It's All About the Little Things

During the holiday season, which for me is stressful more often than not, I find it useful to change my perspective and look at the big picture. Most years, this means reminding myself that no matter how much my family members irritate me (after too much time spent in close quarters), I still love them, and even though I have to travel pretty far to be with them, I'm still glad to be in good company over the holidays. This year however, I switched my mindset in a new way: I muted the voice inside my head that rants and raves about the poor decisions made by the government (you know, the usual, policies that will cause harm to human and environmental health). What did I pay attention to instead? The little things!

Over the past week I experienced small moments of delight whenever I noticed a simple action taken by my family members to reduce their environmental footprint and protect their health. Take for instance my mom, who saves water every time she takes a shower. As you can see in the photo above, she keeps large juice bottles in the bathroom so that she can fill them with the cold water that runs out of the tap before the hot water makes its way from the heater in the basement to the shower on the second floor. Later, she uses the juice bottles to fill a watering can which she uses on her indoor plants. Brilliant!

There were little things of a green nature in my brother and sister-in-law's home, too, like organic milk. Keeping pesticide-laden feed, copious amounts of antibiotics, and unnecessary synthetic growth hormones away from dairy farms means healthier cows, healthier humans, fewer superbugs, and a safer environment. My brother also attached his indoor Christmas lights to a timer so that they wouldn't run all night, and my sister-in-law told me the car sits unused for one or two weeks at a time. In the kitchen I found dish soap containing only natural fragrances and no phthalates. The list goes on!

I received some great eco-friendly gifts, too, like a bottle opener made from post-consumer materials that is completely recyclable, an energy-efficient electric blanket that will let me turn my thermostat even lower than I already do overnight, and a teflon-free rice cooker made of stainless steel in a double-boiler configuration. At a time of year marked by unnecessary consumption, excessive gift-wrapping, food waste, and high carbon emissions from extensive travelling, it was an absolute pleasure to delight in these lovely things.

What green actions does your family engage in? What green products did you receive as gifts?

5 Ways to Green Your Holiday Food Bank Donations

At this time of year, many people spend a lot of time running around crowded malls in search of gifts for family, friends, colleagues, teachers, neighbours, even mere acquaintances. Little thought is given to the spirit of the holidays and the value of spending more quality time with loved ones. Thankfully, some of us are able to stop for long enough to consider the less fortunate, for whom the daily struggle of putting food on the table far outweighs the desire for accumulating "stuff".

If one of your goals for this month is to make a donation to a local food bank, I'd like to offer the following tips that will ensure your generous contribution will not only feed the hungry, but also leave the smallest footprint on the planet.

1. Apply the same good food rules you use for your household grocery shopping to the items intended for the donation bin. In other words, choose cans of tuna labelled as line-caught albacore or skipjack, and look for non-perishable items containing locally grown ingredients processed in your area.


2. Select whole foods rather than overly processed junk food to avoid scary chemical-based additives and preservatives that do as much damage to the environment as they do to human health. Don't forget that the longer the ingredient list, the more energy likely went into the making of the product!


3. If you can afford to, choose organic food. It's a shame that healthier options cost more in our current food system, but remember that you're voting with your dollars every time you buy better products, whether they are destined for your own dinner table or someone else's.


4. Try to find cans labelled as BPA-free. It's a tragedy that those who rely on food banks end up ingesting far more bisphenol A than the average person, simply because their veggies and seafood so frequently come in cans, and most cans are lined with BPA. But we can help make a difference!


5. Avoid plastic and waste: opt for food packaged in cardboard boxes and glass jars (check if your local food bank will accept glass) and select bulk items rather than individual servings, such as oatmeal, juice, and canned fruit. And don't forget to use your reusable grocery bags to transport the food.

For ideas on which items are needed most, please consult the Stop Community Food Centre's website, and consider asking your local food bank about their donation guidelines. May the holidays be happy, healthy, and dignified for all.


Photo of food donation bins used under Creative Commons from photologue_np (flickr).

I'd rather think about chocolate.

Today Mayor Ford revealed the draft of the 2012 City of Toronto budget that will go to City Council for a vote on January 19th. If you've been following my blog even on an infrequent basis, you'll know that I'm not a fan of the mayor's attitude, values, and decisions, so it comes as no surprise that I'm unhappy about what he said today. Want a taste? How about a ten-cent fare hike on the TTC, in addition to the service cuts I just told you about on Friday? Or reductions to Toronto Public Library hours and acquisitions? Or the closing of three homeless shelters over the next two years? Or cutting 138 arts programs and projects? Or the elimination of WheelTrans service to dialysis patients? Sigh. Then there's the rumour that Canada is going to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol and is already trying to convince other countries to do so, too. In other words, I'm experiencing mood swings, only instead of a happy-sad dichotomy, I'm going back and forth between anger and shame. So... instead of thinking about all of this, I want to think about chocolate!

Chocosol makes artisanal chocolate in Toronto. The cacao beans are grown on small, organic farms in Mexico, using a direct and fair trade system, and the chocolate is handmade and delivered by bicycle around the city. I've promised many of my fellow bloggers that I'd do a full piece on Chocosol, but seeing as I haven't gotten around to it, and Slow Food Toronto just did, it's probably best if I just re-post the article here! FYI, my favourite Chocosol chocolate bar flavour is Five Chili Bullet. One square is a dessert unto itself!

Slow Food Spotlight: Chocosol

"Chocolate is a vehicle for my expression, my voice, my hopes, my love of people, community and health", says Michael Sacco, founder of the Chocosol Learning Community and Social Enterprise. Visionary, inventor, actionist and steward of indigenous knowledge - he is truly inspirational.

In 2003, Michael founded Chocosol with a group of innovative and dynamic individuals in Toronto and Mexico. The trans-local relationship between the growers in Mexico and artisanal chocolate makers here in Toronto is a shining example of true horizontal trade. The resulting chocolate is an expression of beauty - food for the body, mind and soil. As a community, Chocosol believes that sustainable foods should be fun to make, pleasurable, and an outlet for creativity.



Sacco learned to make chocolate in a small village near Oaxaca, Mexico. Working alongside indigenous farmers and artisanal chocolate makers, he learned ancient, time-honoured traditions. The dark, exotic cacao bean was an integral part of ancient Oaxacan culture - the tradition continues today. This knowledge he now stewards and passes on to others, "People ask me if I'm a chocolatier - I'm not creating chocolate, I'm stewarding that knowledge, regenerating that knowledge. Because it was here long before me and it will be here long after me."

As a born actionist, he believes that ordinary people can do the extraordinary - the point is to just start doing it. The goal being "to really work with civil societies, communities and lead by example. Always bringing the means and the ends together, the living, the researching, the working, and take the busyness out of life. Find a way to make living and learning a more holistic expression of the art of living and dying with dignity".



Mentored by his "Mexican family", Michael was inspired to create Chocosol. The chocolate created from the cacao bean is a symbol embodying his philosophy about life - the belief in dignified work for all. In his words, "Dignity is the ability to say yes when you mean yes and no when you mean no, as well as have a vehicle for your creativity."

There are at least twenty varieties of the cacao bean, each with a distinct flavour. The varieties can be tasted and classified - much like wine. As a chocolate sommelier, Michael understands the complexities of the cacao bean and the type of chocolate food to create from each variety. The nuances of the bean are influenced by many factors including the variety, soil, climate and fermentation techniques.

Chocosol creates "eating and drinking chocolate" - not dessert. The cacao bean is abundantly nutritious, high in protein and one of the richest sources of antioxidants of any known food. The five flavours of chocolate bars available are: Sinfully Raw Vanilla, Hemp Gold, Darkness, Coconut and Five Chili Bullet. Each flavour is uniquely delicious for its carefully chosen cacao variety and additional ingredients, including organic amaranth, vanilla, hemp, coconut, chile and agave nectar. My personal favourite is the Five Chili Bullet bar - as it is introduced to the palate it begins with a rich, dark, woodsy cacao flavour, followed by a burst of spicy peppery fire, which quickly and surprisingly diminishes to finish with a subtle sweetness.

Integral to the taste and nutrition of the chocolate are the traditional methods used in its creation. Beginning in Mexico, the cacao beans are grown organically on small two- to three-hectare plots. Once harvested, the cacao gets broken, fermented for 7 to 8 days, washed, sun-dried, and stored in a series of community depots. From there, Michael works directly with the growers, ensuring a fair price, then ships to Toronto with a minimal carbon footprint.

The Cacao Loft, Chocosol's Toronto kitchen, is filled with the sights, sounds and aromas of artisanal chocolate making. Upon entering The Cacao Loft, I immediately felt a strong sense of community, conviviality and hospitality. This was particularly demonstrated by a young chocolista, Ilyan, who showed me through the kitchen, discussing the chocolate-making process, and giving me samples of his latest creations. Ilyan then set up several beautiful cacao and chocolate "sets" so I could photograph the essence of this beautiful food.

Unlike, European-style chocolate making, Chocosol does not roast the cacao beans at high temperatures, which eliminates many of the nutrients. Instead, the cacao is solar roasted and ground using a stone grinder. The slow, traditional process heats the beans only enough to activate the oils - 85% of the chocolate is considered raw food. After becoming tired of hand grinding, Michael invented a bicycle grinder, which is now used for demonstrations and for pre-processing ingredients such as vanilla. "We make chocolate that is good for the mind, body and soil - retaining the power of the cacao as food".

Chocosol is committed to being as environmentally friendly as possible. The use of energy is minimized through solar and pedal power as well as the use of a 220 current. Much of the work is done manually and by a using pedal-powered grinder - invented by Michael. The Cacao Loft now has a green roof, providing fresh ingredients for the kitchen and significantly reducing energy costs. Over 70% of the material in the kitchen was upcycled - found items restored to give them new life. A new 3500-square-foot facility is currently in the works, which will be state-of-the-art in terms of energy efficiency.

Chocosol has expanded its offerings to include coffee and tortillas - my favourite Saturday morning breakfast at the Brick Works Farmers Market. The fair trade coffee is imported by Chocosol, then roasted by the Classic Roasting Company in Concord. The roasting takes place in an all-stainless steel plant that recycles the heat from its roasters to increase energy efficiency - maximizing flavour through a low-emission process.

Michael's work continues through The Fresh Tortilla Project where he embraces the idea of global food produced locally. Corn tortillas are made using locally grown heirloom corn and traditional methods handed down through indigenous people in Mexico. The corn takes two days to prepare - one day to boil and a second day to grind using a stone grinder. The tortillas are then prepared fresh at farmers markets.

At Trent University, where Michael is a PhD candidate in Indigenous Studies, he is heading up The Milpa Project. The goal of the project is to demonstrate how small plots of land (milpa) can produce sustainable agriculture. Traditionally Milpa plots grow corn, squash and beans - at Trent that will be expanded to include a broader polyculture. The project provides a model for sustainable agriculture that can be readily duplicated.

Chocosol chocolate, coffee and tortillas are available at the Cacao Loft, located at 6 St. Joseph St. - bring your own container and receive 10% more chocolate for the same price. The same applies when purchasing at any of the following farmer's markets: Apple Tree, Brick Works, Sorauren, Dufferin Grove, Riverdale and Wychwood Barns. Several shops and cafes also carry the chocolate, visit www.chocosoltraders.com for more information.

As a role model for all of us, Michael embodies true actionism while maintaining a strong sense of fun. My favourite quote from our conversation, "the greatest need now is to reconnect to the soil and food is a beautiful bridge. It gets you right into the soil".


Interview and article written by Lea Phillips, copywriter and communications specialist - passionate about local, sustainable, delicious food!  www.leaphillips.com.

© 2011 Slow Food Toronto

http://slowfood.to/slow-food-spotlight/chocosol/

Friday Feel Good News

It's Friday, and in my books, that means it's time to feel good. Let's set aside the doom-and-gloom stories for a moment and focus on some good news!

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Today's FFGN is less about news and more about feeling good. Check out this cute Star Wars-themed parody of the war between conventional and organic food:



It's so cheesy but so funny at the same time! The facts about unsustainable practices in modern industrial farming must get out to more people; why not speak in a language that a huge chunk of the population understands? Obi-Wan Cannoli is right when he says that people don't even want to know where their food comes from, they just want low prices. Who knows, maybe someday it will be possible for a potato "father" to have a cucumber "son" thanks to genetic engineering.

I hope you enjoyed the video, and have a great weekend!

Get Your Share of Locally and Sustainably Grown Veggies

Take some seeds, one part rain, two parts sun, and a generous amount of heat, and all that's missing is you: it's time to purchase your share in Young Urban Farmers Community Shared Agriculture program!

It only costs the equivalent of six lattes a week to get your hands on a bounty of the freshest, most locally grown veggies in Toronto. This is Young Urban Farmers CSA's second year growing food in backyards in the Wychwood, Lawrence Park, and Riverdale neighbourhoods, and it's going to be a great season. I've already told you how thrilling it was to receive and cook with veggies grown minutes from my home (especially considering I don't have a garden of my own), and I've alluded to my rewarding volunteer involvement with YUF CSA; now it's time to fit you into this picture. I am shamelessly advertising this great opportunity because I've benefited so much from it and really want to see the organization thrive.

What do you get? Only the tastiest GMO-free, organically grown heirloom varieties of leaf lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, kale, broccoli, radishes, beets, carrots, leeks, garlic, spring onions, shallots, tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, beans, peas, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, and herbs. Southern Ontario simply overflows with food in the summer months; why would you want to buy imported veggies trucked in from far away to the supermarket? Even a farmer's market can't beat this freshness - you take home your share mere hours after it was harvested, often in the very same garden it was grown in.

Support your health, the environment, and the local economy by investing in YUF CSA today. If you don't live in Toronto, please pass this on to those you know that do, and click here for a list of CSAs in Ontario.

Do you own a share in a CSA? If not, what's holding you back?

Seedy Sunday

It's still a week away, but I grew tired of hearing about Valentine's Day about a month ago. Thankfully, that was around the time when lots of buzz around Seedy Sunday was beginning to build up, and now there are only five days to go until the big event in Toronto!

Seedy Sundays (and Saturdays) promote biodiversity and encourage the sharing of traditional knowledge about growing plants. At these events, Seed Exchange Tables are set up to help you exchange food and flower seeds with other gardeners, making it easy to grow organic, heirloom, and native varieties of plants. Once you've stocked up on seeds, stick around for workshops and presentations, then mingle with the other green thumbs in attendance!

The Toronto Community Garden Network is hosting three Seedy events this year: one in downtown Toronto (Hart House at U of T on Sunday, February 13th, 12:30 - 6:00 pm), one in Scarborough (Heron Park Recreation Centre on Saturday, March 12th, 12:00 - 4:00 pm), and one in North York (Lawrence Heights Community Centre on Sunday, March 27th, 1:00 - 5:00 pm). Entrance is by donation. Click here for more details.

This year's theme is access: access to seeds, to gardening, and to food. Gardening can be such an empowering activity because it allows you to provide food for yourself and your family, it gives you control over how your food is grown, it teaches children about where food comes from, it reduces your stress, it improves your health through physical activity, and it meets your social needs when you use space in a community garden. That's why it's important to increase everyone's access to gardening, especially those struggling to make ends meet and those with physical and mental disabilities.

Do you garden? In your backyard or at a community garden? How did you get into it? If you don't garden, what are some of the barriers preventing you from getting involved?

Photo credit.

Day 4 - Food

This week I'm experimenting with No Impact Week, exploring some of my past successes at decreasing my carbon footprint and generating even better ideas for the future. My goal is to challenge myself to redo the week later this year when it will have the greatest impact on my day-to-day life. Click here for a review of Day 1 - Consumption, Day 2 - Trash, and Day 3 - Transportation.

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Day 4 - Food

This could be a very long post. When it comes to environmental issues, problems with the way we grow, process, market, consume, and waste food pretty much top the list for me. So instead of writing until 2012, I'll keep things brief by giving you a bullet-point list of the things I do to lower my food-related carbon footprint. Get comfy, this will still be long.

A selection of produce from my CSA share, late July 2010.

• I'm a big fan of eating locally and seasonally, and I held true to my values over the summer by participating in Young Urban Farmers CSA. In the fall, I went to my local farmers' market as often as I could, but since it's open on Saturdays and the past two fell on holidays... let's say my fridge doesn't have a lot of Ontario-grown produce in it right now.

• I'm happy to state that I've made big strides in the direction of vegetarianism! My general rules are to avoid meat altogether when I'm dining out, unless the restaurant uses a local, hormone- and antibiotic-free, non-factory farm source for their meat. I try to keep to the same criteria when I find myself in front of a butcher counter, and when I can afford it, I cross town to visit butchers who sell organic meat from farmers they actually know. Raising cows is one of the most resource-intensive and polluting agricultural activities, so I have almost completely cut beef out of my diet - and between you and me (and the entire internet, haha) I find Betsy kinda boring, with the exception of using slices of flank steak for a stir-fry. Will I eventually become a vegetarian? It's quite likely.

• I carry a pocket guide that indicates which fish have been caught/raised in environmentally sustainable ways and have a low mercury content (three cheers for Toronto Public Health) to make smart decisions. Goodbye salmon, shrimp, red snapper, and tuna. Those are the losses I feel most acutely. Sea urchin, on the other hand - my brother can attest to this - I am not sad to see in the "bad choice" column.

• The bad news? Off the top of my head, these are some of the foods from outside of Ontario that I currently can't bring myself to give up: avocados, bananas, citrus (lemons, oranges, and clementines), mangoes, olives and olive oil, pineapples, rice, salt, and wheat (bread). The good news? I don't have to feel too guilty about my consumption of chocolate if I switch from a fancy Swiss brand to Chocosol, purveyors of artisanal chocolate made from cacao beans that have been fairly traded for in a socially just way, plus other ingredients that are grown locally. And the real kicker is that the final product is delivered to your door by bike! Be still my beating heart...

• The big dilemma: what to do about coffee and tea. I mostly quit coffee in 2006 for health reasons (consuming either too much or too little caffeine in coffee format was causing migraines as a withdrawal/overdose symptom) and I continue to avoid it most days of the week - not an easy feat considering I'm tempted every day, living in a neighbourhood with some of the best espresso outside of Italy. But what about tea, that warming, soothing, nourishing beverage that I can't go without for more than a few hours at a time? Does it help that half of what I own is organic? Does it matter that I sometimes drink a tisane made entirely from Ontario-grown herbs (thank you for cluing me in on this blend, Karen at Stratford Tea Leaves)? Am I making a noticeable difference by drinking loose leaf teas rather than using tea bags, which require extra resources and much more processing? What about the fact that unlike coffee, I don't add any milk or sugar to tea? Or, consider this: isn't tea responsible for lower transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions than coffee (on a cup for cup basis, due to how much less tea you need, and how much less it weighs than coffee)? I'll need some time to better research this topic!

• Let's not forget alcoholic beverages. I buy local wines from Niagara and über-local beer from downtown (Steam Whistle, Mill St., and Amsterdam). Enough said.

• For the most part, I don't buy a lot of processed foods; I ate my last McMeal over ten years ago and will never go back; I cook at home rather than order in; I brown-bag my lunch instead of heading to the food court; I occasionally bake my own bread and pizza dough (like today!); and when I dine out, I prefer restaurants that respect the slow food approach and I'm always on lookout for restaurants that serve Local Food Plus certified food.

I couldn't write this post without talking about the importance of developing local food systems. In fact, besides trying to cut out more meat, dairy, and non-local, unseasonal produce from my diet, working to change our food system can have a big impact on my carbon footprint, and yours, too. To that effect, check out these eleven great ideas for contributing to the good food movement, brought to you by Food Forward. You don't have to make eleven changes; just choose the ones that are practical and achievable for you, and pass on the list to your family, friends, and colleagues. We're all in this together.

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When it comes to our impact on the planet, despite the bad news and warnings that we've passed the point where we can fix this mess we're in, I remain inspired, heartened, motivated, grateful for, and deeply happy that we live in an age where it is possible to make the kinds of choices I've been talking about all week. Thank you, humanity.

Photo credits: Tsukiji tuna market; coffee/tea/sugar containers.

CSAs: Part of Healthy Diet

What happens when you mix heirloom plants, fertile urban gardens, high heat on sunny days (interspersed with short-lived but heavy rain showers), and lots of hard work from dedicated farmers?


A gorgeous crop of fruit and vegetables grown no farther than a dozen or so km from where I live. All mine!

That's because I bought a share with the Young Urban Farmers (YUF) CSA (community shared agriculture) to be able to enjoy more tasty food than I can consume within a week for the rest of the growing season. Featured in this week's share were, in alphabetical order:

• a blue jay bell pepper
  
• cilantro
• dill
  
• an eggplant
• flat-leaf parsley
• ground cherries (in lantern-shaped husks)
  
• hot peppers
• kale
  
• mixed salad greens
• papaya pear squash
• peas (too shy to pose for the picture)
  
• peter pan squash
• a plum
• purple kohlrabi
• radishes
• swiss chard
• thai basil
• zucchini

Can you spot them all?

When I decided to join a CSA this year, I had some difficulty deciding which one to put my money behind. Luckily, I came across YUF and immediately fell in love with them: they grow their produce in city residents' backyards, not a suburban farm! Better yet, due to a lack of storage facilities, the crops are harvested no earlier than the night before I pick them up. And if that still doesn't convince you these folks are great, consider this: they specialize in heirloom and organic varieties that aren't available at the local grocery store or even farmers markets! That's more exclusive than the iPhone 4.

This summer, my weekly local food shares have challenged me to cook and prepare vegetables I previously could not even identify. What I've discovered is that for intimidating vegetables, simple methods work best: cut swiss chard into bite-sized pieces, then wilt in a pan with sautéed garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I add a spritz of lemon juice when I'm feeling particularly adventurous. It's that easy! No wonder there are so many celebrity chefs on TV...

Community shared agriculture is an excellent idea because it benefits everyone involved: the "customers" receive very fresh, very local, organic food and pay about the same as they would in a grocery store, except they know the "who", "where", and "how" of the life cycle of the produce. Also, shareholders are supporting the local economy, help to maintain land used for agriculture rather than urban sprawl, and get to learn about how food is grown and when it is in season (this is especially vital for children living in the city).

Meanwhile, the farmers gain from this system by making a living without having to share profits with distributors. By receiving in the spring the budget they need to carry them through the whole season, producers can focus on the farm and the quality of the crops they are growing. Furthermore, the direct relationship they have with shareholders fosters a sense of responsibility and pride in their work. Even the land itself benefits! CSAs use sustainable farming practices, and in the case of YUF, areas that were previously unused (resident's grass-covered backyards) are transformed into productive land.

While I look up a recipe to make use of that purple kohlrabi from this week's share, check out the links below that will help you source a CSA in your area and find out more about how you can support ecologically sound and socially equitable agriculture.

• Ontario CSA Farm Directory
• LocalHarvest (search American CSAs by zip code)
• Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association: Introduction to CSA

Happy eating.