Local Delicious

Two women in East Vancouver have banded together — and brought their neighbourhood together — over the shared efforts of gardening.

Dubbed the “Two-Block Diet,” neighbours Kate Sutherland and Julia Hilton have started a neighbourhood food revolution and with it cultivated a community, barn-raising bond with the people who have joined them. In a busy city with busy lives I’ll bet they would never have otherwise met, despite the fact they all live a stone’s throw from each other.

The Two-Block Diet showcases all that I believe is great about how food brings people together and builds community. Read the full, Vancouver Sun article and be inspired to create your own Two-Block Diet and neighbourhood network.

The only way to get more local than a Two-Block diet is to have a garden in your own back yard!

Tomorrow is RIPE, Vancouver Farmers Markets 2nd Annual Evening of Local Food & Libations

Sunday, September 26th, 2010
Creekside Community Centre at Olympic Village
5:00 – 8:00pm
Additional details

Your attendance at RIPE will directly support Vancouver Farmers Markets to improve existing Farmers Markets and to grow the number of markets, bringing local, seasonal food to more people in more communities.

The casual family-style, all-ages event will include:

• A feast of delicious, local and seasonal food including BBQ’d local meats, corn on the cob and a variety of fresh salads, iced tea and lemonade from a variety of our farmers & vendors and prepared by Tivoli Caterers
• Local beer and wine for adults to enjoy – Russell Beer is our exclusive beer sponsor;  Hester Creek Winery and Saturna Island Vineyards are providing the wine
• Fabulous mountain view from the brand new Creekside venue
• Laughs from the evening’s emcee, Richard Lewin of Golda’s Finest Foods – the Pesto Guy!
• A silent auction and live dessert auction
• Local, live entertainment by Maria In The Shower, and
• A kids activity corner

Tickets must be purchased in advance.

Today is UBC Farm‘s annual FarmAde Open House and I’m heading over. I’ve been out to the farm a few times and this time I’m going to take in one of the farm tours, rain or shine.

Friday, September 17th
3:00 – 5:00 pm
UBC Farm Shuttle Bus Map

There’s lots going on, including:

• Live music
• A BBQ for everyone, literally (vegan, veggie and beef burgers)
• Produce market of farm-fresh corn, other veggies and fruits
• Adult entertainment (beer garden featuring local beer and a beer-making workshop)
• Supervised kid’s area with face painting
• Farm Tours and more… (details)

If you can’t make it out to the farm today, you can still take a video tour below to learn what happens there and why efforts to save UBC Farm continue to be important.  We’re not out of the woods yet in the battle between short-term real estate value vs. long-term, food security value.

On my daily walk-about last week I found myself at Home Grow-In, a corner store just 2 blocks west of Cambie that stocks only natural and/or organic BC grown produce and BC made products. The plentiful produce from around the province looked absolutely delicious.

For those days you just can’t make it to your farmers market, chances are Home Grow-In has what you need. And you might just decide to join their buyer’s co-op, similar to a community supported agriculture program (CSA) but with a wider selection of products.

196 West 18th Avenue, Vancouver
Open 7 days a week to 8:00 pm

Plus: Dialogue on the Regional Food System Strategy for Metro Vancouver

Concerns about food— its impacts on our health; its inaccessibility to many low income people; its vulnerability to climate change, soil erosion, water shortages and rising fuel prices; demand for local food; its role in creating new jobs; and the need for farmers to be able to make a decent living—have vaulted food strategies up the public policy priority list. Find out how Toronto, Portland and California are planning to transform local food production, distribution and land use.

A shoulder program to the Gaining Ground Summit 2010, Local Food Plans: Lessons from Other Communities and Dialogue on the Regional Food System Strategy for Metro Vancouver address  the many interconnected elements of a viable food system.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, 580 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
2:00 – 4:00 pm Local Food Plans: Lessons from Other Communities
4:30 – 6:30 pm Dialogue on the Regional Food System Strategy in Metro Vancouver

Wednesday, October 6, 2010 (repeat session of Tuesday)
Compass Point Inn Hotel. 9855 King George Highway, Surrey
2:00 – 4:00 pm Local Food Plans: Lessons from Other Communities
4:30 – 6:30 pm Dialogue on the Regional Food System Strategy in Metro Vancouver

Over the past two years, representatives from all levels of government, the agriculture and food industry, community organizations and the public have provided valuable input on how to make our food system more sustainable, resilient and healthy. At this session, after a brief presentation on the draft Regional Food System Strategy for Metro Vancouver, participants will break into discussion groups and be asked for their feedback. The presentation on lessons learned from other communities from the previous session should provide food for thought for these discussions. Results will be used to refine the Strategy and clarify key areas for collaboration.

These events are free, however pre-registration is required. Click here for more information and to register!
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Speakers:

Sibella Kraus, President/Director, SAGE (Sustainable Agriculture Education), Berkeley, California
Dr. David McKeown, Medical Officer of Health for the City of Toronto
Judy Shiprack, Multomah County Commissioner, Portland, Oregon
Moderator: Peter Ladner, Fellow of the SFU Centre for Dialogue

In collaboration with UBC Farm, Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks is pleased to announce a fund raising evening with Joel Salatin, holistic farmer, author, educator and activist. Join them for an educational, humourous and inspiring evening with Joel as he discusses his family’s logical, “beyond organic”, sustainable approach to farming, and his new book, The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer.

Monday, September 27, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
H.R. MacMillan Building, 2357 Main Mall, UBC  Map

On Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, Joel and his family nurture a non-industrial, food production oasis. Instead of conventional methods of farming that include overcrowding, medication and processed feeds, the Salatins debunk all conventional food production with their refreshing paradigm that respects the natural physiology of animals, the land, the rhythms of nature and human connectedness to it all. A key personality in documentaries such as Fresh and Food Inc. and in Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Joel has been instrumental in supporting a new sustainable food production movement.

Tickets for this event are $45 and will include a signed copy The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer. Proceeds of ticket sales benefit UBC Farm. Tickets are available exclusively through Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks. Please call 604-688-6755 for more information and to purchase tickets.