Going to China...

The Good Villager, Something to Chew On, and Bees Alive! are going to China on Thursday. Hunan province. We are excited and are hoping to encounter good, local organic gardening, farming and beekeeping/bee stewardship initiatives. Hopefully something we can become involved with using basic Mandarin :)

Stay tuned!

Toronto: St Lawrence Market

One of my favourite places to go when I am in Toronto is the St Lawrence Market. In addition to being a place to find good eats, it is a fantastic place to watch people and life, listen to music and talk to strangers. I do it all.

There are two buildings to this market: the Saturday Farmers' Market or North Market building (which houses other things, namely antiques, on other days of the week), and the South Market building (open Tuesday to Sunday with two floors of permanent vendors of many different products, including fruit and veg). The two markets straddle Front Street, with Jarvis Street bordering the east sides of both buildings.

There has been a farmers' market in this location since about 1803, making it one of the older markets in Canada. I've had the opportunity to sell at the Saturday Farmers' market, and like all markets old and new, there are politics. Squabbling over 2 inches of space that your table has been moved by another vendor, the unavailablility of a cart at the exact time that you want to load or unload your produce. But there is also a family-like feel. For long-term vendors, you get to know both your neighbours and your customers, and when you're not there, people miss you.

The South Market, according to some of the vendors at the Saturday Market, is "for tourists". I am not sure that that is the most accurate statement, and I didn't get the impression that the comment was a compliment. While I am a farmers' market purist in many ways, and have a strong dislike for touristy things, I do actually like the South Market quite a bit. There are some shops/stalls within this market that might be interesting for tourists, but there is a heck of a lot of atmosphere, which scores high for me. There are also many, many locals shopping there. I've watched downtown Toronto cops on their early morning beat stop in to say 'hi' to vendors and pick up their morning peameal bacon breakfast sandwich (so much for donuts!). And I remember one March morning sitting with my coffee and a pastry watching the market start to get busy, and a fellow sat down and started talking to me. He was very local and had been coming to the South Market a few days a week for the past several years to buy cheese, meat and other things. I guess you are more likely to find items that are not local in the South Market (e.g., there is a fellow housed in the basement who imports honey from around the world), but it is still an excellent place to shop, sit and watch.

Myself, to sum up the differences between the two markets using my own behaviour as an example, I go to the North/Farmers' Market if I want to buy produce, and I go to the South Market if I want entertainment, a place to sit down with a good view, and to buy things like fish, imported item, or Niagara region wine.

I'm always satisfied after a visit.

Howling at the moon with the folks at Lunar Rhythm Gardens

If 2008 was about getting up close and personal with farmers' markets, 2009 was defined by finding my way into a close encounter of the agricultural kind through a farming internship. I think to truly understand food access and nutrition issues, you really have to get to the root (literally) of it all - you have to get your hands truly dirty and sow and grow. I spent some of the year looking for a place to lend a hand.

For one reason or another, none of the farms I contacted in BC worked out, but I have had some luck in Ontario. A few farms had been looking for folks to finish out the year's harvest with them in exchange for room and board, and I managed to get on with an inspiring new partnership called Lunar Rhythm Gardens (http://lunarrhythmgardens.wordpress.com/). The primary focus of this outfit is to establish a mutually profitable relationship between themselves (the farmers) and the community in the form of Community Shared Agriculture (CSA). In short, CSA promotes local food production and consumption when farmers sell "shares" of their yield to community members. Each week, members pick up their portion of what has been harvested by the farmers either at the farm itself or a specified location. In addition, the farm can organize events such as an afternoon weed and feed (a little work and then a potluck) - members get to know their farmers and other community members.

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I've been here a few days now and am in deep. I'm working and learning. I've been to market to sell - very interesting being on the other side of the table after my work last year helping to set up, promote and run farmers' markets. I've also been weeding, cleaning, picking, loading, unloading, preparing food for the animals on the farm, clipping turkey wings... and of course, my vocabulary is expanding. I'm tired, but I'm having a great time.

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In addition to the million or so questions I've already bombarded these truly amazing farmers with, I have one for everyone out there. Why doesn't each child in our country get a chance to experience life on a farm as part of his or her education? It is so incredibly important to understand and appreciate where our food - our REAL food - comes from...

Blackberry season rant...

It is blackberry season in Nanaimo, British Columbia (and other places, of course). On yet another walk today, I noticed more of these fruit-laden bushes - even more of a jackpot than I had found previously. It seems that wild blackberries are everywhere - easily accessible to those on foot, and the best part - FREE. So I have been taking advantage - combining exercise with my foraging for food. I bring a container with me and fill it to the brim. Breakfast for the next two days. And really, to not take advantage of a nutrient-dense, antioxidant-laden food such as this for FREE, is insane.

But the thing is, people aren't taking advantage. And as food access is a major interest for me, I have to ask 'why not?' Blackberries have been ready for picking for several weeks now, and will be available for a handful more, and the bushes are barely touched. Countless apparently starving people (over 10% of accounted-for British Columbians live below the poverty line*) are not picking, and sadly, the fruit will end up rotting. Not picking, even on weekends under clear skies on safe walking trails close to the centre of town endlessly lined with blackberry bushes.

I can't answer the 'why not' question, but I would love to know. I'm sure I could gather a long list of reasons ranging from a socialist 'the poor are not empowered and thus don't trust resources available to them' to a conservative 'the poor are lazy and prefer handouts to taking reponsibility for their own well-being and that of their families'. And it is probably some complex combination of this entire range of views. The bottom line to me is that it is sad that people with little money and children to feed aren't out there teaching their kids about ages-old resource-gathering as well as actually providing good food to them at the same time.

At least for now, that means more blackberries for me...

* source: http://intraspec.ca/CCSD/BC_Social_Development_Report_FINAL.pdf

**photo taken on the Trans Canada Trail in Nanaimo