Vert-à-Go

The 4th annual fundraising gala for CHEP (Child Hunger and Education Program) will be held this Saturday, 4 April. Entitled “Think Global: Eat Local”, this lively gala will include a delicious dinner featuring unique international cuisine, live music, student entertainment, door prizes, and silent auction. In keeping with the global theme of the event, the dress code is creative international or business casual–prizes will be given out for Best Dressed attendees.

All proceeds from the evening will go towards programs helping to break the cycle of poverty and fight root causes of hunger. CHEP’s programming includes Children’s Food & Nutrition Programs and Family Food Security Initiatives such as collective kitchens, the Good Food Box, community gardening, and senior stores.

This is a great opportunity to support CHEP and its vital work in helping people living in Saskatoon. I would be there in a flash if I wasn’t completely flattened by the flu right now!

When: Saturday, 4 April, 6pm (reception, cash bar, silent auction), 7pm (dinner and wine bar), 8pm (program, music & dancing)

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

Cost: $50 (including $15 tax receipt), or $35 for students (with no tax receipt)

For more information: CHEP web site, or call Dana on 655-5322 or email dana@chep.org

This event is presented by Health Everywhere, students from the College of Medicine, and CHEP.

“At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time….We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.”

–Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Today, December 26th, is Boxing Day in much of the English-speaking world. The tradition of Boxing Day most likely emerged during the English Middle Ages, when alms were given to the needy and servants were given gifts and the day off by their employers in lieu of Christmas. It is not, historically (as a person-on-the-street on CBC Radio this morning blithely declared), “a capitalist holiday”–although it certainly seems to have become one in the past couple of decades in Canada.

After a day when so many of us have been so richly blessed, it really seems more appropriate to spend it sharing some of our good fortune with others who need it so badly. Most if not all of these charities will issue tax receipts (check for a Canadian tax receipt number), so make sure you make your donation before the 31st of December to make it count on your 2008 tax return.

Here is a small sampling of organisations and programs that have a particular emphasis on feeding and providing food security for disadvantaged people–both near at home or half a world away. Most of them have secure online donation facilities, which makes it as easy as shopping online–and a lot more satisfying.

• UNICEF (Buy 25 sachets of a therapeutic high-protein nutty spread that makes the difference between life and death for severely malnourished children, or high energy biscuits which provide immediate emergency nutrition for girls and boys, amongst other Gifts of Magic) $13-30-–other gifts $10 and up
• 10,000 Villages Gift of Seeds (Provide 10 families in needy areas with vegetable seeds and fruit seedlings) $25 (other Living Gifts also available)
  
• Heifer International (Buy animals that can provide food and livelihood for needy families) US$10 and up
• Red Cross Food Security Crisis Appeal (They are stepping up food security programs in 15 African countries) any amount greatly appreciated

Don’t forget closer to home, too:

• The Saskatoon Food Bank serves 12,000 visitors each month and its goal is to close its doors. When I phoned them before Christmas they said they needed ‘everything’. Its most wanted items list suggests canned beans, canned meat, canned soup, canned fruits and vegetables, peanut butter, whole grain cereals, baby formula, and baby food are always highly welcomed. Food bank donation bins are available at most, if not all, grocery stores as well as the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market, so it is very easy to donate. You can also make a cash donation.
• The Saskatoon Friendship Inn serves 500 meals a day to Saskatoon men, women and children. They are grateful for both staple food and money donations (you can call to see if there is anything in particular that they need–for Christmas, for example, they were looking for turkeys, vegetables, coffee, and so on)
• CHEP–the Child Hunger Education Project–works with children, families, and communities to improve access to good food and promote food security. They run the (sadly, much-needed) children’s nutrition program, which provides breakfast, lunch, snacks, and supper to hungry kids in the city, as well as a wide range of other fabulous hands-on educational programs and community services.
• Station 20 West, with the help of the generous people of Saskatoon, is working towards breaking ground for the Good Food Junction–a locally owned grocery store cooperative–in May 2009. This grocery store will vastly improve access to good quality, affordable food for people living in Saskatoon’s core neighbourhoods, who have been without a proper grocery store within reasonable walking distance for a decade.

I wish you and your families a happy, safe, well-fed, and contented holiday season!

Looking for a last-minute gift for someone special? Here are some ideas that are sustainable, organic, local, and ethical!

Stocking stuffers (under $10)

• Fair trade chocolate bar (lots of different flavours–try Divine from 10,000 Villages, Cocoa Camino or Endangered Species from Steep Hill Co-op, Herbs and Health, or Dad’s Nutrition Centre)
• Fair trade peppercorns (you can get Orchard del Sol’s from Bulk Cheese Warehouse)
• Mini-bottle of black pansy or red clover syrup (from Bedard Creek Acres, available at the SaskMade Marketplace)
• Droolin’ Devil hot sauce (many delicious Saskatoon-made varieties available at various supermarkets, including Pelican Market on Lorne Avenue, or their headquarters at #5-801 7th Ave N)
• Premala’s spicy peanut spread (it’s yummy straight-up or as a marinade–get it at various supermarkets and their stall at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market)

For bookworms

It isn’t Christmas without a new book to read. Turning The Tide bookstore has some of these titles in stock and will happily special-order anything in for you; McNally Robinson also has some of them too.

• Stuffed & Starved, Raj Patel (an illuminating look at the roots of the global food crisis)
• Everything I Want to Do is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front,  Joel Salatin (a funny and inspiring book from the American alternative agriculture guru)
• Introduction to Permaculture, Bill Mollison (the original and probably best sustainable agriculture resource guide)
• All New Square Foot Gardening, Mel Bartholomew (maximise your vegetable yield in a tiny space while cutting your workload–a great practical guide to the square foot gardening method)
• How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman (cut your carbon emissions with the new vegetarian bible)
• Anything by Nigel Slater. Want something to curl up and browse? Try Appetite. Want something you’ll use even after both the covers fall off and it’s spattered beyond recognition? 30-Minute Cook or Real Fast Food will become your fast friends.
• How to Cook a Wolf, MFK Fisher (an amusing and thought-provoking book on how to feed yourself during hard times (first published in 1942). “[It] reads like an issue of Lady’s Home Journal, if the editorial staff were taken over by a philosopher with an empty stomach, a slightly tipsy poet and your mischievous, foxy godmother who once kept many lovers.”

For the gardener

• Salt Spring Seeds Zero Mile Diet Seed Kit (A dozen different seed packets to help you become food self-sufficient–includes Blue Tinge Ethiopian Wheat, Faust Barley, Golden Flax, Multi-hued Quinoa, Amaranth Mix, Heritage Bean Mix, Darlaine Soup Pea, Winnifred’s Garbanzo, Manitoba Soybean, Russian Kale, 20 Lettuce Blend and Mishca Paste Tomato, as well as grower’s guide). $42
• Seeds of Diversity membership (Canada’s heritage seed program for gardeners–the source for information about heritage seeds, seed saving, plant diversity, garden history and your own garden heritage) $30 annual membership
• Sign them up for the University of Saskatchewan Master Gardener program (Become a Master Gardener–learn the art and science of gardening, meet fellow horticultural enthusiasts, and help the community) Registration fee $100 (total fees under $400)
• Subscription to The Gardener for the Prairies magazine $18 for one year, $34 for 2 years
• Urban Land Army’s Land Survey Kit (Looking for somewhere to grow? Want to assess the land you already have? This handy kit from the friendly folks at Urban Land Army has everything you need to get started–essential information, checklists, graph paper, clipboard, and pencil!) US$8

For the eager but underequipped convert

Have they read The Omnivore’s Dillemma and are now raring to go–but don’t know where to start? Help them out:

• Stainless steel compost pail (These are good-looking, easy-to-clean pails from Lee Valley that you can keep out on your countertop) $20 for 4L, $22 for 6L
• Hori hori Japanese farmer knife (I’m told that you don’t really need any other gardening hand tool if you have one of these. I’m hoping for one for Christmas myself, as my trowel disappeared this summer!) $22.50 carbon steel, $29.50 stainless steel
• Stock pot (The best way keep stray vegetables, meat bones, and assorted leftovers out of the landfill? Learn how to make stock–and soup–and nourish yourself at the same time. But you’ll need a big pot like this one from Zellers if you want to make a big batch) $29.99
• How to Boil Water, Food Network Kitchens (Want to quit eating fast food and ready-meals but don’t have the faintest idea where to start in the kitchen? This book is a fantastic primer for the absolute beginner cook) US$16.50
• Follow Vert-à-Go (Don’t miss a single post: RSS it, Twitter it, del.icio.us it, or join us on Facebook) Delightfully free
  

For kids

Start them as you’d like them to go on:

• Kid-sized garden tools (They’ll love helping out with their very own tools from Lee Valley, which are bright enough to spot even if they’re left lying on the ground) $7
• Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes: a cookbook for preschoolers and up, Mollie Katzen and Ann Henderson (This book from the famous Moosewood Restaurant team features delicious vegetarian recipes that little kids will love. It’s designed to teach them valuable culinary skills in a fun way and inspire a love of real cooking and good food!)
• Get growing kit (Get them started with some easy-grow and satisfying seeds like carrots, beans, and lettuce–stick them in a small light-weight sturdy pail that they can use to carry rain water, harvested vegetables, or leaves/corn husks/other small bits destined for the compost bin) About $7, more or less
• Vermicomposting box (Core Neighbourhood Youth Co-op does a worm composting box that’s perfect for people who don’t have an outdoor compost bin–and kids love helping to feed the worms) $50
• Child’s sun hat (MEC’s hat is made in Canada, partly from organically-grown cotton, and has a long flap to cover the neck and keep the sun off during those busy mornings in the garden or the berry patch) $18

For the SOLE food gourmand

• Fair trade coffee or tea (Try the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from The Roastery, Kicking Horse from Sobey’s, Salt Spring Coffee from Herbs and Health, or enjoy the aroma while choosing from the wide fair trade organic selection at McQuarries) $10 and up for 1 pound
• Fair trade olive oil (Zatoun’s olive oil, available at Turning the Tide bookstore or 10,000 Villages, benefits Palestinian farmers and children in the West Bank) $18 for a 750ml bottle
• Organic wine (There are some good ones now available at the LBS–the Bonterra zinfandel is highly recommended) $13 and up
• Locally-brewed special edition winter ale (Call Paddock Wood Brewery on 477-5632 to see if they have any of their delightful Winter Ale left. Available at the brewery store only) $3.50 apiece or $18/half-dozen
• Divine dark chocolate fair trade after dinner mints (Available at 10,000 Villages, it’s the quintessential square after-dinner chocolate mint–only fairly made) $6.95
• Saskatoon Farmers’ Market goodie basket (Assemble a basket of delicious locally-grown and produced food for an unforgettable meal–how about some artisan bread, a couple of steaks from Benlock Farms, organic potatoes and carrots, cherry swirl ice cream…or exquisite mini-cupcakes…or wild Saskatchewan blueberries…or mouth-watering mini-baklavas?) Sky’s the limit!

Share your bounty

What shows your love better than something you made with your own two hands?

• salsa
• jam
• pickles
• homemade bread
• a box of Christmas cookies, treats–or wrap up a frozen cookie dough log

For the person who has everything

• Give to UNICEF (You can buy high energy biscuits which provide immediate nutrition for girls and boys or water treatment tablets that ensures safe drinking water for large numbers of people, amongst other Gifts of Magic) $20-30–other gifts $10 and up
• 10,000 Villages Gift of Seeds (Provide 10 families in needy areas with vegetable seeds and fruit seedlings) $25
• Donate to the Red Cross Food Security Crisis Appeal (They are stepping up food security programs in 15 African countries) any amount greatly appreciated
• Make a local donation and help hungry kids and adults in your community (Saskatoon Food Bank, CHEP, Station 20 West) any amount greatly appreciated
• Urban Land Army t-shirt (Join the Urban Land Army campaign and show off your allegiance with this nicely-fitted and comfy t-shirt. Everyone needs another t-shirt to garden in, right?) US$18 taxes and shipping included

Happy holidays!

For more information: CHEP web site

TV chef Jamie Oliver appeared in front of the UK House of Commons health committee yesterday, testifying about how he believes the downturn in the economy could lead to people eating unhealthier food. Huge numbers of people simply no longer know how to cook, he claims, and over the years have grown to rely heavily on fast food, junk food, takeaways, and prepared meals. Oliver’s TV series ‘Jamie’s Dinners’, about his uphill battle to improve the eating habits of schoolchildren, certainly seems to bear up that assertion:

But what will happen to these people as real food grows increasingly expensive? Oliver says that in the past, people were able to use their cooking skills to make nutritious meals even when money was tight, but now there is a generation of young people who are nervous about using raw ingredients and simply don’t know the first thing about how to prepare them. He fears that these people will be forced by sheer economics to eat even more of the cheap (and usually nasty) food available, which could lead to an even bigger obesity problem in the UK, especially among children.

Of course, the UK isn’t the only place feeling the effect of higher food prices, the ubiquitousness of fast-food restaurants, and the rise of obesity. In the US, it’s even worse. And at least one fast-food chain is now explicitly using the shaky economy as part of their newest ad campaign. In this ad for KFC’s $10 Challenge, a family visits a grocery store and tries to buy all the ingredients for a chicken supper for under $10, only to throw their hands up in failure and, laughing, run out of the store to KFC to buy supper instead. It really has to be seen to be believed.

I don’t have the time or space to rant about how offensive this ad is on so many levels (mocking people’s money problems! insulting their budgeting/grocery shopping skills! having the gall to claim that fast food is equivalent to home cooking! assuming that no one already has a single food staple in their cupboard!), so I’ll leave it up to chef Kurt Michael Friese on Grist, who explains in detail about how he beat KFC’s $10 ‘family meal’ challenge. And he even gives you the recipes at the end. Beat that, KFC!

The Chinese melamine poisoning scandal caused a lot of people to take a closer look at their Halloween candy this year. I suspect that a lot of candy labelled ‘Made in China’ was simply thrown away by nervous parents after their kids brought it home. I know that I culled a fair amount of my kids’ treats–some because it was made in China and didn’t have any ingredients listed, some because it was overwhelmingly composed of corn syrup and modified palm oil. Other stuff got axed because it was just too ridiculously sugary for little kids (such as…tubes of powdered sugar). I didn’t really fancy dealing with a squishy-style bender, and preschoolers aren’t known for the thoroughness of their toothbrushing technique (besides, I just really fancied those Twizzlers).

But health considerations aside, there are other reasons that we need to look twice at that mound of brightly-wrapped chocolate. Most cocoa beans (from which chocolate is made) are grown by farmers and plantation workers who live in dire poverty and often suffer appalling working conditions. Over 100,000 of those workers are children–and most of them are working against their will.

The US Department of State has estimated that more than 109,000 children in Cote d’Ivoire’s cocoa industry work under “the worst forms of child labor,” and that some 10,000 or more are victims of human trafficking or enslavement. These child workers labor for long, punishing hours, using dangerous tools and facing frequent exposure to dangerous pesticides as they travel great distances in the grueling heat. Those who labor as slaves must also suffer frequent beatings and other cruel treatment.

–“The Cocoa Protocol: Success or Failure?”, June 2008, International Labour Rights Forum

Although the cocoa industry agreed to abolish child labour seven years ago, little or no improvement has been made. Cocoa companies promised to make their cocoa “child labour-free” by 2005, and when they completely missed that target, promised to

make 50% of farms child labour-free by 2008. That hasn’t happened either. In the meantime, tens of thousands of children and their families suffer in grinding poverty–earning only about 1 cent from the dollar or so we pay for a chocolate bar.

So what can we do to help the children who are the victims of the international cocoa trade, especially at this prime candy-buying time of year?

• Buy fair trade chocolate. Certified fair trade chocolate production prohibits child labour, increases the amount of money paid to farmers, and encourages safer and more environmentally sustainable farming methods. I bought mini Cocoa Camino chocolates to give away to trick-or-treaters this year. Try 10,000 Villages, Steep Hill Co-op, Herbs and Health, or Just Delights (664-6071).

• Go Reverse Trick-or-Treating. This Global Exchange campaign sets kids up with samples of free trade chocolate and postcards detailing the benefits of buying fairly traded chocolate, which they can hand out as they make their rounds. It’s a great chance to sweetly introduce people to the concept of fair trade!

• Think homemade (if and where possible). Homemade treats have mostly gone the way of the dodo bird, due to fear of tampering by unknown nutters. But you could still give out your great popcorn balls or cookies to the kids and parents you know well. It’s a sad state of affairs when people are so afraid of their own neighbours that they won’t let their kid eat a home-made treat from someone they see every day, but will let them scarf all the trans-fat laden, non-identifiable mystery-ingredient junk they can stomach. Maybe you could make it a personal challenge to get to know as many of the families on your block as you can and break down that distrust–a summer block party can be a great way to get people to open up to their neighbours.

• Try alternatives to chocolate. When I was a kid, we used to get apples. How delightfully retro! We weren’t always overjoyed, but we still ate them. This year I gave out little boxes of raisins along with the chocolate. You could also try something like Pure Fun candies–organic, kosher, vegan, fair trade candies made in Canada and the USA. They make lollipops, as well as individually wrapped sweets. Dad’s and Nutters carry their products–ask them to bring in the Halloween pack! There’s also peanuts in the shell (I wouldn’t hand these out unless there is a parent right there to say it was ok, in case of allergies), fruit leather, chips, pretzels, savoury snacks, juice boxes, applesauce/fruit cups…

• Politely pester retailers to carry fair trade candy. Stores won’t bring it in unless enough people ask them for it. So ask for it! We need to create alternatives to the mainstream chocolate and candy trade so that they know what they should be doing when their customers abandon them for their unethical business decisions.