From the monthly archives:

July 2009

Michael Pollan on “Julie and Julia” and the end of cooking

July 31, 2009 by Mike Soron

Michael Pollan writes in the NYT about the “end of cooking” and a parallel rise in food fetishism and chef worship.
I’ve always found he speaks on the topic elegantly and convincingly. Perhaps I have a bout of Michael Pollan worship? That’s probably not such a bad obsession.
This current conversation springs from a new [...]

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Climate Change and Food Updates

July 30, 2009 by Mike Soron

Subtropical crops such as dates, figs and rice could become staples of British agriculture within 20 years, according to government forecasts.
The forecasts highlight some of the unexpected benefits of a warmer climate. It means the British diet will in future be able to include produce currently imported from as far away as China and the [...]

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Labour Intensive Farming “No Longer Relevant” – Minister of Public Safety

Thumbnail image for Labour Intensive Farming “No Longer Relevant” – Minister of Public Safety July 29, 2009 by Jon Steinman

In February, startling news was leaked to Kingston, Ontario’s daily newspaper, The Whig-Standard. Minister of Public Safety, Peter Van Loan, was cutting Canada’s prison farm program located at six Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) institutions.
The program is part of CORCAN – the branch of CSC providing rehabilitative employment training to inmates.
The planned closures [...]

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‘Fulfillment’ Salad

Thumbnail image for ‘Fulfillment’ Salad July 28, 2009 by JBogle

This salad is filling, flexible and fun! An ideal meal-size salad that can adapt with the seasons. The ingredients listed below are my personal favorite combo, but they can easily be altered to each chef’s taste!
In a large bowl combine:
-1 large pack of mixed greens and/or spinach
-2 ‘Yves’ Veggie Chicken Satay Skewers, grilled and [...]

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Canada’s Food News – Listeriosis, Wal-Mart and more

July 24, 2009 by Mike Soron

A new study from World Action on Salt and Health shows that global food brands contain more salt when sold in Canada compared to elsewhere: “The fact that companies distribute products with so much less salt in some countries raises serious ethical concerns. It is very hypocritical for manufacturers to make healthy claims about their [...]

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Norway, British Columbia V (“Organic” Salmon?)/Co-operatives: Alternatives to Industrial Food IV

Thumbnail image for Norway, British Columbia V (“Organic” Salmon?)/Co-operatives: Alternatives to Industrial Food IV July 23, 2009 by Jon Steinman

The New Resilient features Deconstructing Dinner, an award-winning weekly radio podcast about local and international food issues brought to you by Kootenay Coop Radio CJLY FM in Nelson, British Columbia. You can download the latest episode here, stream it here or download the podcast via iTunes.
Norway, British Columbia V (“Organic” Salmon?)
The presence of open net-cage [...]

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If climate change didn’t exist

Thumbnail image for If climate change didn’t exist July 22, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

It’s pretty safe to say that climate change denial is on the decline. Perhaps Calgary school oil-pimp Barry Cooper might be holding on to the margins of the Calgary Herald for his dear life, but all-in-all climate change has been bought into by the majority of individuals. Even the oil companies have bought in–albeit it’s [...]

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Permaculture in the ‘hood: planting a food forest in Calgary

Thumbnail image for Permaculture in the ‘hood: planting a food forest in Calgary July 21, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

This Saturday I had the privilege of checking out the progress and end result of the planting of a food forest in Calgary on the invitation of Rob Avis, a local permaculture practitioner. It was a class project, essentially. A good handful of people in Rob’s Introduction to Permaculture course met up to tear up [...]

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Enviro-cynicism is hurting Margaret Wente’s credibility

July 20, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

I’m glad that Margaret Wente can see the agricultural situation so much better than what she refers to as “organic ideologues” in her latest column in the Globe and Mail. Her argument, which is very simple–perhaps too simple to merit her full column–is that we are hurting Africa by holding back the miracles of North [...]

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Agriculture Industry’s Oil Addiction Threatens Food Security

July 18, 2009 by Mike Soron

Peak oil is real. It is becoming much more expensive to extract petroleum and the rate at which we do so is dropping. Serious consequences for food production loom.
Lester R. Brown has a solid summary post at Solve Climate:
This prospect of oil production peaking and countries at the same time failing to establish greater energy [...]

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Belo Horizonte and Ending Hunger

Thumbnail image for Belo Horizonte and Ending Hunger July 17, 2009 by Jon Steinman

If we were to analyze the role of local governments in North America, the most common responsibilities of municipalities consist of water and sewer services, road/sidewalk maintenance, upkeep of parks, garbage collection, snow removal, and many other infrastructure-related needs of an urban centre.
What we don’t find on that list of ‘things-to-do’ is food.
Whereas [...]

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Planting a Food Forest in Calgary #yyc events

Thumbnail image for Planting a Food Forest in Calgary #yyc events July 16, 2009 by Ryan Slifka

Rob Avis of Ravis Sustainable Consulting will be leading his Introduction to Permaculture class in transforming a Calgary lawn into a viable food forest. He already has enough help to do it, but anyone who would like to check out the progress is welcome to stop by.
“It is a pretty powerful message and great to [...]

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Norway, British Columbia IV (Farming Atlantic Salmon in the Pacific)

Thumbnail image for Norway, British Columbia IV (Farming Atlantic Salmon in the Pacific) July 15, 2009 by Jon Steinman

The New Resilient features Deconstructing Dinner, an award-winning weekly radio podcast about local and international food issues brought to you by Kootenay Coop Radio CJLY FM in Nelson, British Columbia. You can download the latest episode here, stream it here or download the podcast via iTunes.
In October 2008, host Jon Steinman spoke with wildlife biologist [...]

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