Misconceptions about Farming from a Farmers perspective

 Misconceptions about Farming from a Farmers perspective.

Canola Farm in Alberta

This week I joined a Zoom event organized by people from Canola Eat Well who have done a series of 3 events online pertaining to Plant, Grow, Eat.  With a large group of Canola community food industry people and various food writers and farm advocates.

We listened to scientists studying farming, there was a cooking demo from a popular Toronto Chef Trevor Lui, and Jeannette Andrashewski, a Farmer in Alberta speaking directly from her Canola Fields.   

I met Jeannette Andrashewski, at a Canola Eat Well cooking event in 2016. 

Jeannette Andrashewski and Joey Salmingo
at Canola Eat Well Event 2016. 

I have heard bits of her story at a few events over the years. 

This past week she talked about how hard it was when her and her husband started their farm and it was very emotional for everyone to hear her story.

The next day I decided to watch a movie called Percy streaming on demand and I did a quick post on Instagram and tagged her.   She quickly messaged me that the film was filled with many misconceptions and wanted me to be aware that she didn’t want to be connected to those misconceptions.

I messaged her back and we have had an online conversation about the challenges and I would like to present to you the farmer's view of farming and the misconceptions in the media about what farmers do.

The first misconception shown in the film is what Jeannette first addressed on how you can’t get a field of canola planted from a truck that passes by and drops some seeds.  She says Canola requires much care during planting.

She worries about pesticides spreading just as much as we all do and how they are used but she insists the sprayers that are used today are so exact and precise and it goes on as a fine mist.

One of the facts she told me was that approximately 4,200 litres of water is mixed with 30 litres of herbicide.  She says that farmers respect the water and nature and know where the water is so they try to stay away from it.  They want natural habitats to stay undisturbed and to keep in its natural state

Unsafe practices can be reported by anyone, a person driving down the road, a landowner or anyone else.  Farmers don’t want to be on the wrong side of protection groups and they want to do the right thing in their farming practices. This keeps the land healthy, sustainable and available for the next generation of farmers like her son.

And the obvious of a big machine trying to drive close to water will get stuck in it, let that visual sink in.  That’s not exactly helpful or productive to drag equipment out of the mud.

I asked Jeannette what keeps farmers up at night. She said it was consumers having misinformation about the tools like pesticides farmers need to grow healthy crops as well as Environmental groups spreading misinformation and trying to take away all pesticides and herbicides because that would take away their ability to grow their crops.

Jeannette tells me that they plant other crops other than Canola because they practice the sustainable practice of crop rotation so after each harvest they rotate to a different crop to keep the soil regenerating and protecting their land.

A bit more about Jeannette’s farm.  Her family began to take over the family farm full time in 2002 but they began part time in 1990 while keeping their full time jobs to make sure they were doing the right thing.  Their farm is located at Two Hill, Alberta.  North East of Edmonton. They are third generation farmers.

When I asked her about corporate farms she stated that 92% of farmland is owned by farming families and not big farm corporations and she felt that this was another media misconception.

Their biggest concern is always the weather.  It’s a constant struggle to be a step ahead of the constantly changing Canadian weather but she says they have a lot of technology that helps them handle the constant weather changing events. Without the innovation of seed and technologies farming would be much more costly and difficult.

It is in their best interest to practice safe sustainable practices to grow food.  She is growing it for her own family.  She says “if you take care of the land the land will take care of you”.

She wants you to look into the facts after you watch a Hollywood production of what farming life is like.  Hollywood movies have to embellish to create drama because the reality would be too boring to watch.

I have met a lot of farmers on the farm tours over the past few years and she says we should ask a farmer for the truth on how the food is grown.  They do the work and know what the risks are and how it affects their livelihoods.

They work, live and play on the land and respect it as their own life. 

Jeannette is a mother that wants safe, nutritious and abundant food to feed her family too.

My suggestion is to watch documentaries, get more facts.  Go on farm tours once more farms are open to the public and meet some actual farmers.  Go to Farmer’s markets where the farm family runs the stands so you can get to know them.  They work extremely hard for everyone and could use a little gratitude for all of their hard work and investment.

Jeannette presenting at the Taste Canada Awards

You can follow Jeannette on Instagram or Twitter @farminginpearls

You can also find lots of information and recipes on the Canola Eat Well Website:

https://canolaeatwell.com/

Mary's Happy Belly new Dumpling launch

 Mary will make your belly happy.

This is my first post for 2021.  I have not been inspired to sit down and spend time writing because of the lack of inspiration because all the events of 2020 were cancelled except for the Restaurant Canada show that I squeezed in just before the shut down and beginning of the cancellation of all public events.

That was the end of feb-beginning of March.   That was the last time I saw most of my blogger friends in person until today.  Mary dropped by for a quick food exchange today.  I gave her a couple of my freshly made empanadas and she gave me a sample of her new retail frozen food product.

That brings me to the reason for this blog post.  My Foodie BFF Mary Tang - her Blog is Maryshappybelly has launched a new line of frozen Chinese dumplings or potstickers as you might call them.  I am so thrilled for her to be able to see this come true.

I met Mary at one of my first Food Blogger-Influencer events at McEwen foods after it first opened in at the Shops at Don Mills.  I think that was 2014 or something like that.  We instantly clicked and at the time I had a car and we would go to many events together or ride the subway home together so we became fast friends.  

Mary just launched her new dumplings this past week and today she brought me a sample of her Pork and her Shrimp dumplings.  I still have the Shrimp ones in freezer but I was dying to try some so I cooked about half a dozen of the pork dumplings.  Another one of my friends ordered some from ResTOKitchen where they are delivered from.  My friend was raving about them so I knew they were going to be great.

Mary has been working in the food world for a while.  She was a sales rep for a cake company until the restaurants started closing and has been focused on her blog and her family since then.   She had a goal to find work that could still give her flexibility.  While at this point launching a new venture probably isn't going to give her much free time it's a great way to do work that is her passion and be an example to her 2 small girls on starting a business during difficult times.

Everyone in the food community in Toronto that know Mary love her because she is a go getter and very friendly so we are all so happy to see her do what she loves.

Now.. what you really want to know is what the dumplings are like.  Well I may be biased because she is my foodie pal but I am happy to honestly say that the dumplings are FANTASTIC.   If you know me I don't throw praise around lightly.  

I pan fried-steamed the dumplings as you would do for potstickers.   What I instantly loved was that they held up and didn't fall apart or explode.  The dough has a chewy give like decent al dente pasta.

The filling is fantastic.  What I loved was that it was full of flavour but not just full of sodium. 

Mary has a chili dipping sauce that I think comes with an order but she didn't bring me any to try but my friend told me it's really good too.  I just made my own dipping sauce when I tried them but everything was in the perfect balance.

I used to either buy dumplings from markets like T&T or if I really had lots of time to spare I might make my own.  Now I don't have to.  I can order some in my jammies and cook them up lightning fast and support my friend at the same time.   WIN WIN.

When they say support local I am happy to support my friend because I know it supports her whole family and friends and it's so good that it's a bonus to buy local.

Order some #MHBDumplings from ResTOKitchen @ResTOkitchen 

and check out Mary's blog at www.maryshappybelly.com 

Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/maryshappybelly

On Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/maryshappybelly/

On Facebeook at https://www.facebook.com/maryshappybelly

and her Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqOKf6bCMmq7cKxRtz3tQpw

Don't forget to tell her you read about her dumplings from me.  That will make her day. 

You will love them..  I can say that with a guarantee.

More Stuff than Space?

 Pandemic re-org project.

This is what some of my spices looked like when I started the process

This is what it looks like afterward.  There is a container for oils, vinegars, sauces and a spice riser.

I have been working from home since the Covid 19 shutdown in March.  I have never worked from home in my life other than when I wasn't working and working on my blog and other projects.

This time felt weird and an opportunity at the same time.  When it started we thought we would be home for a couple of weeks and things would slowly get back to normal.  I thought it would be a nice break to save 10 hours a week travelling to and from work and I could spend more time cooking meals at home and doing other things.

Well things didn't exactly turn out as I thought it would.  A couple of weeks has turned into 6 months already and I can't even believe how much time I have spent at home alone.  My bubble has been very small and I didn't see my friends for at least the past 6 months except for my tiny bubble of my best friend's family.

When it started I thought I could finally get to the home organizing that has been on my mind for a long time but because my day job was taking all my energy I didn't have the time or energy to do the things I had on my to do list.

It started with a broken dresser.  I took most of the stuff out of my broken dresser and had it piled in bins in the corner of my room.  I had to start my purge and organizing.  I finally got a new dresser when I was able to go to Ikea with my friend and it's sitting in boxes in my room waiting for my friend to assemble it.  I also purchased a bookshelf cabinet that has been assembled and is semi organized.  That's also another project to finish but it holds a lot.

Before with a half shelf

after shelf removal and using a divider for trays

Then I moved on to my living room and took everything off the shelves on either side of my TV because it was looking very cluttered.  I organized my cookbooks on one side covering 3 shelves and moved photo boxes and other things to the other shelves while removing things that stuck out or didn't have a function or as Marie Condo says "spark joy".  I started a pile of donations in the other corner of my living room and that pile has been growing.  I don't know how I crammed so much stuff into this space because now that I am re organizing it isn't all fitting back in.

My living room was close to being less cluttered and then I had to deal with the kitchen because of maintenance that needed to be done.  I had to remove everything from the cupboards in the kitchen and I put them in bins that I then stacked in my living room.  It is like a renovation or a move.  It kinda feels the same way.  I didn't have the dust but I had the boxes and stuff everywhere and it's still not done.  The kitchen project has been going on for a couple of weeks.

When you see the Youtube videos of people organizing their kitchens and it's wrapped up in a 10 minute video....well that's not reality for sure.  Maybe if you clean one cabinet.. but not a whole kitchen.

Before - baking and mugs 

After- baking and bowls and easy access for tea and coffee

The reason it's taken me a long time is because it's been hot so I can only do so much before literally dripping in sweat.  Also I have been working so I can only do it around my work.

And I have been cleaning the shelves and handwashing everything before it goes back in.  I have been decanting things and switching containers to just fit the contents saving some space and using mason jars and Oxo containers.  I have tried to put most things into clear containers to see how much there is so I know when I have to replace.

In the organizing process when I removed everything I have tried to sort like with like so that's when you really see the amount of stuff you have.   I have 5 ice cream scoops, 5 vegetable peelers, and a bunch of other duplicate things.  Here's the thing.  I haven't actually purchased all of the duplicate things.  A lot of it came from events that I have attended or maybe I couldn't find something or something didn't work well and I purchased another one and never got rid of the not great one.  Some things have come from when I did Food Revolution events and had to purchase things for demos or when I had things at work.  For example I used to make food waste soups at work so I had a little spice kit at the office and some tools I used to make the soup.  When we moved offices I couldn't do it anymore so I took the spices and things home.

My friend Adam is a great friend but he loves to bring me random foods from his shopping trips.  He does all the grocery shopping and has a habit of always buying too much and he likes to share.  So I had a pile of food that I picked up on sale that I couldn't even put into the cupboards.  Time for a re-org.

In the re-organization I decided to move things around and put things in the spot where I could access what I use most.  Being short an out of shape means that I have the bottom shelf of the top cabinets that are the only ones I can get to without having to stand on a step stool.  That means the plates and spices and other things I need quick access to had to go there.

I also had piles of stuff and to much stuff on my counter.  Huge appliances that took up all the space.  I decided that I will sell my food processor because it's huge and has a bunch of attachments that take up too much space and because it has so many pieces it's really a pain to clean after I use it which isn't that often.  I will just get a smaller simple one.  I used to have yearly parties and I cooked a lot but I haven't done that in a few years so it doesn't make sense to have huge things anymore.  I am getting rid of a huge casserole dish and roasting pan because I have a size smaller for each that can be used and if needed I can get those disposable aluminum trays if I have to cart anything anywhere so why take up the space in a small apartment.  

When I moved in I was used to living in a house with a basement that had a second freezer and shelves for the appliances and extra stuff that wasn't used often.  I don't have that option anymore so I have to adapt better for my current situation.

This is a long post because it's been a long process and I have learned a lot over the past few years after having to downsize from a house full of stuff to a one bedroom apartment and accumulating more stuff along the way.

I like nice things and I am always looking for things that make things work better.  I also like to bake when I have a craving or with my friend's 5 year old when she used to be able to come over. She likes sprinkles and we used to do cookie and cupcake decorating so I have a whole box of sprinkles and loads of instant baking mixes for surprise visits.

She hasn't been over since February but I think she will be allowed to visit soon so I hope I am ready to bake again in a more efficient space.

The big thing I learned after spending a whole lot of money on organizing things is that I probably should have just had less stuff because it's been costing a lot of money to get organized and a lot of sweat equity.  But at this point I can cook almost every ethnicity food and bake a whole host of things when I am inspired.

What I have also learned is to take a hard look at what you have and get it all organized in a smart way and purge the stuff you don't use or need.

After- lid rack, purged and moved from other spaces, in the back a pan rack

After- I purchased the sliding shelves and a new recycle bin. 
The metal container holds plastic bags and the bin holds gloves, and swiffer cleaners.


In the re-organization I have purchased things like risers, lazy susans, I kind of hate that name but that's what they call it.  I have purchased new spice containers,  racks, cannisters, bins and things that hang on cupboard doors and all kinds of other organizer tricks. 
These things sometimes save space, sometimes just make things easier to get to and sometimes don't actually save space but make it easier to see and find things.

I still have 2 bins of stuff and have the equivalent of a shelf and a half to put it into.  I also have an equivalent of a bin full of food containers that I have not figured out where they will go.

So I think I am going to have to cook a lot of the food that has been waiting on those shelves and a lot more baking to make some more space.  Things look less cluttered but it's going to be a work in progress for a long time until I adapt to the new way of doing things.

During the pandemic while all the usual things I did like go to events, movies and out for dinner with friends all disappeared.  All I could do was go grocery shopping and retreat to my kitchen to feed myself the foods I missed and deal with my boredom.  I tried to make new things like Korean pancakes,  so I shopped for foods I didn't use before and because you can't always buy the quantities you actually need this stuff just takes up space after you use what you needed.  I need to try and use up some of those things more now.

This was a lot of work and it's not finished yet but it was necessary and unfortunately I would have preferred to do this in the winter but because I was  not sure how long I would be working from home I also wanted to get this completed before we return to a more normal life and possibly go back to commuting life and life with friends and fun things to do.

The only accomplishment I will have to show for 2020 is that I hope to have a more organized life and be ahead of the game instead of always trying to catch up and keep up.

I know I have inspired a couple of people to organize their stuff and like I mentioned before I have a lot of blogger friends and we have gotten a lot of promotional things at trade shows and events that accumulate pretty fast.  I plan on doing a big donation to either Value Village or the Diabetes organization but if you need anything let me know.

I hope this inspires you to either get organized or shop wisely.  And what I learned also is to leave room to grow which happens fast.

Happy Organizing and get your kitchen and home space more zen like to release the clutter in your space and your mind and use the time to be creative or spend time with your bubble.

I found a knife holder at the dollar store and various dividers.
See my multiple ice cream scoop collection.  A work in progress.