InFocus | Canada
Nature's bounty
Canadians are going back to their roots and making the most of local, seasonal produce
- By Sanaya Pavri, Feature Writer
- Published: 00:00 September 14, 2010
- Image Credit: Supplied
- You can truly appreciate your strawberries when you can see the grower pass you their hard work, with so much pride in their eyes. It really points to the respect we need to have for our food and the people who bring it to our table.
There is no doubt that Canadians are passionate promoters of the local food movement. The popularity of books such as Sarah Elton's Locavore and Carolyn Herriot's The Zero Mile Diet illustrates that Canadians believe in not just ‘fixing' their salad but planting it as well.
Elton's book begins with a cookie, one that is manufactured in China and sold in Canada by an American company — a product that has travelled a million miles, so to speak. Echoing the same frustration at the sheer number of food miles we clock up is Herriot, who decides to debunk the 100-mile diet and challenge everyone to follow a zero-mile diet. She introduces concepts such as "edible landscaping" that became de rigueur, and everyone growing plants in their gardens they could eat. In fact, it is this concern over the carbon footprint of the global food trade that is inspiring Canadians to take up spades and break new ground.
It is this hunger for a diet free of genetic modifications that has also prompted Dan Jason, the owner of Salt Spring Seeds, to take 12 of his best crops and combine them to form the Zero Mile Diet Seed Kit. The kit went on sale in January this year and was sold out by the end of February. The rise in enthusiasm for home-grown produce reflects the increasingly politicised food arena, with Canadians becoming staunch supporters of non-GMO (genetically modified) diet and breaking the corporate control of food by supporting local businesses.
Being entirely sustainable may not be easy with a family of four needing about an acre of land to become self-sufficient, but the idea, says Jason, is to make a start. According to Jason, whether you plant a couple of lettuces or a 100-foot row of beans, you've grown something you don't have to go to the store to buy. And that's what counts.
Judy Newman, office manager for Seeds of Diversity, a Toronto-based charitable organisation that encourages the cultivation of heirloom and endangered food crops, says people will not sit back and wait for whatever fruits and vegetables their grocery store chooses to sell. The awareness that there is such diversity of food available to them is gaining, and that, with the interest in eating local, organic produce, has captured the collective imagination.
A passion for food
One of the most vocal advocates of Canadian produce is Anna Olson. With 15 years of professional cooking and baking experience, and numerous award-winning cookbooks and television shows, Olson is a noted name on the Canadian culinary scene. She started her television career after a seven-year stint as pastry chef at Inn on the Twenty in Jordan, Ontario, where she also met and married notable chef Michael Olson. In addition to her popular TV shows such as Fresh With Anna Olson on Food Network Canada, Olson has also written best-selling cookbooks including The Inn on the Twenty Cookbook, which she co-authored with her husband, Sugar, the companion book to her hit television series, and In the Kitchen with Anna, to name a few.
Olson loves indulging local growers, and changes menus to reflect what is in season. Over the page, she talks about her passion for food and what it means to use ingredients that are seasonal and fresh. � Canada has seen a big move towards the local food system. Tell us a little about the country's changing food philosophy.
The commitment to buying locally produced food is not a new concept but is rather a revitalisation of a Canadian industry that we have perhaps taken for granted over recent years. Before the days of industrialisation and mass transportation, we would eat what we could grow or produce ourselves. Once ingredients from greater distances became easier and more affordable to access, it changed the way we shopped, cooked and ate. Now, with greater awareness, we have come to appreciate the wonderful bounty available so close to home.
What has made you go "local" when it comes to food?
Quite simply, I found that buying produce and meats from the area meant I was getting ingredients that were freshest and at their best. I do also value making the personal connection when I buy. You can truly appreciate your strawberries when you can see the grower pass you their hard work, with so much pride in their eyes. It really points to the respect we need to have for our food and the people who bring it to our table.
Why do you think it is imperative that we all go back to eating seasonal produce?
Eating seasonally is just common sense — this way you are eating what is at its peak and even the cooking styles of the seasons reflect that balance. In summer, produce is abundant and affordable, so we eat lots and keep cooking styles short and simple by grilling.
In winter, when produce is at a premium, we cook with root vegetables and buy more affordable cuts of meat that take stewing or slow-braising. Also, the flavours that are in season at the same time match together naturally — what grows together, goes together.
There are many vibrant community based food projects, including organic, natural, and local food initiatives. Which ones are you a part of and how have these projects made a difference?
I am part of the Buy Local Share Local project, but there are so many local initiatives to choose from that no matter where you live you can choose to support an organised entity, or simply just keep local commerce driving forward by investing the time to source out and buy locally.
Tell us more about the Buy Local, Share Local initiative.
I am working with the OAFB (Ontario Association of Food Banks) as spokesperson for their Buy Local Share Local fall campaign. Not everyone realises that food banks need fresh produce as much as dry goods, so this campaign draws awareness and facilitates giving fresh produce by setting up stands at farmers' markets across the province, so that it is easier to give.
If you had to choose five locations in Canada to cook a meal — what would you pick as your favourite local ingredient there and what would you make?
- Definitely Niagara, it is my first choice, because it's home. In summer, I love our peaches and would make a Peach Blackberry Galette.
- South Shore Lake Erie, has some of the best tomatoes and I'd make a fresh Tomato Gaspacho.
- Charlottetown, PEI, the east coast offers wonderful seafood and also grows tasty potatoes. I would prepare a hearty Scallop Chowder.
- British Columbia offers wild salmon and also unique mushrooms, I would grill-roast a whole side of wild salmon with a mushroom horseradish crust.
- Saskatchewan — my husband is from the prairies — and our Canadian wheat is world-class. I'd make my grandmother's recipe for homemade perogies.
How did this love affair with food and cooking begin?
I grew up loving food and cooking — my grandmother was a true inspiration, since she loved to cook and share. It did take a while, after a brief career in banking, to realise that I could cook professionally, and love all the variety that my chosen field offers — not just cooking in restaurants, but recipe development, writing and television.
What inspires you to create these delicious recipes?
I find inspiration first at the farmers' markets and then simply by just playing — since my husband is a chef as well, we cook and encourage each other. We are cooperative cooks and work well together in the kitchen.
What are some of your favourite dishes?
Since I am a seasonally motivated cook, I tend to crave what is in season — in summer, anything with peaches or tomatoes, in fall, pumpkin and slow-roasted chicken, in winter, stews, in spring, strawberries and asparagus.
What are the various influences in your style of cooking?
I would say my husband, Michael, is my greatest influence, but I have also been inspired by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in California, who brought the notion of cooking locally to the North American palate, and like many, Julia Child, who made even daunting recipes seem approachable.
What are some of the foreign techniques or flavours that you have incorporated into your recipes — perhaps something that you learnt or experienced while travelling abroad?
You can shop locally and cook globally at the same time! I do enjoy Spanish cuisine, and use local tomatoes to make gaspacho. We recently returned from a trip to Italy, and are now re-creating some of our favourite dishes with local ingredients. I will be visiting Singapore and Malaysia this December and am excited to learn and bring home inspirations from there. Perhaps, I'll be able to write about my inspirations and memories from visiting the Middle East someday.
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