Winterlicious is upon us once again, in case you hadn’t seen the many ads around town. It’s running between January 28 to February 10, and reservations for the prix fixe treats are now being taken.
The lunch menus are running at $15, $20 or $25, and dinner menus are at $25, $30, or $35. These all include starter (or appetizer, as I like to say), entrée (or main course — never understood why the French word for “appetizer” has somehow become “main course”, anyone?), and dessert.
Drinks, taxes and tip are additional.
The City of Toronto site has a handy restaurant list where you can sort restos by various criteria, including Price, type of Cuisine, and Neighbourhood. And I’m very excited to say that one of the Cuisine criteria is Local/ Fresh Market.
Hooray!
Now exactly which restos are truly Local and which are Fresh Market is hard to tell. I’m thinking we at LocalFoody may have a good opportunity here to broaden our database.
All that said, LFP is promoting three of its certified local restaurants:
Reds Bistro
Veritas
Auberge du pommier
Bon appétit!
Eating local is akin to eating seasonally, and the benefits are widespread for the eater, the economy and the environment. Most of the time, eating seasonally is also a lot of fun, you get to discover new foods and learn new ways to prepare them. But what are we supposed to do in the middle of winter?
Eating local in winter often means eating the foods that were picked and sometimes preserved in autumn, at the end of the last harvest. Look at the foods your grandmother (or great-grandmother, depending on your age) would have prepared: soups, stews, breads, meat (for meat-eaters), root vegetables, fruits, pulses, pasta, grains.
Thanks to the wonders of the greenhouse and winter farming, we do have access to delicious local food in winter.
Here is a list of locally available foods. It is by no means exhaustive, but I want to show that while our choices are more limited this time of year, we still have some decent options.
Vegetables: Beets, carrots, cabbage, celeriac root, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, red kale, leeks, button mushrooms, crimini mushrooms, Portobello, shitake, red and yellow onions, parsnip (everyone’s fave!), fingerling potatoes, rutabaga, acorn squash, butternut squash, pumpkin, spaghetti squash, turnip, sweet potatoes.
(Thank you Pfennings, for listing where your food comes from on your website)
Fruit: apples, pears, dried fruits — like apricots, raisins, prunes, cherries, apple, certain berries, etc.
Grains and pulses: wheat, spelt, oats, barley, rice, millet, amaranth, quinoa, flax, corn, buckwheat, hemp, beans (pinto, kidney, navy beans, black), lentils (red, green), split peas (green, yellow).
Animal foods: milk, eggs, yogurt, kefir, cheese, beef, chicken, duck, pork, turkey.
Seeds: sunflower, pumpkin, sesame.
(Thank you Grassroots Organics for listing your bounty)
If you aren’t always able to find local foods, don’t fret. Take a minute to think about your reasons for choosing local in the first place, and apply these same principles to the foods that are available. If you’re concerned about nutrition or the environment, opt for the foods that meet your criteria ( organic, sustainable, fair trade, etc.).
In the meantime, as we wait patiently for those first cherries to appear, we can become soup and stew experts. Here are a couple yummy winter recipes to help get you started:
Epicurious – Celery Root and Potato Puree with Roasted Jerusalem Artichoke “Croutons”
101Cookbooks – Lively up yourself lentil soup
I’m pretty excited for this event:
Join us for a special Toronto screening of The Economics of Happiness at the William Doo Auditorium, New College, University of Toronto. The film will be preceded by a reception and exhibit of artwork by Sheridan College students entitled ‘Animating Good Food Ideas’. It will be followed by a panel discussion with producer Helena Norberg-Hodge, activist chef Joshna Maharaj and urban farmer Eric Rosenkrantz, moderated by author Wayne Roberts.
when: 5:30 pm – 9:00/9:30 pm, Monday, January 24th
5:30 – 7:00 pm – Animating Good Food Ideas, Exhibit and Reception
7:00 – Introduction to the film and screening
8:30 – Panel discussion
where: William Doo Auditorium, New College, University of Toronto; 45 Willcocks Street, in the basement of the New College Residence (Enter the William Doo Auditorium through the door at the Southeast corner of Willcocks Street & Spadina Avenue).
organizational partners: Sustain Ontario; New College (University of Toronto); Equity Studies (New College, University of Toronto); Office of Residence and Student Life (New College, University of Toronto); Hart House (University of Toronto); Hart House Social Justice Committee; FoodShare Toronto; Local Food Plus; Toronto Food Policy Council; The Stop Community Food Centre; Meal Exchange; and Sheridan College.
*** update: This event is free!
It’s another new year and some of you might have decided to entertain a resolution or two. After avoiding such things for the past several years, I decided to creep into 2011 on a quieter, more contemplative note and have come up with a few priorities for myself.
On the topic of changing habits, and of course, more specifically, food habits, check out the TedxHart House lectures of last month, The Future of Food.
Jason Qu, recent graduate and coordinator of U of T’s campus agriculture program, discusses campus food initiatives, and suggests a more holistic approach to food is the starting point that will stick.
The Secret Classroom
Lauren Baker, Director of Sustain Ontario, discusses changing the farming system and creating more opportunities for the little guy. Here, here!
10 Good Food Ideas
I can’t find the lectures of the other speakers, Dan Donovan (chef and product developer for Ontario’s Own), and chefs Jeffrey Crump and Bettina Schormann, of Ancaster Mill.
If anyone has those links, please share!
Bonne année!
We’re all very excited to announce that LocalFoody is now a member and tenant of the Centre for Social Innovation in downtown Toronto.
In their own words:
The Centre for Social Innovation is a dynamic space in downtown Toronto, Canada. Our mission is to spark and support new ideas that are tackling the social, environmental, economic and cultural challenges we face today. We’re creating the spaces that social innovation needs to thrive and we’re contributing a few of our own ideas along the way!
We are honoured to be joining the ranks of such successful organizations as the David Suzuki Foundation, Spacing magazine, Toronto Cyclists Union, Ontario Nonprofit Network, Professional Writer’s Association of Canada, and rabble.ca.
Watch this space for more updates as we increase our momentum and do more and more to help people find good food.
You might be wondering what’s up with our logo. And you wouldn’t be the first. After all, as a general rule, people don’t eat grass, and our mantra here at LocalFoody is “Helping People Find Good Food”. So, what gives?
Well, to quote Michael Pollan “All Flesh is Grass”. This is the title of Chapter 8 in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the book that drove me to create LocalFoody, and the sense of it touched me profoundly.
Grass is at the foundation of a sustainable food system, one that is in harmony with nature, and balances inputs and outputs for the good of humans and other animals alike. From the pastures we domesticated animals on, to the corns, greens and other grass variants that sustain us, grass has long been at the core of our food system.
In Pollan’s words:
“Our species’ coevolutionary alliance with the grasses has deep roots and has probably done more to ensure our success as a species than any other with the possible exception of the trillion or so bacteria that inhabit the human gut.”
This Friday, Dec. 17, 2010, is the first ever No Fast Food (Eat Real) Day!
Consider this day as a small pre-holiday season challenge!
I say small because, it isn’t really that hard to eat real food.
That said, over the next few weeks, you may well participate in some culinary excesses. You might have a meal at a friend’s or family member’s house, perhaps someone who doesn’t (yet) share your local-food values and interests.
Or you might be travelling, and forced to choose between greasy fast food joint X and sugary donut n’ coffee joint Y. There may even be times when you will have to (shudder) choose between eating badly or not eating at all!
So, I ask this: make Friday, December 17 the day that you do make the choice to eat real, to slow down and think about the food you eat.
Today is Tuesday. This is fair warning. You have time to organize. You have time to shop. Just one day. Just try it.
No Fast Food Day is the brainchild of Food Forward, a dynamic new and super-friendly food-focused non-profit on the Toronto scene.
Sign up and commit!
I dropped by The Sweet Potato last Friday and had a chance to chat a bit with Tracy from LocalFoodPlus. LFP has expanded! They have gone national and are now certifying farmers in Québec, British Columbia and Manitoba, in addition to Ontario. Nice!
To help promote LFP and support local farmers and suppliers, not to mention eat some tasty, fresh, local food, take the LFP pledge to shift $10 of your food budget to certified local sustainable food.
Better yet, go visit the folks from LFP yourself and sign up at these locations:
• Bonne Vie – Dec. 9th, 1:00 pm-6:00 pm
• Wholesome Market – Dec. 17th, 4:00 pm-7:00 pm and Dec. 18th, 11:00 am-4:00 pm
• Fiesta Farms – Every Saturday and Sunday in Dec., 11:00 am-4:00pm
If you’re lucky, they might even give you a handy button to decorate your winter coat.
Cool green fun fact!
As of the time I’m writing this, 2634 people have taken the LFP pledge,? reducing greenhousegases by 263 cars, and creating 26 new jobs!
Hart House is presenting TEDxHart House: The Future of Food on December 6, at 6:00pm.
Very cool.
“The Future of Food will explore some of the factors we must weigh as we choose what foods make it into our shopping carts. With the rise of issues like ethical eating, factory farming and food scarcity, the world is awakening to how we sow, grow, raise, reap, slaughter, transport, distribute, buy, share, cook, eat and dispose of food.” Read more.
The Bad News. The event is booked solid and they are no longer accepting applications to attend.
The Good News. They are filming the event and will be posting it on the TEDxYouTube channel afterwards.
Mark your calendars!
I came across some fascinating photos today by San Antonia TX-based photographer Mark Menjivar, who traveled the US examining food issues and photographing people’s fridges as he found them, warts and all.
“One person likened the question, ‘May I photograph the interior of your fridge?’ to asking someone to pose nude for the camera.”
Mmmm. Fridges are kinda personal.
The exhibit is called You Are What You Eat.
Enjoy, my voyeuristic friends!
