From the monthly archives:

February 2009

Seedy Saturday Calgary 2009

February 28, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

I caught the sign while driving by a couple years ago and I’ve attended each Seedy Saturday at Montgomery community centre since.
Seed Saturday is something akin to a seed sale. There’s a wide variety of seeds, plants, compost and even worms that can be purchased from small savers and producers, while the lectures and workshops [...]

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Tom Vilsack and stumbling US food and agricultural policy

Thumbnail image for Tom Vilsack and stumbling US food and agricultural policy February 27, 2009 by Mike Soron

Want to fix the US? Fix food. So says Mother Jones as they discuss US Agricultural Senator Tom Vilsack’s confirmation hearing.
If your newspaper even bothered to cover Vilsack’s hearing, the story was likely buried; after all, ag policy matters only to farmers, and farmers are 2 percent of the population. Never mind that 100 [...]

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Are we fetishizing food at the expense of our health, safety, and security?

Thumbnail image for Are we fetishizing food at the expense of our health, safety, and security? February 26, 2009 by Mike Soron

Is our obsession with an elitist food culture causing harm to our food security and safety, while malnutrition and hunger quietly persist?

There is a rampant fetishization of food and cooking in our society. We are obsessed with glamourizing cooking and restaurant shows on cable TV. We crave disturbingly expensive cooking equipment and glossy, leather-bound cook [...]

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Small businesses beat the big-boxers this Christmas

February 25, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

Despite the fact that the stock market continues to tumble, and that here in Canada retailers suffered the biggest monthly drop in 15 years, there may be some positive news in the retail world.
According to a study released by the Minneapolis-based Institute for Local Self Reliance, independent retailers in the United States outperformed chain stores [...]

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Seasonal Recipe: Braised Red Cabbage, Apples and Onions

February 24, 2009 by Mike Soron

Some simple technique and local, seasonal produce made for a surprisingly delicious dish. While we haven’t been fans of cabbage in the past this preparation transformed the ingredients into a delicious winter side. I would very much recommend this even for folks less familiar with cabbage.
The core ingredients are red cabbage, apples, and onions. [...]

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Etsy and the local handmade movement

Thumbnail image for Etsy and the local handmade movement February 23, 2009 by Mike Soron

Etsy is an exciting and fast-growing website. It is an open marketplace for handmade and vintage, allowing buyers and sellers around the world to participate in small-scale and original production and distribution.
With a a strong local focus, it connects buyers and sellers through geographic specs and regional street teams. While it is designed to [...]

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The Small Mart Revolution – tNR #YEG Events

Thumbnail image for The Small Mart Revolution – tNR #YEG Events February 21, 2009 by Mike Soron

via E-Sage:
For the past 25 years, lawyer, author and economist Michael Shuman has been an articulate voice of clarity in the rapidly growing Small-Mart Revolution. He has been taking on the Wal-Mart style Goliaths of multinational, big box chains and championing the local Small-Marts. Over these years Shuman has given an average of more [...]

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“Securing our Food, Securing our Future” – tNR #YYC Events

February 21, 2009 by Mike Soron

Our speakers, Dr. Melanie Rock (U of C), Dr. Craig Stephen (U of C) and Mr. James McAra (Calgary Food Bank), along with moderator Julie Van Rosendaal from the CBC will discuss food security issues such as how we manage our intimate relationship with food in the face of globalization, rapid urbanization and regionalization.

They will also explore the role of food banks and other food distribution channels and examine how to reconnect people with where their food comes from and how it’s distributed.

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Local food production and the Alberta “advantage”

Thumbnail image for Local food production and the Alberta “advantage” February 20, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

As Mike detailed yesterday, the Alberta Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recently reported “impressive growth for local agricultural markets,” with annual spending on local food up to $449 in the last year in the average household.
However, the real question is whether or not this is thanks to the policies of the provincial government. Rather, [...]

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Dining with Obama and Harper

Thumbnail image for Dining with Obama and Harper February 19, 2009 by Mike Soron

The National Post’s food and drink blog, the Appetizer, offers details on Barack Obama and Stephen Harper’s Canadian lunch.
Held in the Senate Speaker’s dining room on Parliament Hill, the menu included:

Pacific Coast tuna with a chilli and citrus vinaigrette
Maple and miso cured Nunavut Arctic char
[...]

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Alberta Spending on Local Agriculture Rises

Thumbnail image for Alberta Spending on Local Agriculture Rises February 19, 2009 by Mike Soron

Alberta’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced yesterday “impressive growth for local agricultural markets.”
In a study of 1,000 Alberta households, 90 percent reported purchasing local food in the last 12 months. Nearly one in 3 households say they will buy more local food next year.
Annual spending at farmers’ markets per household rose [...]

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Social Collapse Best Practices

February 18, 2009 by Mike Soron

Do you get the sense that our political and financial leaders have no idea what’s going on? That they are completely underestimating the scale and implications of the ongoing collapse? Flipping through the new big-media blogs and what’s left of the online newspapers I get the sense they’re more concerned with depression-era fashion chic and [...]

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Building Resilient Communities

February 17, 2009 by Mike Soron

New weblog / traditional journal People & Place looks very promising. The new project is asking unique questions about relationships and change.
Like us, they are are very concerned about resilience. Earlier this month, they identified “Six Habits of Resilient Organizations“. While written with business in mind the suggestions apply equally — and perhaps more [...]

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