Local Delicious

Find out how this former professional basketball player, corporate sales executive and urban farmer is feeding 10,000 people and starting a community food revolution out of his inner-city farms in Milwaukee and Chicago. Winner of the $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship in 2008, Will Allen is transforming the cultivation, production, and delivery of healthy foods to under-served urban populations.

GROWING OUT OF HUNGER
featuring Will Allen, CEO, Growing Power Community Food Centre, Milwaukee & Chicago.

Thursday, March 25, 7-9pm
Croatian Cultural Centre
3250 Commercial Drive (at 14th)
Vancouver, BC
(Transit: #20 Victoria bus from the Commercial/Broadway Skytrain station)

This event is free, however pre-registration is required. Click here to RSVP

More information is available from SFU Centre for Dialogue.

Hah! So I am NOT the only one itching to get into the garden! There is already a whole workshop series lined up…

Village Vancouver is pleased to present gardening workshops with Grant Watson of Gourmet Gardens. Grant is a former organic farmer and has been teaching gardening to adults and children since 2003. He also operates an edible landscaping business.

A full list of workshops with dates and locations is available on the Gourmet Gardens website, along with course descriptions. To register contact Ross at rmoster@flash.net.

Here’s a sampling of what’s in store:

Garden Planning and Preparation
This course will get you started in thinking about how to start a food garden, and taking the first important step of getting the beds ready for planting. A sound garden plan that takes all the key factors into consideration has a better chance of producing and winning your enthusiasm.

Food Crops: Selection & Care
So you’ve got a garden all ready for planting. What are you going to put in, and when should you start? This course will cover all the major groups of vegetable and fruit crops that grow well in our climate. We will also discuss the specific needs of plants in each category.

Soil Fertility and Plant Health Management
An extremely important topic in organic gardening is soil health and fertility. Healthy soil is a vibrant community. Learn how to be an ally, not an enemy of your soil. We’ll also cover some key techniques for promoting and protecting your annual and perennial food plants, as well as the ones that just look pretty, from disease and pests.

These days every time I walk by the community garden where my plot is located, I start feeling itchy. I know we’re all ramped up for the 2010 Winter Olympics and it’s only mid-February, but the crocuses are already in full bloom and we haven’t a stitch of snow on the local mountains (ironic, isn’t it?). That MUST mean it’s time to think about the garden!

If you’re getting all twitchy for a gardening fix, here are a couple of upcoming events at VanDusen Botanical Garden to get you ready for planting:

Seed Swap
Presented by the BC Master Gardeners Association, the annual Seedy Saturday is held in Floral Hall. A celebration of heritage varieties and organic gardening featuring more than 30 growers, seed companies and exhibitors and Heritage Seed Swap. There will be a variety of seed-inspired activities for the whole family. Admission by donation.

Saturday, February 27, 2010
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
5251 Oak Street at 37th Avenue
Vancouver, BC

Annual Manure Sale
Give your garden a spring tonic! Cost is $5 for a 20kg bag. For information and pre-orders email marcelfpichette@alumni.uottawa.ca.

Saturday, March 6, 2010
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
5251 Oak Street at 37th Avenue – Parking lot
Vancouver, BC

I love Famous Foods grocery on Kingsway in Vancouver, BC. I like that they have such a great variety of locally produced food. I like that the staff are always friendly and helpful – they are friendly with each other, too, which is a good sign. They always offer carry out when I purchase by the case.

And I love that I always find interesting, local, and healthy food there. Most recently it was a cashew and date snack bar. That’s all it had in it. Nothing else. Especially no added sugar. Yum.

I love that I can buy lots of whole foods in bulk. One of the many fringe benefits of eating local is a focus on eating more healthfully. The bulk products may not all be local, but food that is unprocessed is a healthy option to have and that works for me.

I’ve “discovered” a few local products at Famous Foods that have become regulars on my shopping list, including Golda’s Cilantro Pesto and Spring Creek natural beef (no hormones or antibiotics).

And I found a new supplier of hemp hearts, Canada Hemp Foods, based in Gibsons, BC and sourced from Manitoba. As a Prairie girl at heart, I’m happy to be supporting my country’s farmers. Frankly, that’s damn cool.

Langara College, in concert with Village Vancouver, is hosting Fork in the Road, Cultivating Food and Community in Local Neighbourhoods this weekend, November 13 & 14. Participants to this workshop walk away with practical tools and ideas for involving friends and neighbours in local food issues and the inspiration to become involved in a neighbourhood food network.

Theatrical games and exercise are used to facilitate dialogue and personal change. Past participants have called these sessions, “Energizing”, “Fun”, “Mind-opening”, and “Empowering”.

Friday, November 13, 6:30 – 9:30pm and
Saturday, November 14, 9:30 am – 5:00 pm (workshop includes both sessions)
Langara College
100 West 49 Avenue, Vancouver
$50 admission fee
Register: 604.323.5322
Bring your own lunch and food to share

For further information, contact Leslie Kemp at 604.323.5981

Do you plan to attend? Please leave a comment and let us know how it goes.

Learn more about food issues, both locally and internationally, at this year’s Stone Soup Film Festival. Presented by the East End Food Co-op and the Grandview Woodland Food Connection, the festival will explore health and nutrition, food economics, agricultural worker rights, and urban agriculture over two days of great films.

October 17 & 18, 2009
Britannia Community Services Centre
1661 Napier Street, Vancouver
Purchase a pass for $15: 604.718.5800

The film festival is a part of the Stone Soup Fall Food Gathering, also taking place at Britannia Centre. Events will include:

• “DIY” Food Day on October 3, a day of sessions where participants learn the art of making and preserving food
• Community Potluck on October 15 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm
• Food Justice Forum & Discussion on October 8 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm

More information (pdf)

Planning to attend? Leave a comment and let us know how it went.