I am reminded that in Toronto, we could easily have an exciting sustainable diet buying food from only a few blocks away from us. It grieves me to hear of communities without family grocery stores, towns ringed with big box stores and dead downtown strips.
It aggravates me when I hear that folks I know have shopped at big box stores not out of necessity, but looking for a deal. As one of my friends quips about big box stores "It's called a store for a reason. They STORE the stuff for you until you need it!" When you need to buy a bigger house, or rent or heat a bigger space for your case of toilet paper, it's not a deal! Did you know that the sizes of our homes in North America has doubled since the 60's and the main gain in square footage is for STORAGE? Heated living space taken up by a case of plastic wrapped toilet paper must go down in history as one of the most misguided, decadent, apocalyptic tragedies of our wasteful time. But I digress...
A very lucky group of 50 green entrepreneurs of all ages and professions gathered at my home and clinic for a fourth spectacular Green Grub and Gather. What was so spectacular, company aside? The array of locally gathered and generously donated edibles!
Karma Food Cooperative generously donated the fresh fruits and vegetables. Apples, eco and worker friendly bananas, Certified Organic pears, clementines and other delights graced the chocolate fountain. Rutabega, broccoli, cauliflower, romanesco, carrots in white, yellow, orange and purple, and parnsips, were prepared like chips for dipping. I myself have a hard time eating enough raw food, but not when it's all prepared and I re discover the joy of a crispy rutabega slice! (Pst... Karma is accepting new members! www.karmacoop.org)
The hummous in spicy Thai peanut, garden (mine!) herb, chipotle pepper, plus Karma curry mayonnaise from the Artisan Coop in Quebec were set in colourful half squashes instead of bowls.
Neal Brothers Foods from nearby Concord donated their delectable Organic blue corn chips and a selection of incomparable salsas: corn, mild, medium and Mexican styles. They even threw in impossible-to-stop-once-you've-started cheeze sticks! www.nealbrothersfoods.com
The Red Tent Sisters rounded off the dips with guacamole. Red Tent Sisters is an independent, pro-woman, pro-sex Toronto boutique and wellness centre run by two sisters – Amy and Kim – passionate about women’s sexual and reproductive health. www.redtentsisters.com
Then came the main course: Jacinthe Koddo provided Thai inspired Salad Rolls that disappeared immediately. Jacinthe Koddo Culinary - whose motto is "Food With Presence" - provides exciting meals, meal plans, education and parties for specific diets. www.jacinthekoddo.com Also disappearing as soon as they emerged from the oven were one-bite samosas and snacks from South Indian Dosa Mahal http://www.blogto.com/restaurants/southindiadosamahal .
Kensington Natural Bakery donated a mountain of vegan chocolate chip spelt cookies!!! Kensington Natural Bakery is a haven in a world of fast food and unhealthy choices. I am looking forward to the opening of a new cafe near me at Bloor and Ossington! www.kensingtonnaturalbakery.com
At the centre of the dessert feast was the chocolate fountain pouring 4 pounds of vegan dark, fairly traded, organically grown impossibly good chocolate from Cocoa Camino www.cocoacamino.com . Lubricating the chocolate, and the hummous, was La Maison Orphee's Soleil D'Or grapeseed oil, and extra virgin organic olive oil.
And the beverages just kept coming... from fresh soy milk from coop soybeans, to Choco Sol's Aztek Blood hot chocolate, through to Algonquin Tea's Sweetfern Tonic (immune support) and Peace teas, from local wines, to Around The World and you'd-never-know-it decaffeinated coffee generously supplied by my neighbours at Ideal Coffee. Ideal Coffee grades each of their coffees for its sustainability: environmentally, socially, politically and economically.
I can't remember a time I felt so satiated by good food and good company! It's easy to feel deprived - even poor - when surrounded by messages that we "deserve" a new flat screen TV, or can have "abundance" if we only "create" it. It seems to me that the first rule of abundance is to know, from the big picture down to the details, that we already HAVE abundance.
Even the poorest of us in Toronto does not need to pick the seeds of next year's crop out of the earth to stave off the starvation of our children. And those abandoned to such horrors do not lack the imagination to "create abundance", but rather the tendrils of greed have created a system of food distribution, of debt repayment, or climate disruption, that condemns millions of people every year to death. This is passive murder.
As good people, as local food enthusiasts, and as justice seekers, we will find ways to refuse to participate. The abundance we need is at hand through an appreciation of what we already have, and what our neighbours and neighbourhoods already offer. Abundance is everywhere if we do not bury it or steal it. What comes around still goes around, even in the selfish age of the "Secret"(not as well kept as I would hope.)
The first step in moving from destructive to renewable energy is to reduce "need". Learn to live our lives using less electricity or fuel. The first step in moving towards true and just abundance is to learn to live our lives using less. Period. Less fuel. Simpler transportation. Walking. Biking. Transiting. Cherishing the big orange at Christmas, eating crisp apples in season. Less stuff. Freecycling. Recycling. Reusing. Repairing. Less clutter, more that matters.
Like a home and clinic filled with social entrepreneurs, delighting in food and drink and goodies from as near as two blocks away. Let the revolution begin where we live!
I welcome your comments below. I really do!
More Local Producers:
Filsinger’s Organic Orchard Our apples are grown without the use of chemical herbicides and pesticides and we are certified organic by OCIA International. www.filsingersorganic.com
ChocoSol Traders: Pedal-Powered, Stone-Ground, Socially Just and Made Fresh! www.chocosoltraders.com
The Algonquin Tea Company: 100% certified organic hand picked indigenous Canadian herbs. www.algonquintea.com
The Artisan Tradition brand, from Coopérative d’Alentour offers higher-quality products than those found in big box stores. http://artisantradition.ca/en/Artisan-tradition-mayonnaise.html
La Maison Orphee, a family business from Quebec City, presses oils, makes vinegars and prepares mustards with respect to traditional methods of production and the environment. www.maisonorphee.com