Vert-à-Go

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

“Do you know where I could find pork products that are natural…from happy pigs, etc?”

- Rachel, Saskatoon

I am not a fan of the way most pigs are treated to provide grocery stores with quantities of pork. Permanently confined in a windowless smelly building on hard bare floors in cramped conditions, large-scale pig barns certainly do not allow pigs to express their “pigness”, as Joel Salatin would say. It is a cruel way to raise these animals, who would spend their time foraging and rooting if left to their own devices. I also found, when I used to buy it years ago, that grocery store pork often had a nasty backtaste to it–to me, it sometimes smelled (and seemed to taste) like a pig barn! I now buy my pork from Pine View Farms. It has a wonderful flavour with none of that taste. They don’t raise the pigs themselves on their own farm, but sub-contract out to another farmer near Hague, who raises them in small numbers on straw:

“Our hogs are raised according our All Natural protocol. No antibiotics, growth hormones or animal byproducts are fed or administered. We do not use gestation crates, sows roam free and farrow in birthing pens on straw. The feeder pigs can roam around outside and root in deep straw to satisfy their natural instincts.” –Pine View Farms web site

We usually buy a side of pork from them at a time, but there are a number of retailers in town who sell their products. Steep Hill Co-op usually has chops, bacon, and ground pork. Their bacon and chops are available at Dad’s Nutrition Centre, as well as their mild Italian and chorizo sausage. Greystone and Attridge Co-ops also stock Pine View pork (cuts will vary). It is cheaper to buy directly from Pine View Farms, however. You can go out to the farm store, or they will also deliver to your house for a flat fee of $18/order. I have combined an order for friends in the past, which saves on time and gas for everybody.

There will soon be another option for pork raised to ‘beyond organic’ standards in the Saskatoon area: Lori Walldner, a former organic producer of pastured livestock, is now marketing a variety of food products by organic fellow-farmers ranging from meat and eggs to grains and (coming this summer) vegetables. She expects to have pork available in March–I’ll post again on her other products when I have more information (I’m also double-checking a longer list of Saskatchewan producers and suppliers and will add it when it’s done).

Naturally and/or organically-raised pork (Saskatoon area)

Pine View Farms ph: (306) 239-4763

Lori Walldner ph:(306) 955-8402

A small selection of the products available at the Saskatchewan indemand trade show

You still have one more day to check out the Saskatchewan indemand 2008 trade show–it’s open at Prairieland Exhibition until 5pm today (admission $5, children 6 and under free). I was there on Friday night and found a lot of interesting (and often delicious!) products on display.

Just a few of the highlights:

• Fresh and dried apples, as well as apple cider made by Petrofka Bridge Orchard (from the delicious new Prairie Sensation cultivar, created at the U of S)
• The flower-derived syrup made by Bedard Creek Acres–the red clover blossom syrup and black pansy syrup was a revelation and will definitely be added to my pancake/waffle roster!
• The cherry swirl ice cream and dried cherry almond bark by Prairie Sun Orchard (they have a lot of different ice creams and products using their home-grown cherries, raspberries, and other fruits)
• Crispeas–a dried pea snack made by KSL Foods
• Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission–giving away dried mustard and mustard seed samples, as well as sausage and cabbage relish containing…mustard!
• Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission–giving away flax seed samples, as well as flax popcorn (yum)
• Willow Creek Organic Grain Company (oats, wheat, flax, lentils etc)

Chefs compete against the clock in the 1st Annual Saskatchewan CCFCC Culinary Challenge on Friday night

There were also quite a few booths selling clothing and other textiles made from alpaca wool and fleece. The socks, sweaters, and scarves looked deliciously warm, and I had my eye on a blanket, but I couldn’t walk away without a tiny toy alpaca (wearing a hat) for the Christmas tree from Just Choice Alpacas. The flax textiles made by Madelaine Walker of Fibrelaine Weaving & Knitting (892-4886) were also lovely (I really liked the tea towels with the gingerbread boy motif).

Along with all the free samples and products for sale, you can also pick up many free recipe books and pamphlets. The SaskMade Marketplace has a large stall with many items for sale, and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture has a booth with information on funding assistance and devleopment procedures for people wanting to set up a small business in the province. There will also be a fashion show, as well as two talks: on on local food, and another on meals for busy families.

The Organic Connections conference starts today in Saskatoon. Tomorrow, I’ll be checking out the trade show and taking part in some of the workshops. I’m also looking forward to the talks by farmer and alternative agriculture guru Joel Salatin (”Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal”) and peak oil expert Richard Heinberg (”Now That the Party’s Over”). Xingji Xiao will be speaking to conference delegates about organic agriculture in China (he is the leading expert on the topic and was the first organic inspector in China) on on Tuesday morning.

The three-day conference features an organic tradeshow, workshops and a strong program covering topics of interest to producers, processors, consumers and traders in the areas of marketing, healthy living and production. It is also an opportunity to celebrate good, healthy organic food and recognize the people who contribute to putting it on tables around the world. (Organic Connections web site)

Farmers interested in making the switch to organic growing methods will find the Transition to Organic workshop series invaluable, while experienced organic farmers can learn more at the Advanced Agronomic workshop. The Organic Incubator will also give everyone the chance to meet fellow producers, processors, buyers, marketers, and certifiers, as well as the speakers, in an informal environment. To schedule an impromptu meeting in the space, talk to the organisers at the Organic Connections booth.

See you there!

When: Sunday 16 November to Tuesday 18 November

Where: TCU Place, 35 22nd St E, Saskatoon (Google map)

For more information: Organic Connections web site, info@organicconnections.ca

This weekend is the Saskatchewan indemand 2008 trade show, where our home-grown entrepreneurs get the chance to showcase and promote their Saskatchewan-made products and services.

Along with displays from a large number of vendors, there will also be some fun special events on the cooking show stage. On Friday night from 6:30-7:30pm, you can check out the 1st Annual Saskatchewan CCFCC Culinary Challenge, where members of the Saskatoon Chef’s Association will compete against the clock, Iron Chef-style, to create dishes made from Saskatchewan ingredients!

There will also be further cooking demonstrations throughout the weekend, as well as daily talks by local food expert Amy Jo Ehman (The Local Gourmet) and dietician Patricia Chuey (Meal Solutions for Busy Families) in the Information Theatre. You’ll even have the chance to see clothing made from locally-grown fibres in the Fibre indemand Fashion Show, which will take place on both afternoons too. Click here for the full theatre event schedule.

When: Friday 14 November (5-8pm), Saturday 15 November (10am-5pm), Sunday 16 November (10am-5pm)

Where: Hall E, Prairieland Park, 503 Ruth Street West, Saskatoon  (Google map)

Cost: $5

For more information: Saskatchewan indemand 2008 web site

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)

(right: photo by Stephanie, aka wishymom)

Over the past year, honeybees have been dying in droves across the world. To compound this already alarming development, the bees often haven’t even simply just dropped dead–they’ve completely vanished from the hives altogether. Scientists and beekeepers are still trying to identify the root cause of the skyrocketing bee mortality/vanishing rate, so for lack of a definitive answer, it has been tentatively attributed to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) .

CCD is an umbrella term for a number of possible factors, including environmental change-related stresses (such as travel or climate change), malnutrition, disease, pests (such as the verroa mite), exposure to certain pesticides (such as neonicotinoids or imidacloprid) or genetically modified (GM) crops with pest control characteristics (like transgenic corn). Mobile phone radiation appears to have been ruled out, but at this point it is just not known which factor, or combination of factors, is responsible for the die-off–about 30% of hives have been lost in both Canada and the US, with Saskatchewan suffering losses of 24% .

When I first heard about this disturbing phenomenon last year, I did not realise that the vast majority of the affected bees were not native bees, but rather honeybees raised by commercial beekeepers. These bees produce honey, obviously, but they are also responsible for helping to pollinate a large number of fruit and vegetable crops in Ontario and British Columbia. These types of bees are also extremely important to the US agricultural industry, as they are shipped in from long distances every year to pollinate an estimated one-third of American fruit and vegetable crops, mainly in California. A decade ago, the value of bees to crop pollination was pegged at $782 million yearly in Canada (and about $14 billion in the US in 2000) .

Honeybees therefore have a huge role to play in the North American food chain. In response to the die-off, beekeepers have been replacing their bees at great expense with unaffected queen bees from New Zealand. But how long can that continue? It is simply not financially viable for beekeepers to replace a third of their stock every year–and what happens if CCD starts to affect New Zealand bees as well?

The die-off has helped raise awareness of how dependent we are on insect pollinators, and about how they can be all too vulnerable to unexpected collapse. So, what can we do about the problem? Interestingly, bees turned loose to pollinate organically-grown crops have not experienced near the same attrition levels as bees that pollinate crops exposed to pesticides. This could well indicate yet another good reason to buy organically-raised produce. You should also try to buy locally-produced honey, as it supports local beekeepers and helps to boost local honeybee populations. It’s easy to find (try the Farmers’ Market, Steep Hill Co-op, or the SaskMade Market). Or at the very least, stick to Canadian-produced honey, which has much higher quality controls than some other parts of the world–as with all food products, it’s just not worth it to buy dirt-cheap honey.

It’s also a good idea to help encourage bees by providing bee-friendly habitat in general. Did you know that there are 800 different species of bees in Canada? Our world would be a strange, less lovely, and much hungrier place without them. You can find plenty of tips to help them here:

Hinterland Who’s Who: The Bumblebee (Bee Courteous, Bee Safe)

10 things to do to help honeybees

A guide to urban bee-friendly gardens