Vert-à-Go

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 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

Lettuce and carrots nestled up against anemones, dianthus, and daylilies in the front garden

Last spring I took the plunge and dug up our front lawn.  I had gradually been chipping away at it over a number of years, replacing it with low-maintenance perennials. But that wasn’t enough–I wanted something I could eat! I put in a herb spiral and planted carrots, lettuce, spinach, and other greens. The first year was a big success and I was really pleased with the result.

The front garden is not only far more attractive and inviting than it used to be (we actually sit out front now, which we never used to do). It is also now filled with plants that are appropriate to the yard’s micro-climate, which require less maintenance (no mowing!) and which were kept going almost completely with rainwater the entire summer (no need to choose between an ugly dried-out lawn or a big water bill). Plus, we could eat most of them!

Many people are getting excited about the growing Food Not Lawns movement. I’ll be giving a talk for the Saskatchewan Environmental Society (SES) at J S Wood Library next month (Wednesday 11 February) on what it’s all about, and show you how easy it is to transform your front lawn into something really special that can nourish the body and the soul. I’ll be showing a lot of pictures and examples and there will be plenty of time for questions and comments. I’m reallly looking forward to it, and hope to see you there!

Food Not Lawns presentation (for the Saskatchewan Environmental Society)

When: Wednesday 11 February,  7pm

Where: Lower Auditorium, J S Wood Library, 1801 Lansdowne Avenue, Saskatoon, SK (Google map)

Admission: FREE!

For more information: Saskatchewan Environmental Society, susan@vert-a-go.com

Happy new year! Holiday festivities are now over for most people and there’s not much to do apart from dig yourself out from the snow and finish clearing out the fridge of festive leftovers. A friend of mine, Tom, suggests the following New Year’s Day recipe:

Humpty’s Last Stand

Take all remaining 2008 food, chop, add egg and bake. Ready for 2009!

I have already made turkey pot pie, stock, creamed turkey, a couple of coleslaws, and chilli and am now down to half a leek, a grapefruit, and a cup of gravy. Oh, and a pound of chestnuts. I fear it may require more than eggs to transform those ingredients into an edible concoction!

While you’re enjoying the revitalised dregs of 2008, here is a list of some of the top food stories from the past year. 2008 was a tumultuous year, which brought a huge amount of hardship to people worldwide–as well as some exciting developments that promise some hope of change in 2009.

1. Although the first shocks were felt in 2007, it was in 2008 that the food crisis began to bite hard. Skyrocketing food prices, riots, privation, and starvation–it was a perfect storm formed from a combination of factors, including food commodities speculation, the rush to biofuels, crop failure, spiking oil prices, natural disasters, and governmental incompetence (or malice). Towards the end of the year, some organic growers and vendors (like Whole Foods) were beginning to feel the pinch as consumers looked for ways to reduce their food bills.
2. The previous few years brought the term ‘locavore’ and the 100-mile diet to the fore, but in 2008 a backlash arose against the strict application of ‘food miles’ without consideration for other environmental impacts such as method of production. Turns out transport doesn’t count for everything when it comes to carbon emissions.
3. In March, Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party government withdrew funding for Station 20 West, a non-profit public centre that was to include dental, medical, and mental health services for Saskatoon’s core neighbourhood residents. CHEP and the Elizabeth Fry Society were also expected to join the centre, as well as a cooperative grocery store (area residents have been without a full-service local grocery store for a decade). In April, thousands of supporters gathered to protest the cuts in a community march. Having spent the year fundraising, Station 20 West now plans to break ground on its revised centre (which will include the grocery store) this May.
4. Uncertainty about the food crisis led to a sharp increase in the number of people planting gardens, many for the first time, this past spring. Seed sales skyrocketed in Canada, the US, the UK, and elsewhere. Many city people (including me!) dug up their front lawns to plant vegetables instead.
5. It was another rotten year for rotten food–in Canada, with the Maple Leaf foods listeriosis outbreak, which killed 20 people across the country, and the E. coli outbreak from contaminated lettuce at a North Bay Harvey’s fast food restaurant. Fingers were pointed at the Canadian food inspection system. The US scrambled to find the source of a salmonella outbreak (first incorrectly linked to California tomatoes, then later to Mexican peppers), while in China, tens of thousands of babies were harmed by melamine-tainted milk (which had then also entered the global food chain).
6. Honeybees, which are succumbing in droves to an as-yet-unsolved combination of ailments called Colony Collapse Disorder, continued to decline. Parasites and pesticides appear to be chief culprits, but many of the hive deaths and disappearances are unexplained.
7. There were catastrophic floods in Iowa, as well as another year of catastrophic drought in Australia, as well as ever-increasing evidence of the effect of climate change on the ocean–salmon in Alaska attacked by a warmer-water parasite, while west-coast oysters were hit by a bacteria deadly to shellfish larvae that appeared to be connected to a new anaerobic dead zone in the ocean. These natural and unnatural disasters demonstrate yet again how dependent we are on the earth and weather behaving as we expect they should so we can grow sufficient food.
8. Several more fisheries were forced to close or are driving themselves close to collapse because of insufficient fish, due to manmade contamination or overfishing–US west coast salmon from California to Oregon, and bluefin tuna in both the Mediterranean and off the coast of Japan. Taras Grescoe’s book Bottomfeeder warned of the imminent need for humans to stop eating so far up the ocean’s food chain and to reject unsustainably-caught fish if we are to prevent mass oceanic extinction.
9. Seventeen Canadian municipalities, including the city of Toronto, decided to ban the sale of bottled water on their premises and forty-five more are set to debate the issue. It’s time to go Back to the Tap!
10. ABC News’s Senior White House Correspondence Jake Tapper called Barack Obama “an arrogant, arugula-eating, fancy-berry-tea-drinking celebrity”, while sustainable food fans cheered when Obama revealed that he had read Michael Polan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Pollan wrote an open letter to the ‘Farmer in Chief’ and a campaign began to create an organic food garden on the White House Lawn. And he hasn’t even taken office yet!
11. Burger King released a men’s cologne that smells like a Whopper hamburger. Well, I suppose it’s better to smell like one than eat one…
12. The launch of Vert-à-Go! I’ve learned a huge amount since starting up this web site last March, and I’m looking forward to covering more food issues and providing more information on where to find sustainable, organic, local and ethically-produced food over the next year. Thanks for reading!

photo by Speshul Ted

With only 13 days to go, most of the turkeys destined for the Christmas dinner table have already been dispatched and are in the freezer (or have been presold as fresh and will be butchered a few days before the 25th). Their time on earth is done–but you can help ensure that future turkeys will enjoy a better quality of life by buying a bird that was raised in a humane fashion this Christmas.

Just as with other factory farm-produced livestock, turkeys generally suffer crowded and extremely unpleasant living conditions. Most will have no more than 2sq feet of standing room, and they are usually kept in virtual darkness to reduce aggression. Turkeys are debeaked to reduce cannibalism caused by crowded quarters or improper food rations, but also often have their snoods (the upper part of the wattle that lies across the beak) removed, which is an extremely painful procedure. Despite this, pecking is still a problem and many are blinded. Their litter is often not changed during their time in the barns, and because they do not scratch like chickens do, it quickly becomes fouled and can cause respiratory problems and foot ulcerations. These ulcers often result in lameness, which is further exacerbated because they have been bred and fed to grow so quickly that their immature joints and muscles cannot support their own weight. Slaughter conditions are also usually far from ideal. For more information, see the Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals turkey factsheet.

So how can you help? Try taking the Turkey Challenge–buy a turkey that has been raised organically (or naturally), and that has had as much time free-range as possible. This year, I got our turkey from Mason’s Family Farm near Kenaston. Their main emphasis is still their fantastic U-cut Christmas trees, but they have started selling a few locally-produced food products too (including Petrofka Bridge Orchard’s yummy apple cider and sour cherry chocolates). Their frozen turkeys, which are $3/lb and weigh in at about 16-20lbs, were raised for them by neighbours and enjoyed a lot of time outdoors as well as a nicely varied diet (they particularly liked sprouts and watermelon!). Supplies are limited, so call (306-544-2734) or email Bob or Cora to check availability before you head out.

Pine View Farms has already pre-sold all of its fresh farm-gate turkeys, but will be providing Prairie Meats, the Co-Op, Dad’s Nutrition Centre, and Bulk Cheese Warehouse with frozen birds (you may want to call ahead to check when and what is available).

Steep Hill Co-Op also passed along details of a woman who is selling organic turkeys for $50–call Crystal on 306-246-2100.

Please let me know if you know of any other sources!

Today was Stop Climate Chaos Day–a day of action coinciding with the UN climate talks in Poznan, Poland. Events took place across the country and across the world, spearheaded by an umbrella group of organisations ranging from the Sierra Club, Oxfam, the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, and Unicef. But it wasn’t all about marches and speeches. Organisers also urged supporters to hold potlucks and write letters to the editor to show solidarity and get the word out about the need for action to decrease the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million. Because the personal is also political, I cooked one of our favourite vegetarian dinners in honour of the day. In September, the UN declared that people living in the west could make a big contribution toward fighting climate change by eating less meat. It has been estimated that halving the average person’s meat consumption would make a bigger difference to CO2 emissions than cutting their car use in half.

I sometimes have difficulty balancing a vegetarian meal so that I don’t feel like I need to eat a bowl of pasta as big as my head to feel full. In my opinion, the true star of the vegetarian world is the humble lentil. Lentils are not only high in protein and fibre–they are also an excellent source of iron (80% of your daily dose in just one cup), magnesium, tryptophan, and folate. When you serve them wiith rice, they become a complete source of protein. They are therefore an excellent meat-free main dish that will leave everyone satisfied.

Monastery lentils have become my go-to dish on busy weeknights and I probably make it once a week. As you might infer from the recipe’s name, it has the added bonus of being incredibly easy to prepare as well as being extremely economical, hearty, and yummy (I think you could easily feed 4 people for about a dollar apiece). You can also easily substitute dried local lentils, homemade stock, or frozen tomatoes for the canned variety, thereby reducing both the sodium content (and its food miles/climate impact) even further.

Monastery Lentils (with thanks to Sam)

• 1 - 14oz can lentils
• 1 - 14oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 can (or 1 cup) vegetable/chicken stock
• splash of cooking sherry
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 celery sticks (if large), sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 2 carrots (if large), sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Italian seasoning (I used dried oregano, parsley, and thyme)
• 1 Tb olive oil

In a large pot, saute the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and dried seasonings in a tablespoon (or thereabouts) of olive oil until softened. In the meantime, add the lentils, tomatoes, chicken stock, and sherry to a medium-sized pot and bring to a simmer. Add the lentil mixture to the vegetables, bring to a boil, and simmer for about half an hour. Check whether you need to add salt and pepper, then serve on boiled/steamed rice. A small sprinkling of shredded white cheddar cheese is nice on top. I also like a dill pickle on the side.

Serves 4

For more great lentil (and other pulse) recipes, including some by celebrity chefs, check out the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers web site–you can also sign up there to get onto a monthly email recipe mailing list, or buy a copy of their excellent cookbook The Amazing Legume. Saskatchewan farmers grow a lot of lentils, and it would be terrific if everyone in the province ate them at least once a week!

“We still (sometimes) remember that we cannot be free if our minds and voices are controlled by someone else. But we have neglected to understand that we cannot be free if our food and its sources are controlled by someone else. The condition of the passive consumer of food is not a democratic condition. One reason to eat responsibly is to live free.”

- Wendell Berry, “The Pleasures of Eating” from What Are People For?

One of the main reasons I decided to grow tomatillos for the first time this spring was because of the incredible tomatillo corn chowder I tried at my sister’s house last year. I simply could not get it out of my head! It is the finest soup I have ever tasted–spicy and profoundly satisfying. It is hearty enough to enjoy on its own for supper with bread, but unusual and sophisticated enough that you could happily serve it at a winter dinner party.

I harvested about 8lbs of tomatillos from my two plants this autumn, so I decided to make a double batch of this soup and stick some away in the freezer. I have to admit that it was a bit of a production–between making a huge cauldron of stock from scratch, assembling the mountain of ingredients, and preparing and roasting the vegetables, it definitely turned into an on-and-off weekend project. But don’t let that scare you off! It is *so* worth the effort in the end.

While my hands were busy gathering and preparing the ingredients (you’d be surprised how long it takes to remove the husks from 8lbs of tomatillos), I had quite a lot of free time to think about what I was making. And it struck me that this soup is actually a pretty accurate microcosm of the modern-day food production and distribution system. The ingredients came from all over the world, via a wide variety of sources, and I found that each and every one prompted a thorny question or decision. What kind of food should I buy? Where should I buy it and how much should I pay? What about growing my own? What impact do my choices have on the environment, and my health, and even the well-being of farm workers living halfway around the world? It’s important to ask these questions and consider these issues so that we don’t simply remain passive consumers of whatever some multinational corporation decides to dish out to us. We must take responsibility for what we eat.

Let’s have a look at the ingredients in detail:

• Chicken stock: I made this myself, from a local free-range bird (using mainly local vegetables, but the organic grocery store celery was imported from California). Free-range/naturally-raised animals generally have a happier existence than their factory farm counterparts, and their environmental impact is lower. But a vegetarian meal usually has a far smaller carbon footprint than a meat-based meal and should be our first choice.

• Anaheim chilies: I got the last 3 of Grandora’s Christmas bell peppers at the farmers’ market, and that  was it for their fresh hot peppers for the year–so I had to buy another 7 conventionally-grown Mexican Anaheims from the grocery store. If I’d gotten organised to make the soup earlier in the autumn, I could have used all seasonal local ingredients instead of 70% imported.

• Tomatillos: I grew these myself in the back garden, picked them and put them into a cool room in the basement. Sadly, I didn’t deal with them fast enough and wound up losing about half of them to spoilage. I was so annoyed with myself. Expending all that energy to grow them, only to throw half on the compost pile? It was such an unnecessary waste of food–something that I’ve otherwise worked really hard to avoid over the past year. But have a look in a supermarket or restaurant’s dumpster and you’ll see that this kind of waste is part and parcel of our profligate food production and distribution system. This waste meant a lot more to me personally because I was the one who had grown it in the first place, and I’ve vowed it won’t happen again.

• Vegetable oil: I used canola oil here. But canola is a huge can of worms–83% of canola now grown on the Canadian prairies is genetically modified. Its proponents say it gives them better yields and helps them use fewer herbicides. But these GM crop varieties are also completely controlled by Monsanto, which is hyper-protective of its babies. Regardless of any benefits from a particular GM variety, I feel incredibly uneasy about the advisability of handing over such a huge amount of control over food production to a corporation: “an entity whose legally-defined mandate is to pursue relentlessly and without exception its own economic self-interest, regardless of the harmful consequences it might cause to others”–especially when their market dominance virtually crowds out any other non-GM variety from being grown.

• Onion: I used the last local onion I had, and one that the grocery store advertises as local, but which comes from at least 300 miles away. A supermarket’s definition of ‘local’ (or ‘organic’) is likely quite a bit different than yours.

• Garlic: I used one local bulb that I had on hand, and the remainder came from a jar of minced roasted garlic that I bought earlier this year because it said ‘Product of Canada’. I only later discovered that this likely means the garlic itself was grown in China (like most fresh bulbs in the grocery store) and then imported to Canada for bottling. Food origin labels don’t always tell the whole story about where something came from.

• Salt: I generally use Sifto salt, which comes from the mine in Unity, Saskatchewan. I must say I felt a tiny (if not entirely commendable) twinge of schadenfreude while reading The 100 Mile Diet, where BC-dwelling locavores Alisa Smith and J B MacKinnon bemoan the lack of proper flour and salt during their year-long experiment with local-only eating. We might not have peaches in Saskatchewan, but at least I’m not eating weevil-infested wheat! We should be aware of (and be grateful for) our local food specialties.

• Ground coriander: I’m working on a bag I bought at the supermarket many moons ago. Mysteriously, large quantities of bagged spices in the international food section often cost *way* less money than the tiny bottles found in the spice aisle. You can also often find superior quality rice at a specialty Asian market, or a get a much better deal on locally-produced organic flax seed at the SaskMade Marketplace. Despite their boasts, supermarkets don’t always offer the best value and it pays to shop around to get the most out of your food budget.

• Oregano: If I had made the soup earlier in the autumn, I could have got fresh local oregano at the market, but it was now finished. Usually I would use dried in this situation, but the recipe said the fresh herb was essential, so I bought organic oregano sealed in a plastic box and imported from California. The plastic packaging (which can only go in the garbage here unless you pay for curbside recycling services), as well as the amount of energy required to ship such a highly perishable food all the way here without it rotting in transit, really made me shudder (as did the fact that part of it was already dark and withering and I had to end up composting half of it).

• Jalapeno peppers: fresh from my garden. I picked them in late September or early October, and they kept for a month and a half in the fridge. I’d like to see a grocery store pepper beat the refrigerator shelf life of home-grown produce!

• Potatoes: I bought local organically-grown potatoes. Potatoes rank number 12 in a list of of fruits and vegetables that are most often treated with pesticides/fungicides during commercial production. Pesticide/fungicide residue on food is common, and many of these chemicals are extremely harmful to human health and contaminate the environment. We can and should grow food using more sustainable methods and reduce chemical use wherever possible.

• Corn: I used frozen corn from the grocery store. I generally prefer frozen corn to canned, partly because most canned food comes in tins lined with bisphenol A. If I had been more on the ball, I might have frozen my own corn kernels from cobs from the farmers’ market to use later on, but it’s quite a lot of work. Sometimes you really just want someone else to do the processing work for you.

• Cream: I generally buy all my milk from Dairyland, which is processed here in Saskatoon (Beatrice and Lucerne products likely come from their milk processing plants in Edmonton). Why ship milk from local dairies hundreds of miles away, put it in cartons, and then ship it all the way back here again? I’m sure Dairyland is bringing in milk from far away as well, but I still don’t think it hurts to support local food producers and processing facilities.

• Black pepper: I buy my peppercorns from the Orchard del Sol farm in Costa Rica, which emphasises ethical and ecologically sustainable farming methods (including fair worker wages). Many luxury crops such as coffee, cocoa, and spices give huge profits to landowners and corporations at a terrible cost to workers and the local environment. Fair trade, organic, shade-grown products are the most responsible consumer choice–buying them wherever possible creates pressure on ‘conventional’ growers to smarten up and improve their farming methods.

Round the world and home again for tomatillo soup

• 8 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 5 Anaheim chilies (or whatever chili/pepper you have on hand)
• 1.5 lbs tomatillos
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 yellow onion (diced)
• 10 garlic cloves (minced)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 3 Tbsp minced oregano (important that it’s fresh! This makes the soup)
• 4 jalapeno peppers (seeded and minced)
• 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (diced)
• 3 cups corn (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup cream or half and half
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• Garnish: chopped cilantro and sliced green onion (optional)

Heat the stock and keep it warm while assembling the soup. Preheat oven to 400F.

Halve and seed chiles. Remove husks from tomatillos, rinse, and dry. In a large bowl, toss the tomatillos and chilies with a little olive oil so they are lightly coated. Place on a baking sheet and roast until the tomatillo and chili skins are slightly charred (15-20 minutes). Dice the chilies and roughly chop the tomatillos. Set aside.

In a soup pot over medium-high heat, heat the oil and sauté onion until translucent. Stir in garlic, 1 tsp salt, coriander, minced oregano and sauté until golden-ish.

Add the jalapenos, potato, and remaining salt (1 tsp) and stir to combine. Sauté for several minutes, then pour in warm stock to cover. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the potatoes are tender.

Add the corn, chilies, and tomatillos; simmer 10 minutes. Slowly add cream and more stock to thin if necessary (don’t let it boil). Simmer and season with salt and cracked pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped cilantro and green onions just before serving.

*This soup freezes well, but reheat it slowly so cream doesn’t separate.*

Serves 8-10

On Saturday 4 October, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society will present the 3rd annual Sustainable Gourmet–a fundraising dinner featuring locally grown or made gourmet food, highlighting sustainability in the dining room.

All of the primary ingredients for the meal will be grown or made locally. The main chefs will be Marty and Tiffany Peters from Fresh Bistro, with specialty dishes provided by Wild Serendipity Foods, PickNic’s Restaurant and Fine Pastries, Park Café and Diner, and Flatlanders Farms. Service will be provided by Outter Limits staff. Little Penguin wines and Saskatoon’s own Paddock Wood beer will be available for purchase.

Join community green leaders–Affinity Credit Union, Confederation Inn and Fresh Bistro–and the rest of the generous sponsors and donors in support of this very tasty event. Guest speaker Amy Jo Ehman will share her thoughts about food and the journey it doesn’t have to take.

Cost: $65 (includes a tax receipt for $30)

When: Saturday 4 October 2008 at 6:30pm

Where: Confederation Inn (3330 Fairlight Drive)

Call the SES office at 665-1915 for your tickets!

Next week (Sunday 31 August) will be the last Sunday market day for the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. The Wednesday markets will continue to run as long as possible (market organisers would like them to continue all year if there are enough vendors and products available), and the regular Saturday market will also continue on as usual.

Last Friday my sister dropped by the Borden Farmers’ Market on her way back from North Battleford to Saskatoon. The most exciting discovery at this excellent weekly market was the locally-grown apricots for sale. Grown just over the south side of the Borden Bridge, these baby-sized apricots have amazing flavour and the most incredible aroma (I would actually describe it as perfume). My four-year-old declared, wide-eyed, after his fourth or fifth, “I have NEVER eaten anything like this in my entire life!” Me neither–but you can bet I’ll do whatever it takes to track some more down soon. The thought of jam made with these little guys almost sends me into a Homer Simpson-style drooling trance.

Borden Farmer’s Market

• Fridays 1-7pm (May to October)
• Borden Fire Hall
• Borden, SK (40 minutes north of Saskatoon on Highway 16)