consumer decisions to buy horticultural products and wines. Canada NewsWire story.
Bring Food Home 2010 — Call for Proposals
FarmStart and the FarmON Alliance have partnered with Sustain Ontario, FoodNet Ontario and other partners to organize Bring Food Home – Connecting Ontario Farm and Food Networks, a provincial conference that will be held at the Kitchener Delta from March 4-6, 2010. If you are interested in presenting, complete and submit a proposal by Monday, October 19. Program details.