Here, on the other hand, is a 100% natural and sustainable solution to a tricky problem in a remote part of the world. It’s pretty hard to argue with the brilliance of this solution.

Video from KarmaTube

Now I like one kind of beer. Not maple porter, not raspberry porter, not honey porter, not pumpkin porter. Just pure, unadulterated porter, preferably with a chocolate and/or coffee finish.

So imagine, in that narrowly defined palate, my delight in finding the most delicious, untainted-by-fruit London Porter by Paddock Wood Brewing Co., a discovery made on a trip back east. And imagine my even greater delight to discover London Porter is made locally there, in my home province of Saskatchewan.

Unfortunately my delight turned to utter devastation with the realization, upon my return home, that I couldn’t find London Porter here. And, due to antiquated prohibition laws, I can’t even have any shipped to me, because this would require transporting alcohol across provincial borders which is still (are you kidding me?!) illegal.

But alas, my spirits soared once again when a stranger noticed me unhappily perusing the local liquour store shelves and recommended trying a newly opened, independent shop, Legacy Liquour Store. I proceeded forthwith to said store and not only promptly fell upon a six pack of Paddock Wood’s London Porter, I also received a mini lesson on the history of porter from the very knowledgeable general manager. It stands to reason that when I did finally find a beer I liked, it is one that was historically available exclusively to the gentry, due to the labour-intense complexity of its manufacture. That sounds about right.

I still don’t drink a lot of beer, but I do enjoy savouring the occasional, civilized tipple. Sadly, I do not live in the vicinity of Legacy Liquour Store, so I shall have to continue my hunt for a supplier closer to where I live. In the meantime, it’s comforting to know I have a source to fall back on.

Thursday, October 27, 2011
5:00 – 8:00 pm (brief program at 6pm)
Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks
Vancouver, BC

This book launch is free, however pre-registration is required. RSVP now.

Author Peter Ladner is a former Vancouver City Councillor, newspaper publisher and a recent Fellow at the SFU Centre for Dialogue. With more than 35 years of journalistic experience, he is a frequent speaker on community issues and has a special interest in the intersection of food policy and city planning.

If you can’t make the launch party, The Urban Food Revolution will be in bookstores November 7 or can be ordered online from New Society Publishers (20% off pre-orders before October 21). The book will also be available after November 1 (hard copy or e-book) at your favourite online book-seller.

Reviews

“A revolution in food — where, how, and when it’s grown — is now sweeping urban centres. Read this book to see why it matters and how we can do it.”

David Suzuki, Co-Founder, David Suzuki Foundation.

“Our reliance on industrial agriculture has resulted in a food supply riddled with hidden environmental, economic and health care costs and beset by rising prices. Producing food locally makes people healthier, alleviates poverty, creates jobs, and makes cities safer and more beautiful.

The Urban Food Revolution is a handbook for community food security based on leading innovations across North America. From commercial micro-gardening and community composting to rebuilding local food processing, distribution and waste systems, the author connects the dots between wishful thinking and practical solutions to making local, fresh sustainable food affordable and widely available.

An essential resource for anyone who has lost confidence in the global industrial food system The Urban Food Revolution is packed with practical advice on bringing food production home.
Peter Ladner really separates the wheat from the chaff. If you want to get your head around the important developments without ending up with a headache, this is the book for you.”

Wally Satzewich, Developer, SPIN-Farming

As they say, “Making a difference starts at home” and it starts with what we put into our bodies.

Learn how easy it can be to assert more control over the food that we eat by growing it ourselves. Don’t let limited space, insufficient knowledge, or a tight budget deter you. You’ll see how to integrate affordable, easy and compact growing systems and approaches into your life no matter where you live. Take things one step further and you may soon find yourself selling or gifting your surpluses to the people around you. Wallah! – Community.

Saturday, October 22nd, 2011
6:15pm – 9:45pm
The HiVE Vancouver
128 West Hastings (half a block east of Cambie Street)

Enjoy music, beer, pizza and fabulous company.
Contribute what you can: Recommended $12 – $20

Reserve your spot

Vegetable Oils – Friend or Foe?

The food guide tells us to cook with vegetable oils, yet after trans fats, they are the worst choice we can make.

Plant oils such as canola oil, safflower oil, corn oil, soy oil etc. are very reactive to oxygen, and go rancid when heated even at low temperatures. Once oxidized, these fats cause free radical damage in our bodies, which has been linked to cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

According to the animal research of Dr. Kenneth Carroll, “…the more polyunsaturated fats were in the diet, the more they were cancer promoting; and the more saturated fats were, the more they were cancer reducing…” Yet we are told by such organizations as the American Heart Association that these polyunsaturated oils are the healthy oils to eat and cook with.

In actual fact, we were only meant to consume vegetable oils by eating the nuts and seeds that they come in; the nuts and seeds also contain the antioxidants that prevent the oxidization of the fats.

Vegetable oils are refined with solvents and heat, making them toxic and rancid. Deodorizing compounds are added to cover up the smell, and voila – they will stay on the store shelf for months looking deceptively beautiful.

Even in their unrefined form, these polyunsaturated oils cannot be recommended even in salad dressings, as they are sensitive to light. Polyunsaturated vegetable oils are also most frequently turned into trans-fats, so pretty much any time you see any vegetable oils listed on an ingredient list in a packaged food or a recipe, you would be doing yourself a huge favour in the long run by not eating it.

The best fats for cooking are organic pasture-fed raw butter or ghee, organic virgin coconut oil, organic, pasture-fed beef tallow, and unrefined organic olive oil (low to medium temperatures only).

Sources:
Enig, Mary; Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer For Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol Bethesda Press, Silver Spring, MD, 2003.

Fallon, Sally and Enig, Mary; Nourishing Traditions, Revised 2nd Edition NewTrends Publishing Inc., Washington, D.C., 2001

Copyright 2005/2011 Vreni Gurd
Reprinted with Permission

This month’s West Coast Seeds newsletter offers their top recommendations:

“Aside from hilling up, here are our top five tips for tip top potatoes:

1. Plant potatoes in full sun, and avoid freshly limed beds. Potatoes like slightly acid soil with a pH of 6.0 – 6.8. Organic matter in the soil will improve your crop, but use well rotted compost or dig in a cover crop the previous fall. Avoid fresh manure.
2. Once you plant your potatoes, don’t water them until after you see the plants sprout above ground. This will help to prevent soil diseases from affecting your crop. Once they’re growing, keep your potato plot evenly moist, particularly once the plants begin to bloom.
3. For fresh eating of baby or “new” potatoes, wait until the plants are in bloom. That’s usually a good indication that an early summer harvest is ready.
4. For storage potatoes, wait until the plants wither and turn brown, and then leave them in the soil for a further 3 weeks as their skins firm up. Harvest them for storage if there’s a threat of very cold or very wet weather.
5. Store potatoes in a cold, dark place, above freezing, with good ventilation. You can brush soil off your harvested spuds, but don’t wash them – the extra moisture is not good for storage. Check your stored potatoes frequently throughout winter, and remove any that are turning soft or looking mouldy.”

Read the full article.

There’s much controversy about genetically modified and genetically engineered food. Do you know what GMO really means and the impact it may be having on your food and health? Here are some of the basics:

A genetically modified organism (GMO) or genetically engineered organism (GE or GEO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is then transferred into an organism, giving it modified or novel genes. Transgenic organisms, a subset of GMOs, are organisms which have inserted DNA that originated in a different species.  (Source: Wikipedia)

Genetic modification itself isn’t new. It used to be done via selective breeding. This has always seemed a fairly natural method to cultivate the best of any plant or animal species. Remember grade school science class and Gregor Mendel’s pea plants? It was all about furthering the best, hardiest, tastiest genetic make up possible.

The discovery of DNA, however, has brought far more frightening and unnatural-seeming shifts in genetics, like the splicing together of plant and animal characteristics such as fish and strawberries.

“…the gene from a fish that lives in very cold seas has been inserted into a strawberry, allowing the fruit to be frost-tolerant.” (Source: Disabled-World.com and Mavis Butcher)

What About Choice

Okay, so eating strawberries with fish DNA is weird and may be objectionable to some. What’s more objectionable is that there are no labeling requirements allowing consumers to choose whether they want to eat GM or GE foods or opt out of the experiment. With the jury still out on the benefits of genetically engineered food, I’d like to have a choice thank you very much.

Steps to Avoid GMO/GE Food

There are things you can do to avoid genetically modified foods in your diet.

1. Get educated on which foods are typically genetically engineered and choose not to eat them
2. Eat 100% organic (sadly, organic may no longer guarantee non-GMO)
3. Look for products specifically labeled non-GMO and/or non-GE
4. Eat 100% grass-fed beef
5. Shop local and know your farmer

We may not yet be able to do away with GMO/GE altogether, but we can surely limit our support of the industry.

It seems a commonly held belief that the world can’t support the human population, but I’m not convinced. I’ve come to believe it’s more about access to food than it is availability of food.

Lisa Weasel, author of Food Fray addresses that very subject in a recent interview about genetically modified foods.

“When I was in Zambia I learned that a lot of the food aid issues there are really just transportation issues. The country has enough food but they can’t get it to the people who need it. Issues in India are economic in many cases. The country has enough food but people can’t afford to buy it even if it’s heavily subsidized.”

Read the full article at Cooking Up a Story.

A friend sent me a link to an old advert for DDT:

“The great expectations held for DDT have been realized. During 1946, exhaustive scientific tests have shown that, when properly used, DDT kills a host of destructive insect pests, and is a benefactor of all humanity.”

Hmmm, what a great reminder that magic bullets are best evaluated with long term results in mind.

Read the entire ad (note a link at the bottom to the original black & white ad with the correct chemical company name).