Hey there fellow locavores, don’t despair about the arrival of winter. While having a completely local diet is virtually impossible, there are still plenty of options. Here are our 4 tips for eating local foods in the winter.
- Freezing – this may be done by yourself when local produce is in season however, even if the opportunity has passed you by this season, look for locally grown fruits, berries and vegetables in the frozen section of the supermarket and the farmers’ market. When flash frozen these foods will retain much of their flavour and nutrients.
- Preserving – there are many other methods of preserving food in addition to freezing. These include drying, canning, and fermenting. It is not too late. Hardy vegetables and fruit grown locally can be stored for long periods of time under the right conditions. So, check out produce like cabbage, carrots, apples, pears, potatoes and other root vegetables.
- Meats, Grains, Dairy – of course, there are plenty of foods other than produce that is raised and produced right here. These include meats, grains and many dairy products. Did you know that wild rice is grown in Manitoba? Local grains such as barley are a great local alternative to rice.
- Grow your own food inside or outside – Got a green thumb? Winter harvesting with the use of growing tunnels works well for hardy greens. Sprouts and herbs can also be a great addition for a kitchen garden and will keep freshness right at your finger tips.
Celebrated every year on April 22, Earth Day is the largest environmental event in the world. More than six million Canadians-including nearly every school-aged child-participate in an Earth Day activity in their communities.
The very first Earth Day was in 1970 and in 1990 it went global. Earth Day is still important today to remind people to think about humanity’s values, the threats the planet faces and ways to help protect the environment. What are you going to do to make the world a little bit better? Find out what’s going on in Calgary and how you can take part REAP Calgary events.
Happy Earth Day, love this planet!
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It was the best turnout for any community wellness events hosted in the Wellness Centre to date! Over 250 participants from the surrounding communities enjoyed the many different activities available including ballet, martial arts, climbing wall, cooking, obstacle course etc. Here’s some pics of the fun! Be sure to mark your calendars for Sunday June 5th next year.
Buying local means more money for the local economy
Local food is fresher, tastes better and is more nutritious
Locally grown food requires less packaging
Local food is more environmentally friendly
Buying local food keeps us in touch with the seasons
Buying local promotes biodiversity
Local food translates into more variety
Buying local keeps farmers on the farm
Local food builds community
You know where your food is coming from
To find out fun and easy ways you can support local in your community, check out her full presentation How to Support Local.
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Starting this November, children six years and older are being invited to join Cook with your Kids at the Calgary Farmers Market.
“Children are never too young to get involved in helping in the kitchen,” says Sharon McCormick, CEO of Poppy Innovations.
Until now, registration for the 1.5 hour hands-on cooking class has been limited to children nine-years-old and up. But lowering the age requirement will allow more children to be exposed to the benefits of eating healthy local ingredients earlier in their lives. And it’s been proven that learning to use wholesome ingredients at a young age greatly increases the chance that those good habits will continue into adulthood.
Wondering what a six year old can do in the kitchen? “A lot!” says McCormick. “They can peel and wash, squeeze and grate vegetables and fruit, season meat and mix ingredients. And we will adjust activities in the class to match the age of the participants, so six-year-olds might be using paring knives instead of chef’s knives.”
Laura Nearing attended two Cook with your Kids classes with her son Brayden, “I think it’s a great idea to include younger kids. I liked that the class is open and the kids are able to try new things, but their parents are right there to help them. I would not have thought my nine-year-old could chop, but he learned how to in the the class and now helps with dinner at home!”
Cook with your Kids is hosted at the Calgary Farmers Market once a month on Saturday’s. Participants cook with wholesome local ingredients and learn a variety of skills like chopping, adding flavour and sauteing. To register or learn more for the next class on Nov. 15, visit www.poppyinnovations.ca.
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What is available in September?
- Apples
- Pears
- Beans
- Beets
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Pumpkins
- Rutabagas
- Turnips
- Winter squash
- Leafy greens
Why should you try to eat seasonal foods?
- Less expensive
- Quality
- Freshness
- Variety
By eating foods that are in season you save money, the quality of the produce is much better, and they are fresher. Seasonal local foods are naturally ripened they don’t sit on a truck and have chemicals to help them ripen or last longer. Eating seasonal forces you to eat a variety of foods instead having just your staple foods or meals.
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The contest will be open all summer and people simultaneously submit photos and vote on photos. This would encourage sharing with networks over the summer to vote on someone’s photo. The participants will be asked to Share their “healthy selfie” on Poppy Innovations Facebook page with a short sentence explaining how you integrate healthy eating in your life and they could win a Fuji film Instax Mini 8 Instant Camera. The highest voted at the end of the challenge is the winner.
We are encouraging everyone to send us a selfie showing how they are eating healthy this summer. For instance, at their local farmers’ market, gardening their backyard or community garden or even drinking a spinach smoothie. We want to see new ideas on how the public is eating health.
We are other businesses, media, service organizations and clubs to spread the word on the importance of eating healthy and encouraging their clients and members to participate in the contest.
For the full media release, click Healthy Selfie media release 2014.
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What is all the buzz about eat local? The local food movement is growing strong in Calgary and is frequently heard but not necessarily always understood. Our food system has become unsustainable. We have adopted a way of eating that is hard on the environment, our economy and our health. One way we can change this is to change the way we eat. Eating locally grown food supports our economy – our farmers, growers and producers, it is easier on the environment as the food does not travel as far thereby reducing our environmental footprint, and because it travels a shorter distance it can be picked at its ripest giving us more flavour and nutrition from our food.
Here is an interesting article by Rick D., Founder of Eat Local Grown, one of the organizations leading the charge to bring about awareness and make it easy for consumers to buy local food.
Here is his story. Prior to 2007, my only interest in local food was a couple of tomato plants in my backyard. I considered myself an average, pretty healthy guy that exercised regularly and for the most part ate a healthy diet. And then I read a book – The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. That book changed the entire game for me. I bought 12 copies to give to family and friends. I became incredibly passionate about supporting local food in my community. To say that I was a bit crazy with the whole idea was an understatement. And I’m sure my ranting and raving was a bit tiresome to those within earshot. But I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. I read everything I could get my hands on, watched dozens of documentaries. Basically just soaked up as much information as I could find. In hindsight, I was ANGRY… In hindsight, I was ANGRY! That doesn’t quite say it. I was really ________ angry! You can probably think of a few key words to put in front of angry and you’ll get a bit closer to my true state of mind.
The more I learned, the more I felt that I had been lied to. And manipulated. I really thought my family had been eating a healthy diet. I had no clue. We’d go and fill our cart at Costco with food that was ‘supposed’ to be good for us. And then I’d feed it to my kids. It said it was good! Yep, right there on the label, the food told me it was healthy. And like an idiot, I believed it… So I was pissed off. Very pissed! The more I learned, the worse the situation seemed. And all the while these questions were spinning around in my head- How could these big companies make these health claims on the labels of their food? Did they make a mistake? Or did they really believe that the crap they were packaging is truly healthy? Could they just actually lie and get away with it? Would these companies really put their profits ahead of the health of their customers? I dug deeper. I learned more. I started to understand the amazingly large magnitudes of money that were on the line.
Think about it, most of us buy 100% of the food we eat. And most of us eat an average of 3 meals a day. Every day. In the USA alone, that’s upwards of 300 million people buying 3 meals a day. We spend a lot of money on food! And the big food processors are making a killing. Literally. The ubiquity, convenience and habit-forming appeal of hyperprocessed foods have largely drowned out the alternatives: There are five fast-food restaurants for every supermarket in the United States; in recent decades the adjusted for inflation price of fresh produce has increased by 40 percent while the price of soda and processed food has decreased by as much as 30 percent; and nearly inconceivable resources go into encouraging consumption in restaurants: fast-food companies spent $4.2 billion on marketing in 2009.” –Mark Bittman, Is Junk Food Really Cheaper? These big companies don’t have to lie… Like most people, I knew those basic facts; lots of people buy lots of food. But I never really thought about it. I began to understand how incredibly powerful food lobbyists could be. These big companies don’t have to lie. They just take a big sliver of those fat profits and buy some new laws. Years and years of big food company lobbyists pounding our politicians with billions of dollars in funds have successfully changed the rules of the game. A former VP of Monsanto is one of the powerful heads of the US FDA! That’s insanity! The term “organic” has become so watered down that a lot small growers just stopped using it! Okay- I’m ranting. Told you I was pissed. But why eatLocalGrown?
We’ve been shopping at the local farmers market for the last few years. I have really been amazed how great the food tastes. I now know the farmers I buy from. We talk! Many of them feel the same way that I do and it’s a big reason they are doing what they do. It’s so refreshing to go talk to the growers, buy their goods, bring them home and eat them that day. Great, healthy fruits and vegetables that were just picked. And they were grown with great care and love. Also, these farmers are building the soil on their land, unlike the big corporations that are poisoning our communities with pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Recently, we bought a freezer. We purchased a 1/4 of a cow that was 100% grass fed. And a 1/2 of a lamb from the same farm. The meat is delicious! It feels so right to support local food that was raised on a healthy farm and know that these animals ate the food that nature intended them to eat. There’s just not enough awareness… I want the farms that I buy from, and the thousands of others like them, to thrive. But many of them aren’t. They are working very hard and barely breaking even. Many of the farmers that I speak with tell me that they need to have other jobs to make ends meet.
There’s just not enough awareness. EatLocalgrown is our way of helping to change that. It’s a big job. It will take many people and a lot of time. We are one of many that are fighting this fight. We’re outnumbered, we have less resources, and less time. But we’ll fight because we know we need to. And every day we get a few more on our side. We spread the word and educate each other about local food. Knowledge is power! That’s why we’re doing this. Here’s HOW. Our goal is to list as many farms, ranches, restaurants, artisans, and farmer’s markets as possible that grow or sell local food in your communities. Our tool is here so you can Find, Rate, and Share these businesses. We’ll also provide lots of great articles with shopping tips, health and nutrition information and environmental news that impacts all of us. This site is meant to be interactive. It only works with your help!
What You Can Do to Get Involved (Right Now)!
Search our directory for local food businesses in your community and RATE or REVIEW them. Click here to learn how EatLocalGrown works.
Like EatLocalGrown, your local farmers’ markets, farms, growers & producers and organizations with a mandate to bring awareness and resources to change the way we eat like Poppy Innovations, on FACEBOOK, TWITTER and PINTEREST!
Use the Share Buttons on articles. Creating awareness is key to getting our food system back on track.
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