Vert-à-Go

The Rights and Democracy delegation at the University of Saskatchewan presents its second annual forum entitled “Fair Trade Forum: Producers, Consumers and Social Change” tonight at the Frances Morrison Library Theatre.

This forum will address questions such as “Why fair trade? What are the goals of fair trade? What are the benefits of fair trade? And how does fair trade relate to issues of human rights and development?” from both a global and local perspective. Speakers will include STM sociology professor Dr Darrell McLaughlin, Marla Carlson of the organic prairie farm co-op Farmer Direct, and Carole Samdup (Rights & Democracy).

When: Thursday 23 April 2009, 7-9pm

Where: Frances Morrison Library Theatre (basement), Saskatoon (Google map)

Admission: FREE (refreshments will be served)

For more information: Facebook event page, or email rightsdemocracy.uofs@gmail.com or stan.yu@usask.ca

A doomsday email about proposed US food safety legislation (H.R. 875) has been making the rounds, scaring a lot of people and making a lot of unfounded and rather hysterical claims. Here’s the beginning of it, which will give you the gist:

House and Senate are about (in a week and a half) to vote on bill that will OUTLAW ORGANIC FARMING (bill HR 875). There is an enormous rush to get this into law within the next 2 weeks before people realize what is happening.

Main backer and lobbyist is Monsanto – chemical and genetic engineering giant corporation (and Cargill, ADM, and about 35 other related agri-giants). This bill will require organic farms to use specific fertilizers and poisonous insect sprays dictated by the newly formed agency to “make sure there is no danger to the public food supply”. This will include backyard gardens that grow food only for a family and not for sales.

If this passes then NO more heirloom clean seeds but only Monsanto genetically altered seeds that are now showing up with unexpected diseases in humans.

…etc, etc

I have not read the bill myself, but there have been rebuttals to the email’s extreme claims from a number of well-respected sources. Here are a few:

Tom Philpott at environmental news blog Grist asks, “Would new food-safety legislation criminalize organic farming? No.”

Food and Water Watch has a background page to H.R. 875 that tells you exactly what the bill does and does not cover. And a blog post on the subject.

Professor and author Marion Nestle ‘debunks 6 viral myths about H.R 875′ at The Daily Green.

Factcheck.org also has a great post dealing with a differently-worded email, from a decidedly non-panicked backyard organic gardener.

To sum up: although it looks as if it could certainly do with an amendment to protect small organic farmers from the worst expense of new food safety compliance rules, H.R. 875 will NOT force organic farms or backyard gardeners to use specific fertilizers and sprays, nor will it outlaw heirloom seeds. If you receive this email, please reply to the sender with the above information to reduce unnecessary panic.

Members of the Saskatoon Co-op are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting, which will be held Tuesday 21 April at 7pm.

The March newsletter addressed a number of environmental issues, outlining the Co-op’s green policies and initiatives. At the upcoming AGM, We Are Many Festival (WAM) organisers will be putting forth several environmentally-friendly resolutions. You will have the opportunity to vote  on LEED-standard building for all new Co-op edifices, independent energy audits of all existing buildings, and local food procurement (aka the perennial problem of pork, pickles, and potatoes).

If you’re a Co-op member (if you’re not, you can sign up at any Co-op store), come vote for these changes–they can have a dramatic impact on our city because the Co-op is one of our biggest companies.

When: Tuesday, 21 April, 6:30 registration, 7pm call to order

Where: Commonwealth Ballroom, Hilton Garden Inn, 90 22nd St E, Saskatoon (Google map)

For more information: Saskatoon Co-op web site, WAM Facebook group

The Saskatchewan Eco-Network will host the 4th Annual Saskatchewan Environmental Film Festival (”See the Change, Be the Change”) this weekend at the University of Saskatchewan.

How can we ensure a socially, environmentally, and financially-sustainable global economy? By creating sustainable local economies. That’s the thrust behind the conference kicking off tomorrow in Saskatoon, which aims to help Saskatchewan communities and businesses find a place in an economy that is rapidly becoming more focused on health and environmental sustainability.

“In Saskatchewan, as in much of the world, economic viability is increasingly sensitive to issues such as rising energy and transportation costs, distribution systems and concerns about climate change. As well, consumers are becoming ever more health and environmentally-conscious.

[This conference will be invaluable for] Saskatchewan producers, processors, vendors, business developers, community leaders, educators, and anyone interested in leading the charge to a healthy economy based on dynamic new ideas and business structures.” –conference program

Guest speakers include economist and community entrepeneur Michael Schuman (author of the blog Small-Mart), Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms, and Jim Green, the public voice of Kettle Chips, among others, who will discuss a wide variety of topics, including local food, sustainable practices, public spaces, value-added products, and marketing.  Their talks, special workshops, trade show, and networking opportunities can help you emplower your community, develop environmental stewardship, and ensure long-term economic viability in uncertain times.

Supporting the Growth of Local Living Economies in Saskatchewan conference
When: 24-25 March

Where: Saskatoon Inn, 2002 Airport Drive, Saskatoon, SK (Google map)

For more information: (306) 384-5817 or email seda@seda.sk.ca

Sponsored by the Saskatchewan Economic Development Corporation (SEDA) and the Saskatchewan Food Processors Association

Today, 22 March, is the United Nations’ World Water Day. This year’s theme deals with transboundary water–the lakes and rivers that cross political and geographical borders. This theme is a timely reminder that when it comes to water, we’re all in the same boat. We all need it every day, and we’re all vulnerable to the same problems that can affect our water supply: drought (as climate change reduces snowpack and rainfall) and contamination (by factories, transportation, agriculture, and individuals). We may live on a large and  (for now) seemingly abundant river here in Saskatoon, but that water has to travel a long way to get to us. What happens if and when something happens to the water supply upstream? Forget oil–it’s a water shortage that’s the real concern.

Most Canadians take clean and easily accessible drinking water for granted. But worldwide, 1 in 7 people do not have access to safe drinking water, and a child dies every 8 seconds from drinking contaminated water. It’s not just a problem in developing countries, however. No one is immune from the dangers of unclean water, as the deaths and illnesses in Walkerton and North Battleford tragically demonstrated. Last April there were nearly 1,900 “boil water” advisories in place in small communities across Canada. First Nations communities in particular are vulnerable to contaminated water supplies, due to environmental pollution and lack of proper treatment facilities.

Water supplies are also a giant concern. Although the earth is covered water, most of it is salty and only 1% of it is fit for drinking. Canada has a large share of the world’s fresh water, but we are also gluttons when it comes to water usage. The average Canadian uses an average of 329 litres of water per person per day, which is twice as much as Europeans. In Mozambique, the average person uses 1.3 litres of water per day–that’s less than one flush from a low-flow toilet. We seem to think that we can simply go on using as much as we like of it while dumping whatever we like into it (chemicals, fertilisers, animal waste, and other pollutants) and that it will just keep flowing, clean and pure, from the tap indefinitely. This is a profoundly deluded viewpoint, and it will come back to haunt future generations unless we smarten up and start treating water as the incredibly precious resource that it is.

Here are some links/petitions/events to help you learn more about the ‘hidden water’ you’re consuming, and which can also help you to reduce your water consumption:

• GOOD magazine’s illuminating table of typical daily water usage can show you exactly how you can cut your water footprint. Hint: pick chicken much more often than beef, and grains and vegetables much more often than meat.
• Waterfootprint.org can help you calculate your personal water footprint, and also features a product gallery showing how much water goes into what, complete with case studies.
• Inside The Bottle, a campaign against bottled water, is asking you to sign a petition today supporting public water systems in Canada and around the world. Pour yourself a glass and count yourself in as one of the many people who are choosing tap water over bottled, which is more expensive and uses far more energy and resources to produce.
• Core Neighbourhood Youth Co-op sells rain barrels–catching rain water for your garden can make a really satisfying dent in your summer water bill.
• Rethink that trip to Las Vegas–Lake Mead could be within a few years of going dry, which could literally leave Las Vegas high and dry (and Los Angeles too).
• Oxfam Saskatoon is showing two films on Tuesday, 24 March in honour of World Water Day–Sisters of the Planet and Refugees of the Blue Planet. These films will be shown from 2-4pm at the Neatby-Timlin Theatre (Arts 241) at the University of Saskatchewan.

Today, in honour of my 1/8th Irish heritage (and the very pleasant months I spent in Dublin), I made a pot of soup with some green inspiration. Not so much the colour, (although there is some green in there), but moreso its low ecological footprint (thanks to vegetarian/home-grown/local ingredients).

I chucked the following into water with some canned tomatoes (after sauteeing the vegetables in olive oil with a bit of garlic):

• green lentils (grown on my parents’ farm)
• chopped Swiss chard (frozen, from our garden last summer)
• potatoes and carrots (farmers’ market)
• onion (Alberta-grown)
• celery (US organic)

Once the lentils are tender, season with salt, pepper and a splash of basalmic vinegar. Serve with hearty bread.

Appropriately enough, there was also–finally!–a hint of the coming spring on this greenest of days. On our way past Homestead Ice Cream earlier today, the kids spotted that the OPEN sign was lit. As it is closed for a few months in the middle of winter, they were starting to miss it. So we walked over after dinner for some made-in-the-same-block ice cream–since they were out of Guinness (one of my personal favourite flavours!), I made mine mint chip, of course.

Happy St Patrick’s Day–hope your day turned out as lucky as ours!

The 10th annual Seedy Saturday seed exchange & eco-fair is today! Seedy Saturday is a fun and informative event promoting heirloom seed-saving, biodiversity, and sustainable living. Come along for lunch (soup, salad and bannock!), check out the many interesting information booths, and join in on the free presentations on several topics of interest. There will also be children’s activities running throughout the day.

See you there!

10th Annual Seedy Saturday

When: Saturday 14 March, 12-5pm

Where: Princess Alexandra School, 210 Ave H South, Saskatoon, SK (Google map)

Admission: $2. Lunch $2 or whatever you can pay

For more information: Seedy Saturday events (Seeds of Diversity), Dana (dana@chep.org or 655-5322)

The Environmental Working Group has just released the 5th edition of its Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides. This handy cut-out-and-carry card lists which fruits and vegetables have the highest (and lowest) levels of pesticides so you can see at a glance when it’s most important to buy organically-grown produce and when the benefits of organic are less dramatic.

An EWG simulation of thousands of consumers eating high and low pesticide diets shows that people can lower their pesticide exposure by almost 80 percent by avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated instead. Eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables will expose a person to about 10 pesticides per day, on average. Eating the 15 least contaminated will expose a person to less than 2 pesticides per day. (Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides)

Living in Saskatchewan, it’s much easier to find organic versions of some of the Dirty Dozen than others, especially if you prefer to buy more locally-grown produce. For instance:

• I don’t remember ever seeing organic BC peaches, nectarines,  pears, or cherries–I have seen Washington-grown ones at Safeway, but their taste was disappointing (I’ve eaten amazing organic soft fruit while in Washington, so freshness is obviously the issue, not inherent quality!). Most times, I would really rather eat something else entirely rather than risk spending a lot of money on imported out-of-season fruit that turns out to be sour or woody.
• Grandora Gardens (at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market) and other vendors sell bell peppers treated with biological controls during late-spring/summer/early-autumn. You can grow your own in the summer.
• It has become much easier to buy organically-grown strawberries in the supermarket–both Safeway and Extra Foods often have Driscoll’s organic berries for sale during the spring and summer (imported from California). Local u-pick strawberries are not organically grown and although they certainly try to minimise chemical application, I am unsure about the level of pesticides involved. It’s pretty easy to grow your own–they are perennials and like all berries, taste a thousand times better picked straight off the plant.
• Organically-grown celery is easily found at (most/selected branches) Safeway, Sobey’s, and Extra Foods–let me know if you have trouble tracking it down.
• I’ve not seen organically-grown kale, but suspect it would be available at Dad’s–this is not really something I ever buy as there are so many other options for locally-grown greens (buy grow, freeze, or sprout your own year-round).
• Lettuce, again, is available from Grandora Gardens and other farmers’ market vendors in season. It is also ridiculously easy to grow your own from early May-September.
• Chilean grapes are often treated with up to 17 different pesticides. If you can’t find organic ones, US-grown grapes use fewer pesticides.
• Organically-grown carrots are available in grocery stores, but the ones from the farmers’ market are far superior in taste. I don’t know if conventional Saskatchewan carrot growers need to use as many pesticides on their carrots as those grown further south–our drier climate and colder winters can help reduce the need for many fungicides/insecticides.

And as far as the Clean 15 goes?

1. I tend to buy onions either from the farmers’ market, but I have no qualms about buying conventional Manitoba-grown ones from the grocery store.
2. I don’t buy a lot of avocados but will likely continue to get the odd regular one from the grocery store.
3. I tend to buy fresh corn in season from the farmers’ market, and then conventionally-grown frozen.
4. I generally have a greater concern about whether pineapple (and other tropical fruit) is fair trade and what the working conditions are for the farm workers than whether it’s organic.
5. I’m not a huge mango fan!
6. I buy asparagus in season from the farmers’ market. I never buy it from South America as the food miles are just too appalling.
7. I buy fresh peas from the farmers’ market and am still trying to find a large-enough, sunny-enough patch to grow my own. Otherwise, frozen conventional.
8. Kiwi fruit gives me an anaphylactic reaction, so I never buy them! It is very high on the list of allergy-inducing fruit, so be careful before giving it to children or serving it to guests.
9. I buy cabbage from the farmers’ market is so fresh and delicious and economical, but good to know that the grocery store is an acceptable backup.
10. I have personally never figured out how to make eggplant edible, myself! I’ll happily eat someone else’s.
11. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a papaya!
12. I never buy watermelon out of the summer season because it comes so far and tastes so dreadful, but will feel more comfortable about buying it from the grocery store when I do (now, if I could just find a fool-proof method for choosing a good one! Any advice?).
13. Interesting that broccoli rates so highly. I would have thought it would have ranked much worse because of all the tiny flowers that are vulnerable to pests! I like to buy it locally when it’s in season because it’s so beautiful and fresh, and bought organic when it’s on sale. But I will feel much happier about picking up a bag of regularly-grown from the bargain bin in future!
14. Again, interesting that tomatoes rated so highly. I would have thought they’d be worse, although I suppose if they’re grown in a greenhouse, pests are not a huge problem. My main issue is that grocery store tomatoes taste vile, and conventionally-grown tomatoes can be vulnerable to salmonella due to bad growing practices. Avoiding pesticide residue is not the only reason to buy organic! I grow my own in the summer, and buy from Grandora/other farmers’ market vendors during late spring/summer/autumn. (it takes a *lot* of energy to heat a greenhouse in Saskatchewan, or even BC, in the winter–very possibly moreso than growing them in a hot southern field and trucking them north). Seasonality is my main consideration–I haven’t bought a fresh tomato for months (and yes, I am missing them A LOT).
15. Sweet potato is something else that I’d usually get at the regular grocery store.

Here are the lists of the best and the worst–you can get a printable version of the EWG Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides that you can put in your wallet here. Remember, avoiding pesticide residue is not the sole reason for buying organically grown produce–organic practices can help improve soil, reduce water usage, improve environmental conditions for animals, birds, and insects, and may (but certainly not always!) go hand in hand with better working conditions for farm workers. It often (but again, certainly not always) may have a lower risk of disease or contamination. Conversely, local conventionally-grown produce may in fact have a better environmental footprint than imported organic. But reducing pesticide exposure is a pretty major concern for most organic consumers, and so it pays to know exactly what you’re eating.

The Dirty Dozen (always buy organic)

1. peach
2. apple
3. bell pepper
4. celery
5. nectarine
6. strawberries
7. cherries
8. kale
9. lettuce
10. grapes–imported (this is a US guide, so this would mean non-US-grown grapes)
11. carrot
12. pear

The Clean 15 (lowest in pesticides)

1. onion
2. avocado
3. corn
4. pineapple
5. mango
6. asparagus
7. peas
8. kiwi
9. cabbage
10. eggplant
11. papaya
12. watermelon
13. broccoli
14. tomato
15. sweet potato

On Friday, 20 March, the College of Medicine will hold the latest lecture in its Global Health Series. Dr David Waltner-Toews will discuss the topic “Chickens, Sex and Salmonella: Why our food is making us sick”.

David Waltner-Toews is a veterinarian, epidemiologist, teacher, international researcher, essayist and poet. He is a professor in the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph and the founding president of Veterinarians without Borders and of the Network for Ecosystem Sustainability and Health.

Dr Waltner-Toews is an expert in the epidemiology of food and waterborne diseases, zoonoses (diseases animals share with people), global environmental change and emerging diseases, “one health”, and ecosystem approaches to health. He is the author of The Chickens Fight Back: Pandemic Panics and Deadly Diseases that Jump from Animals to Humans, and Food, Sex and Salmonella: How our Food is Making Us Sick.

Chickens, Sex and Salmonella lecture

When: Friday 20 March, 12:30-2pm

Where: B450 Health Science Building, 107 Wiggins Road (next to the Dental Clinic), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK (Google map)

Admission: FREE (light lunch provided)

*Sponsored by the COM Internationalization Committee, Health Everywhere, International Research Office, IPU Arts & Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Global Health Research Interest Group*