Slow food for chefs

According to Slow Food philosophy consumers are part of the food production chain because they make the purchasing choices and create demand. In fact consumers are considered co-producers because of their role. Chefs are also an important part of the food production chain. They are at the forefront of culinary trends, they educated us about food through their restaurants and they, too, create demand for food products. In BC, we are lucky to have many chefs who are passionate about sourcing the freshest, local ingredients. And more and more, our local chefs are forming relationships with local producers - a happy and healthy collaboration yielding tasty results.

Click on image above to read the article that appeared in the Winter 2010 issue of Chefs Quarterly, the publication of the BC Chef’s Association.

 

Fair Trade Coffee

“Direct trade- there is no other way.  That is our mission. One product at a time, one relationship at a time, one new customer at a time.”
—Martha Bowen, Latin Organics Coffee

Martha Bowen, the owner and CEO of Latin Organics Coffee, 1326 East Hastings Street in Vancouver. has recently returned from her latest buying trip to Columbia. On her blog she shares how her company is making a difference for the people of Columbia by avoiding the middle-man coffee brokers and trading directly with local producers. Martha, who is from Columbia herself, knows what it takes to make a difference for the people of Columbia who live in a beautiful country, but deal with much socio-economic and political unrest.

Look for an opportunity this fall to attend a Slow Food Vancouver Tasting Event where Latin Organics, and other local coffee companies, are making a difference to be ‘good, clean, & fair’ in the coffee business. Read the full story on Martha’s blog.

—Julieanne Agnew

Taste Education

The idea that we have to teach kids to taste seems a little surprising. Those of us who have ever fed a baby know little ones have definite taste preferences from the minute they get their first sample of puréed peas.

Modern food preparation and eating habits as well as urban life, though, has put distance between our kids and the source of their food. And it’s surprising that some children who love their French fries may not be able to identify a potato.

To help children become engaged with food through their senses, Slow Food International has put together a learning package for children called “To the Origins of Taste.”  Through a series of workshops, children are encouraged to think about the ingredients that make up their food, where those ingredients come from and to experience food through taste, smell, touch and hearing.

More and more, educators are recognizing the importance of teaching children about the food they eat. Vegetable gardens are cropping up at many schools, giving kids a chance to dig in the dirt, plant some seeds, care for the garden, and most satisfyingly, eat produce fresh out of the garden.

According to Slow Food Canada, school gardens and taste education support the Slow Food philosophy of good, clean and fair.

“Good because the sensory analysis workshops train children and parents to recognize food based on its sensory qualities, learning to demand and monitor quality in school canteens. Clean because the youths learn to use organic and biodynamic production methods, to research and safeguard the seeds of local varieties, to consider as vital the reduction of food miles by privileging local foods. Fair by endorsing the transmission of knowledge from generation to generation, giving value to the social role of the elderly and of volunteers and encouraging collaboration between diverse realities, also through partnerships with developing countries.”

For your own “To the Origins of Taste” Sensory Education Kit, contact Slow Food International at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

For more information and resources on getting kids involved in food and food production check out the following links:

Slow Food Canada: Taste Education

Environmental Youth Alliance

Terra Nova School Yard Society

UBC Farm offers school workshops and summer camps for children aged 6 to 11.

First Nations Feast

Last week a First Nations feast was held at the UBC Farm. It was lovingly put together by a group of elders and participants in Vancouver Native Health’s Urban Aboriginal Community Kitchen Garden project who worked along with students from the VCC First Nations Culinary Art Program.

The table was laden with an array of dishes mainly gathered from the sea or from the UBC garden itself. One featured item was herring roe on seaweed, a delicacy that has been disappearing from local waters. Other items included crab salad, salmon fresh from the onsite smoker, fresh garden veggies, bannock, and strawberry punch and much more. Desserts of apple sauce and peach-blackberry compote topped off the meal.

The lunch-time feast had several highlights, one of which was the meatball taste test in which participants were challenged to identify, out of two meatballs, which was the one made of elk meat and which one was made with organic beef.

Elders and VCC students also shared memories of their favourite childhood foods and what meaning the feast held for them.

Mary Holmes who runs the Urban Aboriginal Community Kitchen Garden is hoping to update cooking facilities at the farm. To that end, Slow Food Vancouver, the Urban Aboriginal Garden, and the VCC First Nations Culinary Arts program headed by Ben Genaille are planning a First Nations Feast in August featuring traditional First Nations food.
Proceeds of the feast will go toward kitchen improvements at the UBC Farm and the Slow Food Terra Madre Fund.

To see more about the Aboriginal Community Kitchen Garden Project check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RSn9d9pMN8

Stay tuned for registration information.