The Feast of St Lawrence - Dinner under the Stars

FEAST OF ST LAWRENCE

DINNER UNDER THE STARS

When:    Saturday July 14, 2018
What:     Media Preview for Dinner Under the Stars
Why:      Charity Event for Second Harvest
Who:      Sponsored by Audi Toronto
Where:   Preview at 4 participating restaurants in the St. Lawrence Market Area

On August 10th there will be a great Sit Down Charity Event called the FEAST OF ST LAWRENCE -DINNER UNDER THE STARS that will take place at St. Lawrence Market.  It will feature restaurants in the St. Lawrence Market area and the proceeds from this event will be donated to the Food Rescue Non-Profit organization Second Harvest.  I really love what Second Harvest does because it tackles the food waste problem while also taking care of food insecurity for so many people in Toronto. Sponsored by Audi Toronto.

On a very humid Saturday afternoon I joined fellow bloggers/influencers for a walking tour and preview of some of the participating restaurants for The Fest of St. Lawrence - Dinner Under the Stars.  Unfortunately I missed the first stop at Pearl Diver because of the subway closures but luckily I have been to Pearl Diver many times so I know they are fantastic. I haven't had a chance to go to the Feast of St. Lawrence but I have heard that it's an amazing event and it's a gorgeous night out at the Market while doing great things for so many people.
                                  

1st Stop: Pearl Diver

Location: 100 Adelaide St E, Toronto, ON

Tasting: Oyster 

                                 

2nd Stop: Omni King Edward Hotel
Location: 37 King St E, Toronto, 

Tasting: Ancient grain and hazelnut clusters, roasted summer vegetables, charred pickled onion, petit tender - Beef, Chimichurri crema. Vegetarian Alternative: Ancient grain and hazelnut clusters, roasted summer vegetables, charred pickled onion, squash blossoms, carrot cider puree.

   

 

                           

3rd Stop: Farmr

Location: 140A The Esplanade, Toronto, ON

Tasting: Pickled Watermelon Salad, local tomatoes cucumber, arugula, finger chilies, tomato vinaigrette, micro basil

This was probably my favourite on the tour only because it was a hot day and this was so refreshing and light and we had it sitting outside on their cozy patio sitting on picnic tables so it really felt like summer.

                                  

4th Stop:  CC Lounge and Whisky Bar

Location: 45 Front St E, Toronto

Tasting: Gooderham & Worts Four Grain Canadian Whisky and

Cocktail Toronto -  J.P. Wiser’s Deluxe, triple Sec, Lillet Liquor and fresh Lemon.

Herbed fries with dips.

This Lounge is beautiful with some fantastic huge chandeliers and a long bar and cozy seating.  The building has a ton of history and you sort of feel it when you are there.

Now for more details about the actual event including the full menu and ticket information:

DETAILS for the DINNER UNDER THE STARS

The Feast of St. Lawrence begins on August 10th with an exclusive, al fresco fine dining event for charity. Two hundred and fifty guests will be seated at two continuous tables on Front Street (between Scott and Church Street) and served a sumptuous five-course dinner prepared by chefs from some of the top restaurants in the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood including Biff's Bistro, Farmr, ARDO, The Hot House Restaurant, The Omni King Edward Hotel, Pearl Diver, The Sultan's Tent and George Brown College. 

Wine pairings from Prince Edward County vineyards and Creemore Springs beer will

be served with the dinner and CC Lounge will present a special Whisky tasting bar. The 18-piece JAZZ.FM91 Youth Big Band will provide added ambiance in the beautifully illuminated Berczy Park lounge area.
The event begins with a reception featuring hors d'oeuvres, wine and beer starting at 6:00 p.m. and ends at 11:00 p.m. 

A portion of ticket sales will be donated to Second Harvest.

Tickets are $200 and are on sale now!

Purchase tickets:

https://www.showpass.com/feast-of-st-lawrence-dinner-under-the-stars/

By Phone: call 416 410 9242

Location: Front Street East (between Scott and Church Street)

Friday August 10, 2018 - 6:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

Official Accounts:

@oldtowntoronto

@auditoronto

Official Hashtags:

#oldtowntoronto

#feastofstlawrence

#dinnerunderthestars

ABOUT:
Second Harvest: Second Harvest is the largest food rescue organization in Canada and a global thought leader on food recovery. With a goal to drastically reduce the amount of food wasted while ensuring people have access to the good, healthy food they need for success, Second Harvest works across the supply chain from farmer to retail to capture surplus food before it ends up in the landfill and negatively impacts our environment.
Since 1985 we have rescued and delivered more than 127 million pounds of food and prevented over 70 million pounds of greenhouse gas equivalents from entering our atmosphere. Currently, we rescue food from over 470 donors and deliver that food to 253 social service agencies in Toronto and food hubs across Ontario, providing enough food for 30,000 meals a day.

No Waste. No Hunger.

DINNER UNDER THE STARS MENU

FEAST OF ST. LAWRENCE 2018

HORS d’OEUVRES

Stationary

Oyster Station (Pearl Diver)

Whisky Bar (CC Lounge)

Beer Bar (Creemore Springs Brewery)

PASSED BY THE SERVERS

Biff's Famous Chicken Liver Parfait (Biff's Bistro)

Falafel with Tahini Sauce (The Sultan's Tent)

Stanners Vineyard 2016 Lincoln Lakeshore Riesling / Stanners Vineyard 2016 Prince Edward County Chardonnay / Broken

Stone Winery 2017 Estate Pinot Noir

APPETIZER

Chilled Melon Soup with ginger (The Hot House)

Rosehall Run Ceremony Blanc de Blanc Brut

Tagliata di Spada - Nova Scotia Sword fish with Ardo sour dough, breadcrumb green peas mint pure, pickled cipolline

(ARDO)

Closson Chase 2017 K. J. Watson Pinot Gris

ENTRE METIER

Pickled Watermelon Salad, local tomatoes cucumber, arugula, finger chilies, tomato vinaigrette, micro basil (Farmr)

Karlo Estates Winery 2017 Frontenac Gris Rose

MAIN

Ancient grain and hazelnut clusters, roasted summer vegetables, charred pickled onion, petit tender, Chimichurri crema

(Omni King Edward Hotel)

Vegetarian Alternative: Ancient grain and hazelnut clusters, roasted summer vegetables, charred pickled onion, squash

blossoms, carrot cider puree (Omni King Edward Hotel)

Keint-he Winery & Vineyards 2013 Queenston Road Pinot Noir

SWEET

Tonka Pavlova with Ontario peaches, wild blueberry and basil cream (George Brown College)

S'mores Tart with smoked chocolate, toasted marshmallow and crushed raspberry (George Brown College)

Broken Stone Winery Exuberance Sparkling Riesling

Restaurants for Change - We dine our at Baro and do good.

RESTAURANTS FOR CHANGE

October 18, 2017

Baro Restaurant & other Canadian restaurants

485 King St. W.

Baro website: https://barotoronto.com/

Website: http://restaurantsforchange.ca/

Hashtag #restaurantsforchange

This post is really late in writing but I wanted to tell you about a great initiative that is hosted by some of Canada's top restaurants that benefits Community Food Programs.  

On October 18th, 2017,  I made reservations at Baro restaurant on King Street in Toronto with a few friends for dinner.  I went to Baro for the preview for the fundraising event and decided to go back for dinner and try their regular menu.  

The fundraiser is easy for people to participate in without doing anything different than what they usually do because all you need to do is make a reservation at a participating restaurant.  You go out to eat on the designated night which was October 18th and the restaurant will donate 50% to 100% of the total food sales from the dinner service to support local community food programs in low-income neighbourhoods.  So all you have to do is dine out to do good.  It's really a win win for everyone.

Since 2014 Restaurants for Change has raised close to $600,000 with this program.  The people in the restaurant industry are really generous with their time and efforts and this makes a huge difference in people's lives.  The programs provide access to healthy food,  and build skills and community.  

Your fun delicious dinner will help make a difference in the lives of Canadians who struggle with food insecurity and poverty.

Sari is a pescatarian and she ordered the Fish tacos which she loved.

Nimu and Domenica ordered a bunch of things including the ceviche, the octopus and the chocolate truffles below which we all tried.

I ordered the mini empanadas and they were hot and so flavourful.

We had a great night catching up and eating great food and it's great to know that it does a lot of good for other people beyond us leaving the restaurant.  I hope you get your reservations in order for the next edition of Restaurants for change.  For more information and to donate check out the website below.

WEBSITE: http://restaurantsforchange.ca/newsitems/

Dine Out for Restaurants for Change - Oct 18

Top Canadian chefs cook up a storm for Restaurants for Change Oct. 2017 National fundraising event supports community food programs in low-income neighbourhoods across Canada

On October 18, 2017, 92 restaurants in 19 Canadian cities will join together to donate proceeds from dinner service to Community Food Centres Canada, supporting community food programs that build health, hope, and belonging in low-income communities across the country. Funds raised will directly support local Community Food Centres that bring people together to grow, cook, share, and advocate for good food for all.    Participating in the event is easy: Diners visit www.restaurantsforchange.ca to find a participating restaurant near them and make a dinner reservation for October 18. More than a dozen chefs from participating restaurants across Canada flew to Toronto on September 17 and 18 to learn more about the issues of food insecurity, poor health and social isolation that affect low-income Canadians, and how Community Food Centres Canada is using food as a tool to build healthier and more inclusive communities. They then launched the Restaurants for Change campaign with a packed event at Baro restaurant, where they cooked their favourite dishes from their menus—dishes that Canadians can order when they go out for dinner on October 18. Pictured above from left to right: Ben Kramer (Ben Kramer Pop-up at Kitchen Sync, Winnipeg), Glen Manzer (Creative Restaurant Group, Calgary), Lora Kirk (Ruby Watchco, Toronto), Erin Vrba (Creative Restaurant Group, Calgary), Duncan Ly (Foreign Concept, Calgary), Nick Saul (President and CEO, Community Food Centres Canada), Kevin Gilmour (Fat Pasha, Toronto), Tyler Shedden (Planta, Toronto), Bettina Schormann (Earth to Table Bread Bar, Hamilton and Guelph), John Vettraino (Backhouse, Niagara-on-the-Lake), Blair Lebsack (RGE RD, Edmonton), Jeff Crump (Earth to Table Bread Bar, Hamilton and Guelph), Anthony Rose (Rose and Sons, Toronto), Renée Lavallée (The Canteen on Portland, Dartmouth), Tim Steele (Drake Hotel Properties, Toronto), David Gunawan (Farmer’s Apprentice, Vancouver). Photo credit: Gabriel Li. Restaurants for Change 2017 is made possible by generous participating restaurants and sponsors: 2017 restaurants Calgary Alforno Bakery & Cafe, Bonterra Trattoria, CHARCUT Roast House, Cibo, Cucina Bistro, Deane House, Foreign Concept, Mill Street Calgary Brewpub, NOtaBLE ~ The Restaurant, Posto Pizzeria & Bar, River Café, Royale Brasserie, Scopa Neighbourhood Italian, Teatro Ristorante, The Nash, Vendome Cafe Edmonton RGE RD Halifax/Dartmouth Agricola Street Brasserie, Battery Park BeerBar & Eatery, enVie A Vegan Kitchen, The Brooklyn Warehouse, The Canteen on Portland Hamilton Earth to Table: Bread Bar, Papa Leo’s Restaurant Guelph Artisanale French Country Cooking, Earth to Table: Bread Bar Kitchener The Berlin Alexandria The Quirky CarrotMontreal Garde Manger, Hopkins, Le Bremner, Monkland Taverne, Park, Porco, Restaurant L’Orignal Niagara-on-the-Lake Backhouse Ottawa Atelier, Clover food | drink, North & Navy, Union Local 613 Perth Fieldhouse Pickering PORT St. John’s Mallard Cottage Stratford The Hub at 27 Marketplace Bayfield Black Dog Village Pub & Bistro Toronto Actinolite, Alo, Bar Begonia, Bar Isabel, Baro, Barque Smokehouse, Bar Raval, Beast, Beaumont Kitchen, Big Crow, Cafe Belong, Carmen, Dailo Restaurant, Drake Commissary, Drake Hotel, Drake One Fifty, Edulis, El Rey, Fat Pasha, Flock 97 Harbord Street, Harry’s Charbroiled, Isaan Der, Kanpai Snack Bar, Madame Boeuf, Mamakas Taverna, Maple Leaf Tavern, Peter Pan Bistro, Piano Piano, Planta, PrettyUgly Bar, Rasa, Richmond Station, Rose and Sons, Rose and Sons Swan, Ruby Watchco, Tennessee Tavern, Union Vancouver Burdock & Co, Farmer's Apprentice, Jamjar Commercial Drive Wellington Drake Devonshire Winnipeg  Ben Kramer Pop-up, Chew, deer + almond, Forth, King + Bannatyne, Promenade Cafe and Wine 2017 sponsors Lead sponsor: Garland Canada. National media sponsors: Global TV, Food Network, Cooking Channel. Media sponsors: Toronto Life, Avenue Calgary. Community partners: Culinary Tourism Alliance,Terroir.  In-kind partners: J Sutton Communications, Open Table, The Siren Group Inc.

Is Easter about the food or religion?

Has Easter become a holiday like Christmas where the food becomes more of the thing than the religious aspect?  Also has commercial marketing been bombarding your feed lately?

I don't celebrate Easter so I don't have any Easter traditions.  Probably the closest thing to an Easter tradition for me is buying the Cadbury Mini Easter eggs over the lead up to Easter.  They are addictive little things.  

It struck me that I see people talking about the food they are going to eat a lot more than any of the religious aspects anymore.  Has it turned into a feast or marketed holiday?  I am not the one to ask but I will ask you if you celebrate Easter what is the most important part of it for you?


I have also been thinking about kids that live in food insecure households who don't get to have Easter Egg Hunts because their parents just can't afford to buy the Chocolate eggs.  They can get pretty expensive especially if you have more than one kid.

Since I don't have any Easter traditions or family recipes to share I just wanted you to think about the people that aren't celebrating Easter because either it's not their religion or they don't have family to celebrate it with or maybe they just can't afford to participate in the usual Easter traditions like the Fish, Easter eggs, and whatever else is part of a family Easter tradition.

Gastropost  @gastropost and Maple Leaf Foods @MapleLeafFoods are teaming up to help the people that aren't able to afford to put healthy food on their table with a new campaign.  You can nominate an individual that volunteers or works in food for a $10,000 donation.  You will benefit too.  It has to be someone involved in a not for profit registered charity.  Food Insecurity affects 1 in 6 children in Canada.  Hard to believe for a country that everyone thinks is free and progressive.

The campaign is called #FEEDITFORWARD and if you would like to nominate someone click on this link to register them.  http://www.mapleleaf.com/feed-it-forward-donation/

This Easter think about the people in your lives that aren't sitting down to a big Easter meal or can't celebrate Easter for whatever reason and invite them to dinner or start a tradition by bringing them one of your extra family treats.   #FEEDIT FORWARD if you can.  You never know how much it will mean to someone's life.

I am not a religious person but pray for the people that need a bit of help with all the challenges going on in this world we all need peace, health and happiness.

Feed it Forward

Food insecurity in Canada

Do you know what the face of hunger looks like?

·       

1 in 8 Canadian families struggle to put food on the table.

·       32% of the people requiring food assistance are children.**

·       25% of food bank users are immigrants.**

·       79,000 people each month access a food bank for the first time.*

·       Almost 40% of food bank clients have a diploma, degree or higher.**

·       On average, people who use food assistance programs do so for two years.**

*According to Food Banks Canada's HungerCount 2015 report.

**According to Daily Bread Food Bank's Who's Hungry 2015 report.

1 in 6 Canadian Children are affected by food insecurity.
*Source: Maple Leaf foods

Over the past couple of years I have learned a lot about Food Insecurity in Toronto and around the world because of my blog and in my work as an Ambassador for Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.  I got involved to see if I could do something to help people learn about their food and in the process I learned about the food insecurity issue from attending local charitable events that raise funds for programs like the Stop Community Food Program, who have various food training programs and they provide food to local communities in need.  This past October  a group of people and  I toured a couple of local schools and we learned about the Feed Tomorrow program that has school programs that provide food to school children who are experiencing hunger.  The older students volunteer to assist the program.
Second Harvest is another great non-profit that has great initiatives that many local restaurants in the city support by donating food.  And don't forget the food banks, one of the largest being the Daily Bread Food Bank who work tirelessly to get food and cash donations to provide food for people on various forms of assistance.

In a city as big as Toronto that is supposed to be "booming" why do we still have these organizations struggling to serve the local community?

Is food a Human Right?

While I am not a big fan of giving street people spare change because I don't believe it helps them in the long run, but I do believe there are a lot of people that need help.

Food Insecurity is a bigger problem than you think.

Recently the cost of produce shot up almost triple the normal cost and a head of cauliflower could cost about $8.  When you make $11.50 an hour you

If you think about the fact that the minimum wage is under $12 and the cost of living in Toronto for just a bachelor apartment starts at $900 if you are lucky, there isn't much left for enough food  after you pay your necessities but isn't food a necessity too?

If you are single on Ontario Works assistance you only get $681 dollars a month.  They believe you should spend $200 a month from that for food.  Good luck with that working out.
Disability is somewhere around $900 a month I believe.
In other words if you get sick or lose your job you have a good chance of going hungry at some point unless you have some other assistance.

As a regular contributor to Gastropost (The National Post's) community I am happy to support a new partnership campaign between Gastropost and Maple Leaf Foods.
Maple Leaf Foods will provide a $10,000.00 donation.

THE CAMPAIGN:

Feed it Forward by nominating a great Canadian in your community who has gone above-and-beyond to use good food to better the lives of others. Whether they have put in place a program to nourish school children, deliver nutrition education for people who need support, or use food as a way to bring people together and teach valuable life skills.

Nominate a great Canadian in your community who has gone above-and-beyond to use good food to better the lives of others. Whether they have put in place a program to nourish school children, deliver nutrition education for people who need support, or use food as a way to bring people together and teach valuable life skills.

They could receive a $10,000 donation towards their organization and enjoy free Maple Leaf groceries for a year.  And just by nominating them you could have the opportunity to receive free Maple Leaf groceries for a year.

The Nominee must volunteer or work for a registered not-for-profit organization or community group that uses food as a key component of supporting their program goals.

I mentioned a few of these organizations above.

To NOMINATE someone submit your information here:  

http://www.mapleleaf.com/feed-it-forward-donation/

This program takes place from March 21 to April 9, 2016.

Spread the word and get people talking about this great campaign that can make a difference in a lot of people's lives through this large donation. It's easy, all you have to do is nominate someone that is already doing good things to help them and you be rewarded for the great work.

Don't forget to follow along on social media and Tweet, Instagram, Facebook or whatever else you use to spread the word.

HASHTAG #feeditforward
Don't forget to follow @MapleLeafFoods on Twitter and Instagram
Follow fellow Gastroposter's feed using the Hashtag #Gastropost
Become a Gastroposter and submit your food photos for weekly missions and follow @Gastropost
http://gastropost.nationalpost.com/

This blog post was promoted by Gastropost + Maple Leaf Foods but the opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

Ugly Fruit Movement

Celebrity Chef and food activist Jamie Oliver is on a new mission to bring Ugly fruit back to your grocery stores.

There is a problem when 40% of all food produced in the world is just getting tossed out before it even gets to a consumer and it's madness when there is so much food insecurity in the world.

I bet you never really notice that all of the fruits and vegetables in a majority of grocery stores always looks almost perfect.  Well there is no such thing as perfection in real life.  People are flawed and so are fruits and vegetables.  That doesn't mean that the 40% of fruits and veg that are chucked because they don't look good don't have a value in life.  What if we chucked all the ugly people in the world?  Unfortunately society seems to be trying to make this happen with plastic surgery and the terrorist extremists that want everyone in the world to be like them.   The world is supposed to have everything in it.  Everything is connected in the Universe and there is a reason for the differences.

In France they have a grocery store chain that wanted to take action on all of the Ugly fruit or not so perfect end of day produce that they had before chucking it in the bin they decided to turn it into juices and soups that they would sell in the store at a discounted price.  Their sales went up exponentially.  So why don't more people adopt this idea?  I am sure there are economic reasons for this but what if we took all the produce that isn't picture perfect from the fields and set up a community co-op where people from lower incomes or people in need could access this produce at reduced prices.  Here's another stretch, what if we took those fruits and vegetables and gave them to Seniors long term care facilities to turn into juices and soups that would nourish seniors with dietary and other issues and customize the nutrients that they would get.   What if they had Vitamix blenders that they had a few Vitamix blenders on each floor to produce purees, soups, smoothies, juices etc for the patients?   Wouldn't that be better than the processed dead awful food that is served to frail seniors in these homes?

I saw firsthand the horrible food that seniors ate when my mother was in a facility for the last year and a half of her life.  I think the terrible nutrition probably contributed to the cause of her death.   I tried to bring her things sometimes but she didn't always want it.  A lot of seniors refuse to eat their food mostly because they don't like it or they have difficulties eating.  Soups and smoothies that taste good and are at the peak of nutrition could certainly help in these cases.   I understand why the institutions serve the processed food because their hands are tied on the actual funding they get to operate the facilities and the costs of storing food and the staff to handle it.   But what if food direct from the field was delivered to the facilities a couple of times a week and the produce was turned into soups and juices that could be frozen if there was excess?  Wouldn't that be a cost saving?  What if the government subsidized the process of farmers donating the food that would go to landfill to be donated to institutions of all kinds.. Schools, healthcare facilities and correctional institutes.   What if food banks got donations of the ugly fruits and vegetables to give to people in need?   If 40% of food is already going to the landfills before it goes to market and 40-50% of people in the world are suffering from lack of nutrition doesn't it just make sense to re-distribute this food?   It doesn't matter what the fruits and vegetables look like when they are blended into a soup or smoothie or even a puree because it's just all blended up and blemishes are all hidden in the blended goodness.   What if you wanted to make a tomato soup and you had a choice to buy wonky tomatoes at half the cost of the pretty looking ones?  Which would you choose if you were living paycheck to paycheck?

I take a lot of photos of fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and from the produce I buy at grocery stores and realized that I didn't have too many wonky fruit and vegetable pictures.  This means that this stuff never hits my food suppliers shelves.

I just sent an email to a local Organic Grocery store to think about getting on board of the Ugly Fruit movement.  What if you all sent letters and emails to the places you buy your produce from to tell them you want to see the ugly fruits and veg in their stores and you would go out of your way to purchase them if they sell them at a lower price.   How would this change things?  Think about it.   Wouldn't it be great if you could ship your leftovers to people in third world countries that don't even have a piece of bread to eat?  Well that might not be possible yet but this is doable if we all make a little bit of effort.

Join Jamie Oliver in his mission to bring Ugly fruit to your local markets and give them a purpose instead of letting them produce gases in our landfills.    If we don't think about doing this our whole planet could turn into a landfill eventually.    Try and watch the movie Soylent Green and see a science fiction movie about what they thought the planet would turn into in the future.

The Safeway in Alberta puts what it calls it's misfits on sale in their grocery store.
Would you buy this?
What do you think about this?  Would it work?  Share your thoughts below.

If you want to see this change tell your local grocer that you want to see this happen.  The more demand the more they will change.

50 percent of food produced never reaches someone's table.

Here's an Idea, what if food producers produced more food to be eaten closer to where it's produced and food that never goes to retail because of physical appearance is donated to people near the producers who have food insecurity issues?  

50% of the food in the world is tossed out while probably about the same amount of people in the world go hungry.  

There must be a solution that can be figured out here.   

Read the shocking statistics in this new report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Halton Waste Treatment Plant where some of what people throw out ends up.

New report: as much as 2 billion tonnes of all food produced ends up as waste

Institution of Mechanical Engineers calls on urgent action to prevent 50% of all food produced in the world ending up as waste

10 January 2013

A new report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers has found that as much as 50% of all food produced around the world never reaches a human stomach due to issues as varied as inadequate infrastructure and storage facilities through to overly strict sell-by dates, buy-one-get-one free offers and consumers demanding cosmetically perfect food.

With UN predictions that there could be about an extra three billion people to feed by the end of the century and an increasing pressure on the resources needed to produce food, including land, water and energy, the Institution is calling for urgent action to tackle this waste.

The report ‘Global Food; Waste Not,Want Not’ found that:

·       between 30% and 50% or 1.2-2 billion tonnes of food produced around the world each year never reaches a human stomach;

·       as much as 30% of UK vegetable crops are not harvested due to them failing to meet exacting standards based on their physical appearance, while up to half of the food that’s bought in Europe and the USA is thrown away by the consumer;

·       about 550 billion m³ of water is wasted globally in growing crops that never reach the consumer;

·       it takes 20-50 times the amount of water to produce 1 kilogram of meat than 1 kilogram of vegetables;

·       the demand for water in food production could reach 10–13 trillion m³ a year by 2050. This is 2.5 to 3.5 times greater than the total human use of fresh water today and could lead to more dangerous water shortages around the world;

·       there is the potential to provide 60-100% more food by eliminating losses and waste while at the same time freeing up land, energy and water resources.

Dr Tim Fox, Head of Energy and Environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers said:

“The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering. This is food that could be used to feed the world’s growing population – as well as those in hunger today. It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that were used in the production, processing and distribution of this food.

“The reasons for this situation range from poor engineering and agricultural practices, inadequate transport and storage infrastructure through to supermarkets demanding cosmetically perfect foodstuffs and encouraging consumers to overbuy through buy-one-get-one free offers.

“As water, land and energy resources come under increasing pressure from competing human demands, engineers have a crucial role to play in preventing food loss and waste by developing more efficient ways of growing, transporting and storing foods.

“But in order for this to happen Governments, development agencies and organisation like the UN must work together to help change people’s mindsets on waste and discourage wasteful practices by farmers, food producers, supermarkets and consumers.”

By 2075 the UN predicts that the world’s population is set to reach around 9.5 billion, which could mean an extra three billion mouths to feed. A key issue to dealing with this population growth is how to produce more food in a world with resources under competing pressures – particularly given the added stresses caused by global warming and the increasing popularity of eating meat – which requires around 10 times the land resources of food like rice or potatoes.

The world produces about four billion metric tonnes of food per year, but wastes up to half of this food through poor practices and inadequate infrastructure. By improving processes and infrastructure as well as changing consumer mindsets, we would have the ability to provide 60-100% more food to feed the world’s growing population.

The ‘Global Food; Waste Not,Want Not’ report recommends that:

1.    The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) works with the international engineering community to ensure governments of developed nations put in place programmes that transfer engineering knowledge, design know-how, and suitable technology to newly developing countries. This will help improve produce handling in the harvest, and immediate post-harvest stages of food production.
2.    Governments of rapidly developing countries incorporate waste minimisation thinking into the transport infrastructure and storage facilities currently being planned, engineered and built.
3.    Governments in developed nations devise and implement policy that changes consumer expectations. These should discourage retailers from wasteful practices that lead to the rejection of food on the basis of cosmetic characteristics, and losses in the home due to excessive purchasing by consumers.

·  The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was established in 1847 and has some of the world’s greatest engineers in its history books. It currently has about 100,000 members, representing mechanical engineers involved in a diversity of fields such as the automotive, rail, aerospace, medical, power and construction industries.

Houston we have a problem - we need money for food.

When I can't sleep I think about things and for some reason my mind went to thinking about the Free the Children organization and their food drive.  I am currently don't make any income but I am fortunate to still have food to eat but I know there are other people who may be working or not that don't even have anything in their fridges or pantry's.   I went on to the Free the Children website to find out some info on their food drive that they are doing for Halloween and I clicked on a link to the Food Banks Canada website and a report that shows the Food Bank use in 2011.

Here are some of the statistics that jumped out at me.....  One thing I noticed that I can relate to is that most of the food bank users were women who were renters.  Most of the people are on social assistance which indicates to me that the system doesn't work if people can't even get food with the amount they receive on assistance.   The system needs to change.   Personally,  I don't want to apply for assistance and would rather max out my credit cards than be forced to give up everything I have worked so hard to get over my lifetime.

I find it shocking that so many people in a city like Toronto which is one of the biggest cities in Canada can have so many people that are struggling to get food on their tables.    Food, shelter and clothing are basic necessities which everyone should have the right to have....no matter who they are and where they live.   That applies to Third World countries and Big Cities.   We need to rethink the way we look at poverty and how people end up in poverty.   Something needs to change.  If you can't eat, you can't live.   It's as simple as that.  This is what the Occupy movement is fighting for.

Have a look at these Shocking facts from the Food Banks Canada report:

In March 2011, 851,014 people were assisted by food banks in Canada. Food bank use is 26% higher than in 2008, and this fact sends a clear message: the effects of the recession are still being felt across the country. As a result, a near record number of people are unable to afford enough food for themselves and their families.

Fifteen months after the end of the 2008-09 recession, food bank use was essentially unchanged from the same period in 2010. Almost half of food banks actually reported an increase in the number of people they assisted in March 2011, compared to the year before.

During the HungerCount survey period, 4,188 organizations participated in collecting information. Their records show that 93,085 people made the difficult decision to ask for help from a food bank for the first time. Requests for help came, in every province and territory, from a wide range of Canadians: people with jobs, on social assistance, and on pensions; single people and families with children;

renters, homeowners, and the homeless; those whose families have lived here for generations, and new Canadians.

Food Banks Canada, in partnership with provincial associations, food banks, soup kitchens, and other food programs, has collected data on the need for charitable food assistance annually since 1997. This wealth of information allows us to see that food bank use increases and decreases with the health of the economy – for example, the number of people helped by food banks decreased steadily during the economic boom of the mid-2000s, only to shoot up during the recession, and stay elevated in the current year.

The HungerCount survey also shows that while food bank use moves with the economy, there appears to be a stubborn limit to how low the need for assistance can fall. Food banks have been helping more than 700,000 separate individuals each month for the better part of a decade, through good economic times and bad – a fact of life that the majority of Canadians find unacceptable. This report provides a snapshot of the problem, and offers constructive recommendations that will improve the economic health of people assisted by food banks and drastically reduce the need for food assistance.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIVIDUALS ASSISTED •

38% of those receiving food were

children and youth under age 18. •

47% were women and girls. •

4.4% were seniors over age 65, rising to 5.7% in rural areas. •

10% self-identified as First Nations, Métis, or Inuit. •

11% were immigrants or refugees –increasing to 18.5% in large cities. •

4% were postsecondary students.

Key national findings

LEVELS OF FOOD BANK USE

• 851,014 separate individuals received food from a food bank in March 2011; while this is down 2% from 2010, it remains 26% higher than in 2008 and is the second highest level of use on record.

• 93,085 people, or 11% of the total, received help from a food bank for the first time during the survey period.

• In rural areas, 114,122 individuals – or 13% of the national total – received food from food banks; 10% of them were being helped for the first time.

• Food banks assisted 2.5% of the Canadian population in March 2011, compared to 2.6% in 2010 and 2.0% in 2008.

• Food bank use in 2011 was 20% higher than in 2001.

2 • FOOD BANKS CANADAE

XECUTIVE SUMMARY

CHARACTERISTICS OF HOUSEHOLDS HELPED BY FOOD BANKS 

The 851,014 individuals who received food in March 2011 were members of 349,842 households:

• 40% of these households were composed of single people living alone.

• 24% were single-parent families with children.

• 23% were dual-parent families with children.

• 12% were couples without children.

Household income came from a variety of sources: • 52% reported social assistance as

their primary source of income. • 18% have earnings from current or

recent employment. • 13% receive disability-related income

supports. • 7% live primarily on pension benefits. • 5% reported having no source of

income. • 2% reported student loans and

scholarships as their major source of income.

HOUSING AND FOOD BANK USE

• The majority of those helped by food banks are renters – 63% pay market rent and 22% live in subsidized housing.

• Nationally, 7% are homeowners – in rural areas, this figure rises to 15%.

• 6% are homeless, i.e., living in an emergency shelter, group home, on the street, or temporarily with family or friends.

• 2% live in band-owned housing, increasing to 5% in rural areas.

Recommendations

Low income, whether in the short or long term, is at the root of the persistent need for charitable food assistance in Canada. Food banks began operating in the early 1980s, near the beginning of a long period of economic transformation that saw major sectors of the Canadian economy – manufacturing, forestry, farming, fishing, mining – recede as sources of jobs and income. Public supports for those in economic difficulty have been scaled back, with both social assistance and Employment Insurance becoming more difficult to get, and providing less to those who are eligible. It has become harder to find and keep a good job, and nearly impossible to afford even basic food, clothing, and adequate shelter, if one is receiving government assistance for any length of time. It is an unfortunate reality that food banks have grown, by necessity, to fill the gap.

Our recommendations focus on the need for governments to provide adequate assistance to individuals and families during times of need, and on how we can better support people to become resilient citizens. They include:

• Increasing federal and provincial support for the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing, and the creation or expansion of housing subsidies.

• Working with social assistance beneficiaries and other stakeholders to design an income support system of last resort that helps our most vulnerable citizens become self-sufficient.

• Ensuring that Canada’s most vulnerable seniors are not left to live in poverty. •

Improving Employment Insurance to better recognize and support Canadians in non-standard forms of employment,

as well as older workers facing permanent layoff from long-tenure positions.

• Prioritizing, at the federal government level, the need to drastically improve the labour market outcomes of disadvantaged workers.

• Investing in a system of high-quality, affordable, accessible early learning and child care.