Archive for 2012
Global, Local, Political Action
Time for Canada to adopt a National right to food!
A special U.N. investigation found Canada is in violation of its international obligations when it comes to ensuring its citizens can access adequate and affordable food.
Nearly 800,000 households are too poor to afford adequate diets, a problem exacerbated by stingy welfare programs and low minimum wages, according to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to food.
Olivier De Schutter made the comments Wednesday after wrapping up an 11-day fact-finding mission of food security, the first of its kind to be done in a wealthy nation.
“These rates of food security are unacceptable and it is time for Canada to adopt a national right to food,” he said.
Read it on Global News: Global News | U.N. envoy to grade food security in Canada
Community, Events, Global, Local, Slow Food Calgary
Slow Food Canada’s National Meeting 2013
SAVE THE DATES!
Delegates from Slow Food convivia across Canada will meet in the Okanagan from April 26th to 29th, 2013.
The planning is underway. Stay tuned for details!
The Slow Food Edmonton convivium hosted the National Meeting in May of this year.
Have a look at the agenda and guests speakers for 2012.
Community, Events, Growers and Farmgate Sales, Local, Slow Food Calgary
May-June 2012 Foodshed Rural Routes Road Trip
sponsored by city palate
You know your doctor, you know your lawyer, you know your accountant….Who’s your farmer?
Writer, chef, poet, and food advocate dee Hobsbawn-Smith takes to the road with this provocative question. Visit the farmers close to you and learn more about
Foodshed: An Edible Alberta Alphabet, the intimate guide to Alberta’s sustainable food scene.
Check out the locations and dates of all the stops on the Rural Routes Road Trip:
Foodshed_AlbertaTour
Global, Local
Food companies fudge the numbers…
The Edmonton Journal reports…”Some of the world’s biggest food brands and leading organic labels have understated the amount of bad nutrients — such as fat, sugar and sodium — in their products, or overstated the good ones, internal government tests show.”
Community, Global, Recipes, Slow Food Calgary
Spring News from Slow Food Superior (Thunder Bay)…
The Slow Food Canada website is loaded with news of events and projects happening in convivia across the country. However, there’s no single source that does, nor could, capture the richness of thought and the complex of initiatives that occur in so many pockets of Canada under the rubric of Slow Food.
It would be a good idea to feature news from afield every month on this site. We’ll aim for that.
Here’s Slow Food Superior’s spring newsletter. It’s got recipes, end of winter root cellar advice and a great interview with a nine year old who is helping to form a Slow Food Kids convivium.
Check it out: Spring 2012newsletter
Slow Food Calgary
The Globe and Mail review of Foodshed, by dee Hobsbawn Smith
Patricia Dawn Robertson writes a compelling and insightful review of dee Hobsbawn Smith’s most recent book: Foodshed, An Edible Alberta Alphabet.
Robertson’s review of the book belies it’s easy-to-digest title. This is a book of many layers, covering the political and economic struggles of small-scale Alberta farmers, while mapping and celebrating the good food grown here.
Don’t miss the launch of Foodshed :
Dinner and a reading with dee Hobsbawn-Smith.
Featuring local producers and products from dee’s latest book, ‘Foodshed: An Edible Alberta Alphabet‘.
WHERE: The John Snow House, 915- 18th Avenue S.W.
Community, Events, Local, Political Action, Slow Food Calgary
Community Capital Network for Financing our Foodshed
Tuesday, April 10 from 10:45 am – 1:00 pm
Global Business Centre (Calgary Economic Development)
4th Floor Meeting Room, 136 – 8 Avenue SE
Join REAP and its partners for our monthly gathering and discussion about local investing models. We’ll dial in to the BALLE - living economies - webinar on accelerating community capital from 11:00 am-12:00 pm to learn about Financing our Foodshed: A Slow Money Investment Club & Peer-to-Peer Model. Carol Peppe Hewiit, cofounder of Slow Money North Carolina, will present a new approach pioneered by in 2011 when Chatham Marketplace, the local cooperative grocery store, refinanced its loan through 16 individual investors.
Please arrive at 10:45 am so that you can get settled before the BALLE webinar begins. After the webinar we’ll introduce ourselves over lunch and chat about the opportunities here in Calgary. Andrew Watson from Slow Money Alberta <http://slowmoneyalberta.org/> will be in attendance to tell us about what is happening locally. Lunch will be provided. We’ll wrap up by 1:00 pm. This event is free to attend but registration is required for planning purposes. Click here to register through the Meetup page. <http://www.meetup.com/
Calgary’s Community Capital Network is proudly sponsored by REAP Business Association <http://www.reapcalgary.com> and its partners: Thrive <http://www.thrivecalgary.org> , First Calgary Financial <http://www.firstcalgary.com> , Conscious Brands <http://www.consciousbrands.
REAP, 1908 – 50 Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta T2T 2W2, Canada
Community, Events, Local, Slow Food Calgary
Calgary Chefs Speak Out About Sustainable Food Systems
By Kristi Peters Snider
Across Canada, Chefs are facilitating local food movements by creating links between local farms and customers in their dining rooms through purchasing local products and featuring them on their menus. Restaurants and Chef’s interface with society in a unique way, and combined with purchasing power, they have the potential to be a strong driver for sustainable food systems change. Chefs are capable of introducing foods and influencing consumer choice; the root of many local food systems can be traced to the link between restaurant chefs and farmers; and restaurant food expenditures provide a viable market for local farm products.
We wanted to hear directly from some of Calgary’s top chefs about what they are doing in their kitchens, at their order desks, and at their back doors to support a sustainable local food system for Calgary. We caught up with some of them at the annual Slow Food Roots ‘n Shoots Dinner at River Café and this is what we heard:
Michael Dekker, Executive Chef, Rouge Restaurant
Photo Credit: Rouge Restaurant
What do you do to support a sustainable local food system?
To support our local food system, we go out into our surrounding area and use every possible resource of food we have here in Alberta. Both talking to our suppliers about new items as well as working with them to see how they can produce enough quantity of ingredients to hold it on a standard menu.
What are the daily challenges you face in your decision to support the local food system? What needs improvement?
The challenges are the supply of the given product and the cost.
How can we spread the word and get greater participation from Calgary Chefs?
For better participation we simply need to have more forums and resources for Chefs to be promoted. Booths at food shows and more presence in the local Chefs association could be one way. Also we need to develop larger supply chains to enable hotels and other larger function spaces to be able to order local ingredients and participate with their purchasing power.
Are there specific practices you have that promote food system sustainability in your kitchen? Ie. Charcuterie, training programs, community outreach?
We try to promote our food systems through daily activities while living in the reality that we can’t yet sustain ourselves locally. But every step we take in the right direction is a huge one!
Continue reading this article …
Community, Events, Local, Slow Food Calgary
Shots from Roots n’ Shoots…
Roots n’ Shoots is an annual multi-course dinner exploring the terrain of Alberta’s late-winter/early spring food landscape through the eyes and hearts of some of the city’s most inspiring – and inspired – chefs.
It took place on Monday, March 19th
at this event’s abiding venue:
River Café on Prince’s Island Park
Community, Events, Local, Slow Food Calgary
Reading at the Table: Alberta’s Foodshed by the Mouthful
Dinner and a reading with dee Hobsbawn-Smith.
Featuring local producers and products from dee’s latest book, ‘Foodshed: An Edible Alberta Alphabet‘.
WHERE: The John Snow House, 915- 18th Avenue S.W.
