Locavore News by Elbert van Donkersgoed
Posted: November 4, 2009
Categories: Food in the News / News from Sustain Ontario
Perspectives on good food and farming
How you gonna keep ’em down on the farm?
In The War in the Country , Thomas Pawlick champions the fate of rural Canada with the hopes of educating readers in the city. He bluntly writes that the rural world is undergoing a “Great Dying,†a term that is usually used to describe the mass disappearance of endangered plant and animal species. Less than 1 per cent of Canadians now list themselves as actual farmers; more than 80 per cent of Canadians live in large towns or cities. Pawlick says the countryside is losing its people because of a belief in the big-is-better philosophy of conventional agriculture. Since the 1930s, small farms have increasingly been amalgamated into large, industrialized operations. But now government regulations and taxation policies continue to target the small operator. Globe and Mail book review.
Most Canadians learn about nutrition from food labels: Study
The majority of Canadians stay informed about nutrition from food labels even though many may not be reading them correctly, according to a study released Friday by the Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition. The 2009 Tracking Nutrition Trends: A 20-Year History report found in 2008 that 68 per cent of Canadians rely on product labels as a source for nutritional information, followed by the Internet, magazines, newspapers and books, friends and relatives and doctors. Ottawa Citizenstory.
Gardens in the sky, but no fruit in sight
Awesome green roof designs invade cities, but, sigh, on-high agriculture isn’t ready for its close-up. Meanwhile, participants in the urban agriculture session I chair are trying to avoid the temptation to make big plans before the smallish details on the basics have been mastered. It turns out that not all building walls can bear the extra load of soil on roofs, especially the box stores thrown up for the lowest price to move discounted goods. Wayne Roberts writing in NOW Magazine (Toronto).
Sustaining the Local Food Movement
On its own, not one of these acts of eating represents a radical departure, the kind of all-or-nothing approach to local food consumption some have come to expect in the wake of well-known projects such as the 100-Mile Diet and its television spinoff, the 100-Mile Challenge. Rather, these diverse, incremental changes towards a sustainable food system foster a movement with a long view. Jodi Lewchuk writing on the website of Taste T.O.
Carrot City: Designing for Urban Agriculture
First exhibited at Toronto’s Design Exchange, is going to be shown at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, to be held from the 6th to the 15th of November at Exhibition Place in Toronto.  Details Ryerson or Royal.
Wine council proposes going 100% local
The voice of Ontario’s wine industry is changing its tune. Last week, the non-profit trade association’s board of directors proposed putting its focus and lobbying power solely behind Vintners Quality Alliance wines, which are made strictly with Ontario grapes. St. Catharines Standard story.
Regional Locavore News Stories
Local Goes Global in Ontario’s Greenbelt
As the promotion and enjoyment of local food has become more and more prevalent, one criticism often levelled against the movement has been that an emphasis on locally grown produce doesn’t take into account the diets and culture of the many ethnic communities that make up such a large part of the population of the GTA. Greg Clow writing on the website of Taste T.O.
Downtown Farmers’ Market wraps up successful first year
The Woodstock Business Improvement Area Downtown Woodstock Farmers’ Market was considered so successful this year it will return next year. The market first opened back on Aug. 20 as a pilot project geared to “get feet on the street” in the downtown core. Woodstock Sentinel-Review story.
A shorter trip from field to fork
When a trend moves from the small, passionate originators to the masses, usually the hipsters move on. But that’s not the case when food is involved. The influences of books, movies and media on buying local produce is showing up in strong numbers in sales of fruit, vegetables, meat and organics. Despite the recession, more people want to know where their food came from and what’s been done to it. London Free Press story.
Hindmarsh family land donation protects farm from urban sprawl
Ensuring a legacy of stewardship and environmental protection, one Central Huron family is taking a stand to keep their land undeveloped for generations to come. The family of the late John Hindmarsh chose to have their father’s farm enshrined in a protective conservation agreement with the Ontario Farmland Trust (OFT) in 2005 and four years later, that legacy is come true. Goderich Signal Star story.
AND if You Have Time
Botany of Desire
The full-length video of the PBS special The Botany of Desire is now online. Based on Michael Pollan’s book The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World (Amazon ), the program shows “how four familiar species – the apple, the tulip, cannabis and the potato – evolved to satisfy our yearnings for sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control.” Tackles a lot of topics in two hours, from domestication, breeding, capitalism, globalism, genetic uniformity, monoculture, evolution, pesticides, insect resistance, GMOs, etc. Really exceptional. Eat Me Daily review.