Tag Archives: Vancouver

Help Sole Food Street Farms Grow

Help Sole Food GrowEnvision individuals with few resources and limited opportunities being given the chance to do meaningful work, help contribute to a community that respects them, and grow lots of healthy vegetables (we know gardening is therapeutic). What a great social enterprise, right?

Then garden so effectively in limited space in an urban environment and harvest so much food you can make it available not only to individuals at farmers markets, but also to local restaurants. Lots of them. And do it all in a financially self-sustaining manner. That’s not possible, right? Oh but it is. Continue reading →

Partners in Gardening

If you don’t have the time, patience or sense of adventure to grow a garden in your spacious yard but hate seeing all that real estate go to waste, how about having someone come in, work your garden for you, and leave payment in the form of a regular supply of fresh, organic produce?

There are a variety of creative gardening partnership options to choose from, including sharing or leasing.

Check out City Farm Boy, Kitsilano Farms and Sharing Backyards for more information.

Granola Leaves Me Dry

I’m working my way through a package of New World Natural Foods organic, barley malt granola. It’s slow going.

I liked all of the things that the packaging had to say:

  • Locally made here in BC
  • Organic
  • High fibre
  • Low sodium
  • No sugar added

What I can’t get past is the crunchy chew. I don’t mean the traditional crunchy granola texture that’s a result of a toasted, sugar coating. I mean a crunchy, the-oats-didn’t-quite-get-cooked-through texture. Like rice that’s taken off the stove too soon and is still crunchy inside.

Maybe that’s what they were going for, but I like even my healthy food not to wear out my jaw.

On the upside, New World is pretty conscientious about their product. They source locally as much as possible, pack in recyclable or biodegradable containers, add no processed sugar and very little salt.

And I recognize and can pronounce everything on the list of ingredients.

Have you tried this product? Add your feedback, post a comment…

Fresh Take on Water: “Vancouver Tap”

While at dinner with a friend a few years ago, I was amused when the waiter offered me a choice of either “bottled water” or “Vancouver Tap”. It was a higher end restaurant and I thought this was a great way to describe the less exciting option. It wasn’t just tap water – it was a much sexier, well-branded “Vancouver Tap”.

1057179_drinking_water_2Perhaps the ultimate in consuming local food and beverages, tap water is beginning a return to vogue. With the realization that bottled water leaves behind, well, bottles (3 million in Vancouver area landfills last year alone), many environmental groups and, indeed, Metro Vancouver itself, are lobbying residents to take another look at “Vancouver Tap”. In fact, Metro Vancouver has a current goal to reduce bottled water use by 20% by 2010 by encouraging residents to refill reusable water bottles with tap water.

Further to the environmental affects, the cost of bottles vs. tap is staggering. Bottled water costs $1-2 per litre while tap water in Metro Vancouver costs a mere $0.80 per 1,000 litres. If you’re concerned about the chlorine taste in the water (used to disinfect the water from both the Capilano and Seymour reservoirs), water filtration systems such as Brita can help.

So, next time you need to quench that thirst, reach for “Vancouver Tap”: it’s cheap, safe, and leaves no bottle behind.

Vegan Tastes Good. Who Knew?

You can be forgiven for thinking the word “vegan” means the opposite of “tasty” as I did until my recent run-in with New World Natural Foods chocolate Bliss Balls. I’d seen them around before, but always steered clear since the regular ones look a little too wholesome and fibrous to actually taste good.

I expected them to be full of chewy ground nuts, grains and fruit, but these chocolatey treats are more like large, quality chocolate truffles than a (slightly) more healthy alternative to same. What they don’t have is eggs, milk or wheat. What they do have is smooth, velvety, melt-in-your-mouth, great taste.

I guess what it boils down to is this: some people want to eat vegan and still have a few treats, and those of us who aren’t vegan like the idea of eating a more socially responsible form of chocolate decadence.

I’m good with that.

Note: Another thing I like is that the container was made of corn and fully biodegradable, even though it looks like standard issue, plastic.

Have you tried this product? Add your feedback, post a comment…

Living Lightly Showcases Be the Change

On Tuesday, March 31st the Living Lightly Project will be screening Be the Change at the Vancouver Public Library. The documentary by filmmaker David Chernushenko explores why some people choose to live more sustainably and what it might take to get more of us on board with the concept.

The Living Lightly Project has a refreshing philosophy on what can sometimes be a very political topic.

    “Living Lightly is a pursuit, a philosophy or maybe even a quest. It is a social movement with a very individual approach, and as such can be very public and communal, or very private and personal…

    “Living Lightly is not about guilt, sacrifice or preaching to others. Living Lightly is about choosing to embrace a way of life that is exciting, challenging, rewarding, humbling, and as full of mistakes and dilemmas as it is full of achievements and certainty.”

I like that approach. We don’t have to beat people over the head or blather on about how hard it is to live more consciously. It can actually be fun and challenging. A bit of an adventure even.

Check out the Living Lightly Project www.livinglightly.ca

Check out the Living Lightly Project www.livinglightly.ca