I went to a wonderful event last spring called, Weaving the Chains: Heritage Grains and CSAs. It was put on by Farm Folk City Folk (FFCF). They are part of a grain revival movement in BC. Until the 1940’s, grain was being grown here in significant quantities, but the Prairies […] Read More
On Christmas morning, I eat their chocolate cherry panettone. That herald of the season. It is tradition. At Easter this year, I was surprised by their chocolate hazelnut brioche. A poem in my mouth. Mother’s Day brought little chocolate cakes, tall cupcakes really with a caramel butter cream icing! Although […] Read More
“I will be in town and therefore near a phone this Tuesday between 9 & 5,” wrote Lynda Dixon in an email, replying to my request to interview her. Ok, already I was intrigued. Her response implied that she wasn’t normally near a phone. Which probably had a lot to […] Read More
I am leading a tour to the University of British Columbia (UBC) Farm on Hallowe’en. Some of you may know the long struggle that has been going on to save that farm, the only remaining market farm in the city. The administration wants to pave it and put up some […] Read More
Today is my birthday. It is also National Boss Day, a coincidence not lost on my close friends and colleagues or my mother who used to call me Bossy Boodle. It is also World Food Day, the day the United Nations’ (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was founded in […] Read More
I am speaking about food security at an event in Langley on Saturday hosted by the Langley Environmental Partners Society (LEPS) and the Township of Langley. The Green Living Symposium winds up Waterweeks and kicks off Waste Reduction week in Langley. Other speakers include Ian Lai, founder of the Terra […] Read More
I am not sure if we’re gaining ground. It doesn’t look like it from so many angles. But perhaps the stellar line up of speakers at the Gaining Ground Conference (Oct 20-22) in Vancouver will have a brighter perspective. Speakers include author Paul Hawken; Bill Rees, of ecological footprint fame; […] Read More
There is a fabulous celebration of food going on in Vancouver until World Food Day (October 16th). Sustenance: Feasting on Art and Culture is presented by a number of great groups working on food issues; Get Local (a partnered project of FarmFolk/CityFolk and the Vancouver Farmers Market, and the BC […] Read More
Tom Stearns is coming to Vernon, BC. He’s one of my heroes. If you don’t know him, you’re about to hear who he is. He’s the owner of High Mowing Organic Seeds and one of the residents of Hardwick, Vermont who helped to save their town by focusing on the […] Read More
Just back from the Okanagan. I spent nearly two weeks of the summer “at home”. I still call it that because my folks and now both my brothers live there, as well as my adorable, precocious five-year old nephew. It was a fruitful time. Although it is now clear that […] Read More