Are Beef scares turning people into Vegetarians?

Are you afraid of Meat?

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2012/20120928e.shtml

With the current Recall of Beef from the XL Foods plant in the news lately it has been scaring consumers into being afraid of what they eat.   Is this a good thing?  I don't know but I think it's sad that the actions of One processing plant can take down the whole Beef Industry.

Personally I haven't bought any meat since the Beef Recall but for a couple of reasons.   I like to get hormone free meats when I can but I can't afford to buy a lot of meat right now so I haven't bought that much meat in general.  

Although I haven't bought any meat when I went to Whole Foods Market on Thanksgiving day there were a whole lot of people standing in front of the Meat Counter.   There was a huge sign hanging above the counter listing where they receive their meat from,  like local farmers like Baretta Farms for their chickens and other local farms and stores like Cumbrae meats for their other meat.

When you buy your meats at a regular grocery store you don't know where your meat is coming from so nobody is accountable until multiple people get sick.  

When I went to The Big Carrot Market to interview nutritionist Julie Daniluk for my documentary I also interviewed their PR person who told me they track all their vendors and can track back to the source of where they are getting their products at any time.  They have a relatively small meat section but their meats are generally from local suppliers such as Baretta Farms again or Yorkshire Valley.

There are some good Food Markets like Organic Garage in Oakville who try and go out of their way to carry quality safe products but since ever grocery store has to order their meat and produce from other suppliers can they always trust their sources but they are responsible and ethical enough to pull anything right away if there is a problem but it takes a bit longer for the larger chains to get it through their systems to make a change?   

Are people being scared into becoming vegetarians?  

The subjects of my EcoLoser documentary had decided to give up red meat as part of their monthly challenges a few months ago.  They say they don't miss the meat and they decided to give it up because of the amount of resources it takes to produce beef.    

But on the flip side..   what happens if everyone is scared into giving up Beef?   What happens to the local farmers who produce Beef and other products?   Will they be driven out of business?

Think of the Beef industry in Alberta, what if everyone stopped eating beef from Alberta?   

What would happen to their economy?

It's sad to think that ethical farmers may be driven out of business because of unethical processing plants.  

Things need to change in the food production industry.   Processing plants need to be accountable and transparent and be fined for any health infractions or shut down right away.    If they feel it on their bottom line things will change.   If their bottom line is increased by lax practices then we are in BIG TROUBLE in the future.

Have you changed the way you think about your food?  

Have you been considering becoming vegetarian because of the recalls?

Have you changed the stores you shop in?

Over the past year I have tried to make an effort to buy as much local, organic and hormone and pesticide free products as I can but something like E. coli can happen to even Organic producers if proper food handling practices aren't strictly enforced.

In a city full of condos we are at the mercy of these food providers as we can't exactly have a cow or chickens on our balconies.

We need to find a way to make people accountable for the food they produce and make sure that they are doing the right thing or they need to be shut down.

Sometimes I think I should become a vegetarian for the fact that I know it would be better for me financially,  better for the environment and also better for my weight, but unfortunately I love food and love variety in food and like the taste of beef and chicken and pork.   But I am going to be very careful in the future of where my food comes from and maybe buy less and maybe pay more for suppliers that have extra measures in place for food safety.

Be Safe... know where your food comes from and make sure you store and cook your food properly.

Food Bloggers meet at TECHmunch in T.O.

I started this blog in 2011 at the urging of my friends after I posted a bunch of pics to facebook on food I was making while I was at home.  I have worked an office job most of my working life and normally would be working all day and then freelancing either doing makeup or at film festivals or working on own films for the past few years.   I never looked into the Food Blogger World until I started posting on this blog more frequently.  I found out that there are some serious food bloggers out there, and there are a lot of them.   There are Food Blogger Conferences even.  I decided to check one out this past weekend and see what it was like.  TECHmunch is a U.S. based conference that brings food bloggers together with tech savvy people and brand marketers to try and improve the blogs and make some connections.  TECHmunch is produced by Babette Pepaj, founder of BakeSpace.com.  Babette brought the conference to Toronto for the 1st time ever and it was held at Harbourfront Centre during the Hot and Spicy Festival.

Erik Deutsch, Ivy Knight, Jessie Allen, Babette Pepaj (host)

We spent most of the day in the Studio Theatre which I have been to many times before to see film festival movies and other screenings.  This time it felt a little different for me.  In the film/ film festival community it is very social and very small.  There are limited numbers of theatres that show festival films in Toronto and a lot of the same people attend multiple festivals.  When I attend a festival screening I generally run into someone I know and especially now since I have been filming a documentary for the past 3 years on a festival volunteer.   But this food blogger world is new to me.  When you are a food blogger you generally sit at home on your computer and type away into cyberspace and don't really know if anyone is reading anything you put out into the Universe unless someone makes a comment.  You never meet your readers face to face unless they are already your friends or acquaintances.  Unless you have a full career in the food world alone and are connected to various parts of the industry for your blog you generally work in a vacuum.

So I decided to venture out to the Conference and see what tips I could pick up since I just jumped into it and haven't pursued it as a business venture but more as an outlet for food things I am interested in.   But since I am not working that pay the bill day job and the film industry doesn't pay the bills I am looking for other opportunities and decided to see if food blogging was something that could become lucrative.    Well it seems there are ways to make money if you can gain many unique visitors and viewers to your blog and connect with the right brands for marketing opportunities or possibly sell things through your blog.   I don't do any of these things right now but I am open to possibilities of future opportunities.

Back to the conference,  this conference was like starting the first day of school in a new place where you didn't know anyone but you were there for the same reason.  I didn't know anyone but found it interesting listening to the different stories and how people connected to the food blogs.

We started the day with a mingling of people coming in and trying out a whole selection of Sweets from the Earth and O.N.E. cocunut water and drinks from Whole Foods.

We proceeded to the studio theatre where we listened to different panels discussing topics like working from home, getting higher google rankings, and connecting with brands.
It was very informative and all the panelists provided a lot of information which was very helpful.

We had a lunch break and were given a voucher to use to choose our lunch meal at the Hot and Spicy Festival.
I used my voucher to get some chicken and pork tacos.  While they were tasty they were light on the added condiments which would have added some brightness.

After the conference was over we headed upstairs for a mixer with some more food and drinks, a little spiked punch and some beer and wine and some lovely charcuterie from Seeds to Sausage I tried a couple of pieces and the quality was really good.

Lot's more cupcakes, loafs and cookies.  I wasn't very hungry since it was getting extremely hot outside and it really did feel like we were at the Hot and Spicy Festival.  So I took some of the Sweets from the Earth to go and will have some to snack on later.

         
All in all it was a really great Conference and had a great flow to it.  Knowing how tough it is to get events started in this city...and especially when you don't even live in the city, it went very well thanks to a little help from local food blogger, chef and event host Ivy Knight who knows who's who in this city when it comes to food.

I hope that this Conference becomes a yearly event and maybe I will feel more connected to the Food Blogger world by then.

Real food at the Green Living Show

I attended the Green Living Show this past weekend in Toronto for a couple of reasons.

1. I was there to film footage for my EcoLosers documentary and have another show called Green Heroes film us for an episode of their show for next season.

2. To check out green products and see some speakers. We only got to see former Mayor David Miller though because we were busy filming.

3. As always my stomach dictates things I do and we sampled all of the food at the show so I could also research things for this blog at the same time.

I like to multi task as you can see.

We had a lot of great free samples like a Quinoa salad from Whole foods, freshly squeezed orange juice from Organic Garage, a great greek coconut yoghurt and one of my favourites, cappuccino ice creams from Mapleton Organics.

We were at the show from 11 am until about 8:30 at night and we were dragging around a 2 1/2 year old who decided it was time for us to take a food break at about 5:30 so we headed over to the Farm Fresh Fare section to try some great dishes from local chefs.

The kid we were dragging around is the son of the EcoLosers family and he is a very fussy eater but he loves bread and cheese as you can tell from this picture of a grilled cheese sandwich that was as big as his head. This was one of the best things I tried as well. One of my favourite cheeses Tallegio on sourdough bread with a great chutney inside. Kid approved even as you can see.

It had my name on it as you can see. It was delicious and inspired me to add chutney's to my Tallegio grilled cheese from now on.

What I really loved about the show was seeing great local Canadian product, chefs, and foods and other products that were also just great products.

Some of the other foods we sampled were, organic chicken, pickles, dips, spreads, soups, and all sorts of great foods. We were stuffed by the time we left the show.

It's a great show to go to because it showcases local Organic foods and gives you a chance to try them in one place while you are also learning about ways to do better things for the environment. I even picked up some great deals on some Green Beaver products like non toxic toothpaste and shampoo and body wash, all with a nice natural minty scent.

There are things you can do and choose to make better decisions for your body and the environment... you just need to go to shows like the Green Living Show or great stores like Organic Garage, Whole Foods and the Big Carrot to find more of them in one place.

Here's a great experiment you can do that was at the show last year. You will enjoy this one. Get 2 tubs of Organic Vanilla ice cream 1 from any regular product you would find in a large grocery store and 1 that is Organic. I would suggest Mapleton's and try a scoop of each one and see if you can taste the difference. Then take a scoop or a tablespoonful of each one and put them on a plate beside each other and see how they melt and how long it takes. And the last thing is read the ingredient list on each and then decide where you want to put your money towards after this experiment.

If i could do a taste test to show you on this blog post I would...but you will have to try this one yourself.

If you want to really get the difference try doing a blind taste test...the senses don't lie.
feel free to post a comment if you try this experiment.

Food and plastics

Is Healthy Food still healthy if it comes packaged in Plastic?

I went to Whole Foods to pick up some tasty foods yesterday. I like going to Whole Foods because the quality of the food is very high and they have options that no other grocery stores have.

I picked up an assortment of fruits, veggies, and grains and some staples like bread, milk and eggs.

This morning I had some of the cut up pineapple that I picked up. I find that if I buy the cut up pineapple I don't waste it as much as if I were to buy a whole pineapple.

But is it still healthy when it comes in a plastic container? or when you dip it in chocolate? I had some chocolate sauce leftover from a party tray I had from the holidays.

I have been realizing that I am a slave to packaging and convenience. Yes it is easier to buy a nice little container of pineapple from the store in a container you just put in the fridge and it's ready to go anytime you want to eat it. Whereas a whole pineapple... those don't fit in your fridge nicely and then you have to spend 15 minutes cutting them up and the peels fill up your garbage so you then have to take out the garbage. Yes I know what you are thinking... LAZY... well there must be a whole lot of us lazy people because everything comes in nice little plastic containers these days.


Here's another thing I bought at whole foods, Chocolate Covered Almonds.

People keep telling you to eat almonds and this is the way I like them. Anything covered in chocolate is good.
But once again.... plastic container. On the package it says no preservatives, no artificial flavours, minimally processed and no sulphites but it is surrounded in plastic. It doesn't say that the plastic it comes in is no good for you or the environment. And I might add impossible to open this thing.

I suppose the answer to this is to shop in bulk but you still have to put it in something so you use plastic bags. Or you can shop at farmers markets but then you can't get everything you want either.

I watched the Documentary "NO IMPACT MAN" yesterday and it made me think about the amount of garbage I produce in my everyday life. I brought home 3 bags of groceries yesterday. I am sure a bag of it will end up as garbage. But am I willing to go radical and eliminate all waste packaging...no was the answer i came up with. I like convenience because it means that I have the time to do other things like write this blog. But at the same time I would like it if manufacturers found a way to package food products in a way that doesn't destroy the planet. I understand that packaging is meant to be able to transport products without damaging them but some manufacturers just package for packaging. I bought a teeny tiny Camera card yesterday and it came in a HUGE box.. WHY? it only needs a small box to fit the size.. why do we need to have a small thing encassed in a plastic wrapping and then encased in a large box that will all be thrown out as soon as you open it. WASTE WASTE WASTE. I am guilty of it and I bet you are too.... but can you do anything to eliminate the problem? You probably can but will you?

Here's my dilemma.. I know better but I don't do better. Why? Because it's easier not to.... but you have to make choices on what you can do that might work for you. I think it's much easier to eliminate packaging when you are a family because you can buy supersize products and use less packaging. For me I find that I can't buy a whole watermelon ...for 1 because I live in an apartment and that would be all I could eat if I put it in the fridge so it would be wasted. As a family you can buy a watermelon and split it up for dinner and then it's gone. No waste.

With so many people living alone these days compared to the large families in the past, things have changed in the process of changing lives. Single serve items have taken over. Families don't eat meals together and have different tastes so individual portions has become the norm in current days.

I don't have all the answers but I know that it takes a huge commitment to make a big impact in the environment. It's something you have to think about everyday like a diet.

Are you willing to go on a plastic food container diet? I thought so.