Local Food Theory

The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution. -Paul Cezanne

2011-04-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

The idea of eating local food is a simple one. Buy food products grown, cultivated or made in your area.

Somewhere in this simplicity the subject of eating local has somehow been made to seem unattainable for most. Perhaps it’s the food network and their portrayal of celebrity “chefs” touring around sampling goods at the finest restaurants. Or maybe its the food writers that make it seem like its an elitists club where only the true “foodies” are able to appreciate (and afford) the bounty farmers markets provide. There is also the confusion that buying local means organic which automatically translates to more expensive.

Well for the record, organic can cost more but not always, and certainly not all local food is organic, and no you don’t have to be a “foodie” to appreciate good food. As well, we want the people that are doing this good work to be able to afford lives of there own, so if it cost a few pennies more is that really a problem?

The labelling of foods is another wildly misleading topic best saved for another post. Think free-range, free-run, non-medicated, hormone free, organic, everyone of them ambiguous at best.

In actuality the premise of eating local is bigger than just buying locally grown food or calling yourself a foodie and wearing crocks (they’re still around, right?). Yes, vegetables and fruits that are eaten in season carry more nutritional value. Yes, that value is higher the sooner it is consumed. So yes, the closer your food is the less time it has to lose its nutritional value and thus, is better for you. Do I have to mention that food eaten in season tastes better?

That’s not all of it though.

Having better for you/better tasting food is obviously appealing but it also means that you’re putting money back into the community. YOUR community. The money you spend on local produce, in local shops, and on local people, goes into making all of these people and what they’re doing sustainable.

Having local businesses and farms sustainable means that your community is becoming more viable. It means jobs will be created, business will prosper and communities will improve and survive. We won't need to rely on import and supply chains which in it's own right is a step in a positive, eco-friendly direction.

In a time where the unemployment rate is climbing, wages sliding, cost of living increasing, and the trust in our leaders is at an all-time low, it seems like spending money on your own community would take precedence over supporting multi-national chains and effectively sending your hard earned dollars somewhere else.

Believe me, I know you’re frustrated. For every dollar you earn it seems like someone is right there to take away two. I know that the vast majority of us have to watch every cent. I understand that we have families and responsibilities and pressure.

The only way I see this changing though, the only way we’re going to recover and prosper is if we realize that answer to the recession, the food crisis and a sustainable future lies in supporting our own communities and becoming self-sufficient.

To resurrect the idea that we control our own future

The people that are dictating our current situation and ways of life can only keep doing so if we keep spending our money on what they tell us to. We do have the power to save ourselves.

That’s the thing though. It’s up to us to change. It’s up to us to decide that we’ve had enough of the shit they’ve been feeding us.

But can we bite the hand that feeds?

Food should be a priority in the house-hold budget, but it’s not. People spend vast amounts on the most ridiculous and frivolous things ($350.00 Louis Vuitton wallet!?) and nearly in the same breath scoff at food products that aren’t 2 for 1. Always looking for the best “deal” rather than quality and flavour or nutritional value.

To put it plainly, people are satisfied with McDonald's. For themselves and for their kids.

Imagine, a country so fat and riddled with preventable disease that obesity and its surrounding issues are the number one cause of death. Imagine a town/island that relies so heavily on import that if there were a disruption in the supply chain they would run out of fresh food in only two days. Imagine a world in recession with the looming climax to the perpetual food crisis in sight.

Imagine no longer because it’s here and now.

Everyone can afford to eat good quality, locally produced food, even on the most limited budget. From meats to vegetables and from dairy to grain. Yet we still buy standardized garbage and marvel at the “very reasonable” pricing.

So what’s the answer?

It’s simple. The next time you’re at the grocery store look for the sticker that says “Grown in B.C.” Instead of standardized meat, look for the local free-range (even organic) varieties. If they don’t have it, find out who does. Instead of Costco, support your local artisans and businesses, your economy will thank you for it. Ask where your food comes from and how it was treated.

If it means that you can buy one beautiful, well treated local chicken instead of two genetically modified standardized chickens that have literally been forced into existence and made to live out their brief lives crushed in vast pits of their own feces, buy the local one. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

Take the time and feed yourself with proper food raised on the land around you, harvested in the prime season by your friends and neighbours.

You’ll feel better for it, for a lot of reasons.

Here are a few places where you can find locally produced food:

Slowrise Bakery, Gabriola (Organic Breads available at Old City Organics)
Old City Organics, Nanaimo (grocery)
Naked Naturals, Parksville/Qualicum (grocery)
Pipers Meats, Nanaimo (butcher)
Nesvogs, Nanaimo (butcher)
Island Heritage Abattoir, www.islandtastesensations.com/islandideal.html

Nanoose Edibles, Nanoose Bay (Organic Produce)
Horizon Heritage Farm, Errington (Organic Produce, available at Markt Deli at the end of May)
B.C. farmers markets, www.bcfarmersmarket.org

Island Naturals, Nanaimo (Health Food/Grocery)

Markt Deli, Nanaimo (specialty grocery, available @ The Market on Yates & Feys&Hobbs, Victoria)

For the people for whom I have missed, that are doing their part in the local food revolution and want to be a part of this and hopefully something much more, please leave your comments or contact me directly at marktartisandeli@gmail.com

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” -George Bernard Shaw

2011-03-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

So the last time I posted we talked about progress, and a few things that were bothering me, but mainly progress.

A lot of things have taken place in the past week or so. Mr. Dirk Bekker had his chance to speak at a town hall meeting in Lantzville, kind of. A meeting he wasn’t actually invited to even though the main topic was the temporary permit to allow farming (and other things) in residential zoned areas. Thanks to a few good souls, however, he found out and spread the word.

The word reached a number of people. So many in fact, they had to cancel the main event and re-schedule.

I’m glad that there was a good turnout. I think this shows that some people are aware and want to see reasonable, sustainable change. The town hall meeting wasn’t about urban farming directly, it was about the council’s band-aid solution of a temporary use permit. Meaning that for a fee you can bend the rules of current zoning.

I may not be a science rocket, but if you shut down someone’s livelihood because what they are doing doesn’t conform with ‘regulations’, only to immediately provide a solution to their problem complete with price tag......seems a bit off?

This is a long drawn out topic so I’ll give you a couple of links so that you may form your own opinion.

http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=9548a3ee-5b9d-4771-ae4f-4af871a8239e

http://www.lantzville.ca/cms.asp?wpID=435

Back to Progress.

Makaria.

Sounds nice doesn't it? This is the name of the farm just outside Duncan where I will be getting a large portion of my vegetables.. The Owners are Brock and Heather and they grow a substantial amount and have also offered to grow on demand.

Basically, Jack Pot!

This in combination with one or two other farms, plus growing a few oddities and herbs myself (more to see if I can) has pretty much sorted out my quest to find local produce.

The ease at which this rather daunting task was resolved is a bit concerning. I imagined weeks on end talking to farm after farm and having to use a vast array of growers to fit my ever expanding needs. I would spend my days running around trying to pick up product, wondering to myself why anyone would do this willingly.

Or I could just go with the first people I called and have it solved. Bizarre.

This got me to thinking. Why aren’t more people on to this? If it’s this easy, why aren’t more people doing it? Don’t get me wrong, there are still some kinks to work out, but still.

I think the answer is that it seems like it would be way more work. Not just to me, but to all the over-worked chefs and owners.

Currently Food Service Businesses pick up the phone and call one of their suppliers, order some gear and some guy carts it through the doors in the next day or two.

Easy.

But why would you want to buy something that’s been shipped half way across the world, that’s probably picked when it’s not quite ripe, packed in a warehouse (or treated with chemical) until it’s at least close to the right colour and then delivered either hard and tasteless or close to rotten.

The key to great food is the quality of your ingredients. So even if it took a little more work, you would think that people would want to make their business the best it could be, wouldn’t you?

So is it back to this whole lazy thing again?

Well we’re going to try and change that. Not the lazy part, that would be nearly impossible. We’re going to try and make it easier for the food service people to gain access to the local foods. (I’ll get to who “we” are momentarily). Essentially, the idea is to pair farms with chefs, making it easier for the chef to find local produce and the grower to have a guaranteed outlet for their produce.

Revolutionary.

I don’t like to throw that word around so I wanted to make sure that an organization like that didn’t already exist.

It didn’t take long to find out that they do. (yes, “they”)

There’s the I.C.C. (Island Chefs Collaborative) servicing the south Island, and to the North we have the North Island Chefs Association. There is however, nothing for the mid-island. Nothing.

In fact, there isn’t really much of anything for the mid-island in the way of good food. Or at least that was the case until a few years ago. To be fair, there are more and more people with keen minds and patient ways trying to educate and really just make some good food. It’s a slow process though.

As it turns out, the idea isn’t quite revolutionary – it’s just not in practice around here.

So then, who are “we”? Well, we came together at my shop for the first time this past Sunday. A group of like minded (albeit frustrated) individuals met to discuss the possibility of forming a mid-island collaborative. And here we go again. Progress.

It’s early days yet. A couple of us are taking on the assembly of a list of farmers and purveyors. This is proving not to be an overnight task, on my end anyway. Still, things are moving. Once all the info is gathered we’ll post it as I’ve promised before. An official name for the group is pending. Eventually we may even have a web-site!

In the mean time, check out Makaria http://www.makariafarm.com and for some good local meat check out http://www.islandtastesensations.com/islandideal.html and for pork http://www.stiltedhouse.com/id4.html

For any growers or purveyors who read this and like the idea of having an outlet for all of your product so that you can focus on the growing and not worrying about where you’re going to sell it all, send me an email. Please.

marktartisandeli@gmail.com

Stay tuned, more progress to come!

"The Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with One Step" -Lao Tzu

2011-02-18T20:20:00.000-08:00

So our first step was to discover more about the produce available on Vancouver Island. We decided to check out Nanaimo and Area Land Trust (NALT) because they have a wild plant sanctuary where indigenous plants are potted and sold as well as grown in their peak seasons. Going out there in the middle of February, however, is not the most exciting.

Not a lot grows in the cold of February. It did show me what was potentially available in a month or so though, Violets, Maple flowers, Miners Lettuce, Nettles... Perhaps growing our own interesting gear could be the answer, but I’ll leave that for another post.

Locally available cultivated ingredients include apples, turnips, beets, cabbage. Pretty standard stuff, think winter = think root vegetables. In fact, February and March seem to be the worst for local produce.
It seems like the immediate answer is to look for local stock piles of these types of ingredients and prepare ourselves for the next growing season. This revelation brought me to a gentleman that I met while attending a farmer’s market last summer.

Mr. Dirk Bekker.

He’s an urban farmer who focuses on supreme quality and has a serious passion for growing.
His story is an interesting one and is best described here, (http://www.synergymag.ca/a-lantzville-couple's-fight-for-the-right-to-grow-food/). Suffice to say, thanks to the bureaucrats of the RDN, his farm was going to be (and, as of this post, still could be) taken from him on the basis of a single complaint from a bitter neighbour and favouritism by the Municipal Government.

Having this type of By-law is absurd because it basically takes away your ability to be self sufficient. Although Mr. Bekker is growing on a slightly larger scale than most, the idea of the by-law isn’t prohibiting the sale of crops, it’s prohibiting the actual growing of crops.

Ridiculous.

The global food situation is dire. Part of the solution is utilizing urban area and promoting urban farming. People are saying green roof technology is the way of the future, as well as being able to grow food for yourself and not relying on imports as heavily. Promotion of independent farmers and subsequent farmers markets are also a mainstay in political rhetoric.

So what the hell is the problem?

Unfortunately, other than the well documented incompetence of municipal, provincial, and federal government (experienced by anyone who’s passed a road work crew and hasn’t been able to figure out why they need so many people to dig a hole), I can’t figure it out.

These issues have stretched nation-wide and across the globe. There seem to be numerous accounts of this type of hypocrisy stating that by-laws won’t allow growing.

The odd counterpoint to this is the many urban co-op gardens that we’re finding in more and more major cities. A plot you register for and submit your name to, which will be put into a lottery and a small space will be awarded for X amount of time. You’re also allowed to grow on your balconies in apartments, in back yards all over suburbia (Move that into the front yard though and look out).
All of this seems like a good start. In North Vancouver the Mayor is actually at the forefront of changing city lawns into gardens. www.vancouversun.com/life/Mayor+wants+convert+North+Vancouver+lawns+into+gardens+fruits+vegetables/3816483/story.html

Perhaps it’s just the small town big thinkers that can’t catch up. Or perhaps it’s specific individuals that have nothing better to do then to complain.

Personally, I’m going to support Mr. Bekker and have already talked to him about what he may have for me in the upcoming months. His operation is still relatively small and he has a loyal following that would probably be pretty pissed if I waltzed in and scooped all the vegetables. So I sent an email out to a few other farmers I met over the summer and here we go. Progress.

I will post the names of the farms and farmers along with what they’re hoping to have and when as soon as I have all the info. In the meantime though, check out this website for farms near you. ( www.islandfarmfresh.com/farms.htm ) or maybe ( www.vancouverislandlocalfood.com/?p=767 )

Remember, this isn’t some massive conglomerate with endless supplies. These are a few good people growing some exceptional product. The important thing to remember is that these people are all around us trying to squeak out a living, trying to compete with the cheap gear from everywhere else. Look around and you’ll find them, they’re waiting at farmers markets ( www.bcfarmersmarket.org ) at road-side stands and always at their farms. And if you have a bit of extra time, try growing your own. It can’t hurt, just don’t tell anyone.

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself" -Tolstoy

2011-02-06T23:08:00.000-08:00

Recently I had a thought. "What the hell am I doing?" This past year I opened a deli, my first business. I've opened restaurants for other people but this was the first time on my dime. We opened with the intention of sourcing local, seasonal products and raw ingredients and using traditional, natural methods making a relatively wide array of charcuterie, soups, sauces and the like. Every month we would do a multi-course dinner focusing on what we have around us, partly as a creative outlet and partly as a lure to the potential customer.

For the most part we've done just that. We hold two dinners a month, all of our meats come from B.C. We try and make a point of knowing the farms we use, the people that run them, how the animals are treated, what they eat, the whole kit. We try to use local dairy and local produce and we try and support other local businesses with similar interests.

The operative word unfortunately is "try". When you're growing a new business or even just getting through day to day life, inevitably some things fall through the cracks. We don't always have time to source every single ingredient. We're used to having pretty much anything available to us at anytime. Most of us don't have time to search around for whats available locally, especially when we can go to one store and buy pants, vegetables, drugs, meat and a computer.

Personally that last sentence is so fantastically absurd, it actually upsets me a little. Have we become so lazy that we can over look any ethical or moral issue with the way these products found there way to this "one-stop-shop" solely on the basis of convenience?

Of course not. It's also cheap.

We can buy a crate of pants and a palate of vegetables and a barrel of drugs for a few hundred dollars. What savings! Sure I don't need that palate of vegetables, and ya, research shows that a good percentage of us throw away nearly half of the food we buy, but if I bought them when I needed them I'd go broke!

Now I'm sure we're all smart enough to see that if we're buying these quantities of product and throwing away half (of the perishable stuff anyway), the perceived savings have gone. This isn't the major issue though. if you look a little closer here, the problem is a lot bigger.

It effects our health, our communities, our countries and ultimately the planet. I will digress here because it would take a team of writers a long time to explain the situation with the current consumer habits and it's social and economic ramifications, so I will avoid that for the time being. I will however post links to various literature explaining everything from the health benefits of eating seasonally and locally, to the economic benefits, to something scientist are calling "the perpetual global food crisis"

I should also point out that I'm not trying to down-play the day to day lives or business practices of the good people around me. That's not the point. As I said at the start, "What the hell am I doing?'

The answer, I'm going to change.

I've set this blog up to document the transition of my business from kinda local to all local. Everything we learn will be posted here, from where and when products are available to who and how they're being produced all the way to what to do with them. In the end, I hope to be using totally local, ethical, seasonal and sustainable foods and resources to run my shop.

In this effort, I'd like to ask all who read this to offer any information, advice or experience that they can share, so that for some this can be a guide or at least an inspiration to do the same.

Welcome to the Local Food Theory.