Earth Day reduce, regrow and rethink

 It's EARTH DAY today and it's a great time to think about how we use our resources every day.   Some environmental experts have said that by 2050 there will be shortages of certain foods in the World.

Lately my focus has been Food Waste because I have noticed I have wasted more food than I could afford to for the cost and what the effects on the environment are.  I struggle with this every time I take a bag full of expired food to the garbage or a bag full of plastic containers to the recycle bin.

Donald Trump likes to say that there isn't any truth to Climate Change and it's not cause by people.  But it's hard to see what's happening in the world and not wonder what's happening.  It's now the 22nd of April and we are finally getting normal spring temperatures after an extremely long winter but we almost had an ice storm as crippling as the one in 2013 in Toronto.  Many people lost power from downed trees but it didn't last as long as the last time but just as crippling for the people affected by it.  Around the world the droughts, floods, hurricanes, tsunami's, earthquakes and more are getting more extreme each year and the polar ice caps, the coral reefs and the shore lines are decreasing.  It's really hard to see the big picture when you are just trying to live your life everyday but what kind of world are we leaving for our children?  A life of GMO food and constant environmental disasters that become normal life?

What can we do?   Try and make decisions that will have lasting effects.  If corporations produced less plastic products that never break down and pollute our landfills and oceans maybe they can think about innovative ways to change their products and productions and people have to choose products that have less of an environmental impact if they can.  I know this is challenging because sometimes we don't have a choice on how the products we use are sold in stores.

We can also teach our children about food.  Yesterday I showed my friend's 3 year old daughter how to regrow vegetable scraps in water by letting her help fill the containers of water.  Hopefully she will watch it sprout over the next few weeks and get excited about it.  Even if we don't grow our own food it's important to be mindful of where it comes from and who is producing it.  If you can go to a great Farmer's Market where the farmers are on hand selling their food then that's a great step in supporting the people that make your food.   If you have a balcony or garden and can grown some food then that's a great thing because you will purchase less packaging and will waste less food.

At the beginning of April I placed a carrot top in a small bowl of water and now 3 weeks later you can see how much it has sprouted.  It can be planted in earth when the weather is a bit warmer.  I tried to see if I could get avocado seeds to sprout but that hasn't been successful.  I am going to try and see what happens to a sprig of cilantro.  The easiest one to regrow is Green Onion.  There isn't much to do except make sure it has clean water at about the height of the white end of the onion and placed in sunlight it will just regrow and sprout up from the centre.

Tomorrow I have organized an Earth Day event to do the same thing and have my coworkers learn how to regrow certain vegetable bits that would normally get discarded  I will turn the wasted bits into the food waste soup I have been making through the past year and we will also attempt to plant some seed packets into one of the small greenhouse boxes that I picked up from Canadian Tire.  This is new to me so I don't know how well it will do but I wanted to try and plant a seed or start something in our current office before all of us move to a new office in May and hope to have a communal little food area that we tend to that can feed the soups and lessen the waste produced by our office.  The building we are going back to is a Leed certified building so we should consider what we contribute to it.

I am constantly trying to improve my bad habits about what I buy, toss and repurpose and hope that more people be mindful of the impact to our future generations from our daily actions.

Green Living Show Apr 6-8, 2018

The Green Living Show is on this weekend and it's a great show to get away from the cold and dreary weather and bring your friends and family into the bright Metro Convention Centre where the carpets are green and you will find everything from the Best Green Cars to what's new in the Cannabis world.

The Green Car Awards were announced on the Friday morning of the show and the Best Overall car was the Chevy Bolt who were also winners in the previous year.  You can see all the cars that were nominated and even go for a test ride of a couple of cars at the show and there is a simulator too that you can try.

Chevy Bolt

I have been going to the Green Living Show for years and this year it's changed a bit.  There isn't a kids zone this year but there are still products for kids and the whole family and new this year is the addition of an Eco Travel zone and a whole area for Cannabis products from medicinal to Canabis measurement tools and more.

One of the favourite parts of the show for me is of course the food.  The food pavillion is back with the International flavours with local foods and there are local wines, spirits and local coffee roasters Propeller Coffee are also there serving up coffees.

                            

Jose Arato - Pimenton

Nick Lui - Dailo

Some of the foods I sampled were Santo Pecado's  Chicken Tinga Tacos and Pimenton's Pulled pork on a bun and for a sweet snack I had some cinnamon sugar donuts from Wafel Haus.  Dailo's Nick Lui has his Sui Mai  dim sum.  The Samosas are back and there are lots of other foods and drink to sample in the pavillion and around the show floor.   Don't miss sampling some of Seedlip's non alcoholic cocktails.  They are serving up 2 flavours and they are both fantastic.

The great thing about this show besides being for the whole family is that you can shop, eat and learn about how to change the world through environmental changes you can make every day.
Tim Gray the Executive Director of Environmental Defence who are leading change in the Eco World was on hand to announce the Green Car Awards and there are many other speakers and experts that you can listen to and ask questions of.  At the show you can also join the Greenpeace movement to be the change you want to see in the world.

Tim Gray - Environmental Defense

There is loads of great shopping at the show.  I had my eyes on these beautiful Succulents and really wish I could have one of the Growing Towers in my Apartment to grow plants year round.

 There are beautiful water bottles and other types of containers and better and pretty candles and salts and more.

There is a wood section and I really loved this huge wooden sculpture I suppose since it wasn't flat enough to be a table but it would make a statement for sure if you had one.

While I was listening to a booth presenter I was standing beside these colorful stone bracelets and couldn't help but pick one up for Balance with a diffuser on it that you can add essential oils onto.  It was $15 and the one I got was a black and marbled grey.  Perfect for everything I wear since I wear so much black all the time anyway.

 There were lots of interactive booths to check out at the show.

Write your Green Wishes on a leaf and place it on a green wall.  Spin the wheel at the Eat Local booth.  Spin the wheel at Foodland Ontario and answer a question and win a prize.

         

Check out this Green Container House.

 There are a lot of new things like Keto coffee that I tried.  It's a packet that you just mix into hot water and it's like your coffee and milk and the butter to get the Ketogenic effect.  It tasted really good so I could see it being convenient for a lot of busy people.

 There was a no Yolk product I suppose a substitute for eggs and a the beet burger as a hamburger replacement.  Lot's of alternative and food substitutes and even an Organic Pharmacy is at the show to talk about their specific products.

As you can see there are things for everyone's needs or even things you didn't know you needed.

Check out the show at the Metro Convention Centre on until April 8th.
Tickets are

Adult	$14.00 (Online) or $18.00 (At the door)
Student/Seniors (65+)	$12.00 (Online) or $16.00 (At the door)
Children 12 and under	FREE (must be accompanied by an adult)
WWF CN Tower climbers	FREE - register here!

https://www.greenlivingshow.ca/

Food Docs to check out at Planet in Focus

The Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival takes place this weekend and they have some fantastic Food Documentaries in their program this year.   These are some of the films that will be screened at the festival.  I have seen a few of them and I can tell you that they are worth checking out.

On the Saturday of the festival there will also be a FOOD Panel after a couple of the films during the day at Innis Town Hall.

My recommendation is to make sure you go see WASTED: The Story of Food because you will have this film in your head at every step of your everyday life.

FOOD COOP Thomas Boothe, France, 2016, 97 min
Sitting between the immersive institutional portraiture of Frederick Wiseman and Broad City’s knowing send­up of gentrified Brooklyn, Food Coop offers an engaging and often humorous look at Park Slope’s wildly successful socialist supermarket.

This film is an interesting look at a new way to shop for your weekly groceries and eat better food for less money and at the same time getting to know a like minded community of people.  It has a very New York feel and you will like the different people in the community of Co Op people.

Saturday 21 October, 12:30pm ­ Innis Town Hall
Screens with FIXED! (Cat Mills)

MODIFIED Aube Giroux, Canada, 2017, 86 min[Canadian]
Canadian director Aube Giroux’s first feature, Modified, weaves stories of her participation in citizen led movements to label genetically modified organisms (GMOs), with interviews from activists Jane Goodall and Rachel Parent, and personal narratives of family, gardening, food, health, and loss. A touching and thoughtful film, Modified, is activism inspired by love.

I haven't had a chance to see this one but hoping to see it at the festival on Saturday.  GMO food is something that everyone should be educated on because people estimate that there may not be enough food in the world to feed everyone by 2050 but is GMO food the answer and what will it do to future generations?

Saturday 21 October, 3:45pm ­ Innis Town Hall
Guest: Aube Giroux

WASTED! THE STORY OF FOOD WASTE Anna Chai/Nari Kye, USA, 2017, 85 min
Slick, solution­-oriented, and featuring Anthony Bourdain at his sardonic best, WASTED! The Story of Food Waste is that rare social issue documentary that’s every bit as entertaining as it is informative.

I absolutely loved this film, so much that I watched it intently twice.  I love Anthony Bourdains sarcastic, brutal honesty and his straight forward no B.S. delivery of the reason this film was made.
It  has the same visual appeal as his show Parts Unknown which was Emmy winning.   It also has the great story telling and fact driven intensity that keeps you interested in the subject and the speakers in the film.  I have seen a lot of documentaries so it wasn't extremely shocking for me but for those that aren't as educated about where our food comes from and goes to, it's a real in your face reality check.  I highly recommend you see it with your friends and family because you may have a great discussion about what you are doing everyday and ways to make changes.   Since watching this documentary I have started a Wasted Soup Crockpot that my coworkers have contributed their excess food scraps to and it's been simmering away almost every day for the past 2 weeks.


Saturday 21 October, 6:45pm ­ Innis Town Hall

Screens with THE POACHER (Nicholas Jones) 

DEAD DONKEYS FEAR NO HYENAS Joakim Demmer, Sweden/Germany/Finland, 2017, 80 min
Famine stricken Ethiopia is exporting food to Europe while receiving aid from the World Bank to feed its population. Director Joakim Demmer investigates this scandalous situation, showing how the government has leased or sold bountiful land to foreigners while locals survive on handouts from abroad.

I have not seen this film yet but I have seen the trailer and it looks pretty interesting and kind of eye opening at what goes on with food that is supposed to help people in need.  

Saturday 21 October, 9:30pm ­ Innis Town Hall

Screens with KÉKWU (Sean Stiller)

THE LAST PIG Allison Argo, USA, 2017, 53 min
The Last Pig, by Emmy award­-winning filmmaker Allison Argo, is an intimate reflection on animal treatment, following ethical pig farmer, Bob Comis, as he contemplates his transition out of raising animals for slaughter. The film takes a meditative approach to animal activism.

What happens when a Pig farmer decides he has a crisis of conscience and decides to stop being a Pig Farmer.  The Last Pig is one mans journey to change his life plan and look at what his contribution to the world is.


Sunday 22 October, 2:30pm ­ The Al Green Theatre at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre

CLOSING NIGHT FILM

CAN YOU DIG THIS? Delila Vallot, USA, 2015, 85 min
Self-­described “Gangsta gardeners,” including the charismatic Ron Finley, are leaders in the emerging urban gardening movement springing up in notoriously rough South Los Angeles. These gardeners embrace life and their positive energy permeates the community, changing the meaning of what it is to be gangster.

This film is super inspiring to see people struggle but at the same time 1 person can make a difference just by planting a garden.  With a whole host of characters from low income communities and the champions that take it upon themselves to make a difference.


Sunday 22 October, 7:45pm ­ Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema
Guests: Ron Finlay 

Ron Finley, and executive produced by John Legend. Following the film Finley will be presented with the 2017 International Eco-Hero award and will give an address about his practice.

Also of note there will be a tribute to the late filmmaker Rob Stewart (Sharkwater) who was a friend of the festival.

Earth Day - Tips to Waste less food

TIPS TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE FOOD YOU BUY

I have been thinking about FOOD WASTE for a long time now and it seems like today is a great day to do a post about some of the things I have been trying to do over the past year.  I have wasted so much food since I moved because I used to have an extra freezer that I could always put leftovers in it if there was too much.  Now that I have one small freezer and I am cooking just for myself I am finding it a lot more challenging to save money on food and still eat a variety of foods.

I hope that some of these tips will help you waste less food and money and respect the food that people break their backs to grow and sell as fresh as possible.

EARTH DAY TIPS:

1.  Some vegetables can be re planted like the ends of these Green Onions.  Just put the white end into water and you will see it sprout again in a few days.   You can just snip off the tops when it grows.  You might want to change the water to keep it fresh.

2.  I just started saving all of the trimmings off of vegetables and putting them in a ziploc bag in the freezer and I will use them to make a vegetable stock that can be used for soup or other recips.

3.  Not long ago I went to a Food Waste event and they let us take home some produce so I took lettuce, tomatoes and potatoes.  With the lettuce and tomatoes I made this BLT. 

4.  I made a potato salad using the event's potatoes but another tip would be to boil a bunch of eggs to have in the fridge to either grab for breakfast or lunch or to make egg salad or to add to your salads and sandwiches during the week.  It wastes less energy to boil a pot than one egg at a time and it's a great source of protein.  I suggest buying organic because it tastes better and also if it's a reputable supplier it's better for the chickens and the environment.

5.  I also got Roma tomatoes and they aren't as good for sandwiches by are amazing for soups and Pasta sauces because they have less seeds.  It's great to use them when they get a bit soft or have blemishes.  You can also do this with peppers.  Keep the ends of the rind of Parmesan Cheese and put it in the soup while it's cooking for added flavour and then just take it out before you serve the soup. That's kind of 2 tips in one.

6.  I also went to a Food Trade show and one booth were giving out all of the breads they had on display so I took home a massive loaf of bread.  I couldn't possibly eat it all, so I made some stuffing with it.  You can make bread pudding, croutons or bread crumbs with stale bread too.  The stuffing also cleaned up some stuff in my fridge like carrots, celery and onions.

7.  Quiche or Fritattas are a great way to use up bits of cheeses and leftover vegetables and you can do it with or without a crust.   I used the one Russet potato and grated it to make the crusts for 4 of these muffin tin bird's nest quiches.  I used a bit of leftover goat cheese, gruyere, parmesan and some leftover fresh dill and some frozen spinach and the caramelized onions I made above that I save the peels from.   I ate one for breakfast and have one in the fridge for tomorrow and the other 2 I put in the freezer for a quick breakfast or lunch or snack even.

8.  One thing I need to do more often is freeze certain fruits when I buy them fresh so they don't spoil before I use them up.   Things like pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries.  They come in containers that I don't end up using it all at once.   I need to get better at this.

9.  Another thing that I should do more of is meal planning.  My plans change at the last minute and sometimes I grocery shop with the intent to make a certain thing but then I run out of energy to actually make it and then when I have the time and energy it's too late.  If you can meal plan and have a well stocked pantry of basic items that you can add to make anything that will be helpful.

10.  Batch cook as much as you can.  I wish I had a spare freezer still because it's great to make a big pot of soup stock and store in single serve containers.   It's also great to make lasagnas and either freeze portions or even half of it to put in the oven when you want a complete meal that is no fuss later.  Chilli is one of the best things to do in a huge batch because it freezes great.  You can also make pulled pork in a Crockpot using a great spice rub and a big piece of Pork Shoulder when it's on sale and let it cook while you are doing other things and when it's done shred it and portion it and store in ziploc bags in the freezer for fast tacos and other dishes.

I am not always the best at doing all the right things for the environment but these things are mostly pretty simple and they will save you money and time and hopefully less trips to the grocery store.

There are so many more ideas and I hope to do more posts in the future with more useful tips.

Let me know if you do any of these or have other things you do.

Reduce Reuse Recycle and Eat Well and Save Money.

Planet in Focus - Theatre of Life

My two favourite things in life are Film and Food.  I got to enjoy both of them together at the Opening Night Gala at the Planet in Focus Film Festival.  The Opening Night film at the Bloor Cinema was Theatre of Life, a film about food waste and the people that are less fortunate and effects and solutions made by the Vatican, Chefs, Designers and Artists.  The film was introduced by local Chef Jamie Kennedy and there was a Q&A afterward with local Chef Activist Joshna Maharaj and Director Peter Svatel.

Michelin star Italian Chef chef Massimo Bottura had an idea for a Soup Kitchen and mentioned it to a colleague and then it turned into a whole other thing that brought the World's Top Chefs from around the world to a Gourmet Soup Kitchen in Italy during their Milano Expo 2015.

Peter Svatel

Director Peter Svatel captures the contrast when Celebrity Chefs who's restaurants  can command hundreds of dollars for their meals decide to feed people who are at the other end of the economic spectrum.

Chef Bottura's idea was to repurpose leftover food from the Milan Expo that was donated to the Refettorio Ambrosiano Soup Kitchen. and an army of amazing volunteers and Top Chefs would create gourmet dinners for 100 less fortunate people.

Celebrity chefs such as Rene Redzepi, Ferran Adria, Mario Battali, Alain Ducasse and many others travelled to Milan and took over the kitchen to develop their own spin on the "surplus" food that was rescued each day, mostly things like stale bread and lots of bananas, it would change each day so the chefs needed to be creative with the ingredients.

The film profiles some of the displaced people that the Refettorio feeds as well as the people involved in making it happen.  There is an Italian homeless couple that prefers to sleep in a train station than stay in a shelter.  Another man looks for places to stay but sometimes sleeps in his car that he can no longer afford to pay insurance for.  There are refugees and people with disabilities and those who have just fallen on hard times.  A free meal won't change someone's life, but will provide a chance to meet new people and to have a great meal, a little joy, and a piece of cake.

This small idea from Bottura turned into a movement to use Food Waste to feed people who could not afford to buy food.  Bottura and his wife created a foundation to be able to do more around the world.

Food waste in some places, from farm to table, can sometimes average about 50%.  Half the world is living in poverty, and it makes sense to use some of this waste food to feed hungry people.  It won't fix their life but it will certainly help their quality of life.

They take the Soup Kitchen template to RIO to do it all over again.

I also attend the Opening night party at the 918 Cultural Centre on Bathurst- lovely space. Photos by the films photographer were on sale to raise funds for the foundation.

In keeping with the film's theme, the Opening Night Gala Party featured appetizers made by The Stop Community Food Centre using surplus food donated from the Master Chef TV production.

The film and the gala were really connected to the whole concept of Food Waste, using resources properly to sustain the environment in the world.   Well done Planet in Focus.

You can find out more about Bottura's foundation "Food for Soul":
http://www.foodforsoul.it/cooking-is-a-call-to-act-massimo-bottura/

"Cooking is a Call to Act" - Massimo Bottura

I think that this is the model that should be developed for every large event that generates surplus food.  In Toronto we have Second Harvest that works with local restaurants and others to rescue food and I think it would be great to get amazing chefs involved to elevate the surplus food to feed those in need.  It' would be a win-win situation to ensure long-term sustainability of our food sources.

PLANET IN FOCUS Festival runs from October 18-23, 2016.