Rice and Bananas, Tea and Coffee

We're only a few days away from arriving in Toronto and settling back into the old apartment. Just in time for garden planning and seed buying... one of the many ways home is tempting us to come back. Of course, I will dearly miss our year of adventure, and apologize in advance if months from now, I still seem worlds-away distant or lost in thought. To be honest, the thing I love mostmostmost about travelling is not marvelling at historic temples, hiking in dense jungles or wandering through grand museums. For me, its doing those basic, everyday things we all normally do without much thought, because when you're in a new place, these tasks are suddenly so different that you immediately feel like you yourself are new, reborn as a child of sorts. Interactions with people, getting from place to place, using currency; it feels familiar, and yet totally fresh and kind of amusing. Food is another thing of wonderment - new produce, dishes, smells and table etiquette. Even the familiar staple foods from back home... seeing them in their raw, living, plant form at their tropical source is a delightful and curious thing. Here I would like to share a few of these moments, of those foods that even a strict Toronto locavore may find hard to resist.

Rice. A staple food to billions of people, and the perfect food when you want to eat a million of something. Owing to my Asian heritage, I've known this little pearl of a grain f

or as long as I can remember; it has been the colourless background to a zillion

meals in my lifetime. When I was sick, rice gave me an easily digestable soup (in the form of congee). When I was dieting, rice gave me a low-calorie, gluten-free snack (in the form of rice cakes and crackers). Rice has always been there for me, like a true pal. Yet only until recently have I touched a living rice plant. Now, rice has given me an unforgettable picture of south Asia: the vivid green colour of endless rice paddies.

Bananas. Everyone's favourite peelable raw fruit actually comes in a ton of varieties. Banana trees grow farmed or wild in the tropics, and fruits develop from the large, singular "flower" which droops from the tree stem and hangs in mid-air. The young flower on its own is edible, say, in a Thai or Lao style salad or soup. But when left to mature on the tree, the flower's outer "petals" wither and fall off, each layer revealing a neat row of curved fruits which grow meaty and green.

Tea and coffee. Two of the world's most popular drinks, source from two of the world's most unremarkable-looking plants. Why or how did someone figure that drying, fermenting and roasting their plant parts would yield such a highly-addictive, flavourful brew is beyond comprehension. I can tell you first-hand that a freshly plucked tea leaf is tough, fibrous and lacks any distinct or pleasant taste. Similarily, the white flesh of a coffee berry smells just like nothing. Unlike any of the aforementioned crops, coffee seems to be the only one that the locals themselves don't consume regularly. Another by-product of our strange global food economy.

See you back at home!

Mushroom, Remixed

I don't want to turn this into a mushroom website, really. But I find this grow kit pretty fascinating. And frustrating.

We ate the first failed harvest of mushrooms by rehydrating them (after they dried out sitting on the counter) and cooking them in a sauce. Not bad. But what I'm really looking forward to is a steamy mouthful of those meaty, fleshy oyster mushrooms that we all know and love. Problem is, I don't have any of THOSE.

This is what the kit looks like now: a freak show.

This isn't cute anymore. Where are my mushrooms, man?!

Mushroom, The Saga Continues

More photo updates of my mushroom grow-kit, from the mushroom nerd (that's me). For the first few days, the stalks grew noticably longer and thicker, up to 12" in length. But two weeks later, the caps still haven't deployed yet. We heard that stressing the mushrooms increases yield, so my partner sliced off the larger shrooms and smashed the kit with a cardboard tube. I don't know about the mushrooms, but it made me stressed.

Here's a few neat-o facts about oyster mushrooms:

• one of the few carnivorous mushrooms: it eats nematodes
  
• considered medicinal for its cholesterol-lowering properties
• no poisonous look-alikes in North America
• it comes in white, yellow and pink colours

To be continued (again) ....

The Dark Side of Local Food

Like most Canadians, I watched last Sunday's Olympic men's hockey final, and celebrated at the top of my lungs in the company of strangers when Canada took the gold medal from the US in overtime. And like most Canadians, I felt proud to be Canadian.



That feeling was short-lived. Today, I watched a short NFB documentary called "El Contrato" (2003). This film exposes the hardship of thousands of seasonal Mexican migrant workers, who come to the town of Leamington, in Ontario, to work on tomato greenhouse farms. Life at home in Mexico is difficult, so they take the job in Canada through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), to support their family. Unbeknownst to them, they enter a contract into slavery:

• Exemptions from basic workers rights --- 10-hour work days, 7-day work weeks, without holiday or overtime pay
• Physical and verbal abuse --- from their employer, and the Leamington community
  
• Poor living conditions
• Heavy income taxes --- over 25% of their salary goes to CPP and EI, even though they cannot access these benefits
• Unsafe work --- such as spraying pesticides without wearing protection
• Threats of deportation
• Humiliation --- their employers call them "little donkeys", and call themselves "their owners"
• Difficulty in accessing health care --- even in cases of severe workplace accident events
• Resistance to organizing --- in Ontario, farm unions are illegal (though this may change soon, see "Fraser v Ontario")
  
• A deaf ear from the Mexican consolate --- they protect the growers, not the workers
  

In fact, the film notes that the workers share something in common: they are all married men with strong family ties and little to no education. These are the kind of workers that won't stick around to become Canadian citizens. Clearly, being separated from their families causes great emotional stress for these workers, and many promise they won't return next year. But still, many of them do return, in the absence of other options.

My concern is that with the local food movement increasing in force, these farms are only going to get bigger, and the issue more widespread.

CALL-TO-ACTION: What can we do to help? Here are some ideas:

1. Contact your MP to demand rights for migrant farm workers. Justice for Migrant Workers has a mock petition letter that you can use.
   
2. Contact Heinz (which uses Leamington tomatoes, and even has a Leamington factory). Tell them that you'll stop buying their products until they support migrant workers rights in Canada.
   
3. Contact the film director and/or TVO (who aired the movie) to show your support. Both were threatened with legal action by the town of Leamington and the tomato growers.
4. Support the cause. Befriend Justice for Migrant Workers, join a rally/march, get educated, spread the word.

How about some human rights to go with those 14 gold Olympic medals, Canada?

Mycophilia in Montreal

I was walking around in Montreal last month, when I came across a mushroom store called Mycoboutique. For those who don't know: I love mushrooms. And somehow I found myself in a mushroom store, in the presence of mushroom people, talking about mushrooms and surrounded by mushrooms. Does life GET any better?

Exaggeration aside: the store was just about to close, so there was no time to look around. But I did leave the shop with my very own oyster mushroom indoor grow-kit.

It's basically a block of damp straw, infused with mushroom spores and wrapped in clear plastic. You cut slits in the plastic (so the mushrooms can grow out), place indoors in indirect sunlight, and maintain humidity. The humidity part was a bit tricky, since Toronto winters are so dry. I set it up so that the mushroom block sits on top (but not touching) a basin of water, and enclose it inside a clear plastic garbage bag which is tied at the top to make it a "closed system". About once a day I spray water into the bag to make it extra humidi-tastic.

At first, it looked like only mould was growing. There seemed to be fuzzy white mould everywhere. My heart sank into my shoes.

But then this morning, I noticed that the "mould" was forming creepy alien-looking structures, about 1/2" long and poking out of the plastic bag. Could this be the beginning of mushroom colonies?

To be continued....

P.S. I'm not sure how sustainable this growing method is... probably just for sh-ts and giggles. For future mushroom adventures, I might join a foray group: the Mycological Society of Toronto

offers them in the spring and fall.

Good Apple

The beautiful weather we've been having lately reminds me of Farmers' Markets... buying a small basket of cherry tomatoes and popping them in my mouth as I walk home with a giant bag of veggies. And since my new apartment is pretty close to Brick Works, I have been fantasizing about biking to the market on Saturday mornings. So this morning I went to the Toronto Farmers' Market Network website to see when this market would be opening, and something caught my eye:

Joining our year-round farmers’ markets (the early-birds of spring), Toronto will have a new market beginning on April 23, The Appletree Market, Thursdays 3-7 pm at 200 Eglinton West, just a short distance from Yonge Street.

Whaaaa ----? TODAY is APRIL 23rd!!! Oh, lucky day! A year-round market in a convenient location - beside the TTC subway line, and on my way home from work! Though I love the Dufferin Grove market, I really have to come to terms with my new found east-endedness (and loss of west-endedness), and stop frequenting places that require a special trip and several days of planning to get to.

The new Appletree Market is a pretty decent size, and has quite a few vendors (especially considering we're not in harvest season). There were 3 local produce vendors, selling seeds, root vegetables from winter storage, flour and eggs. Other vendors were selling honey, wild edibles, cheese, meat and baked goods. It was a nice little sign of summer, and gave me the motivation I needed for seed planting this weekend.

Local Oils

Live in Toronto and interested in local oils other than butter? Here's a few that I recommend trying. Local and organic vegetable oils don't seem to exist in this part of the world; let me know if you find otherwise.

Sunflower Oil
Brand: NuSun (www.FlorAlpFarms.ca)
Grown/Produced in: Mitchell, Ontario (100-200 miles from Toronto)
Cost / Availability: $17 for 1L... available at 4Life Organics
Oil is light coloured and has a medium sunflower seed flavour (uhhhh, duh). From the website, it seems as though the oil is grown/produced locally; sending this question through the company's website elicited no response.

Soybean Oil
Brand: Pristine Gourmet (www.pristinegourmet.com)
Grown/Produced in: Waterford, Ontario (<100 style="font-weight: bold;">

Canola Oil (extra virgin)
Brand: Pristine Gourmet (www.pristinegourmet.com)
Grown/Produced in: Waterford, Ontario (100-200 miles from Toronto, as crop is outsourced from other nearby farms, but processed/packaged in Waterford)
Cost / Availability: $8 for 250mL... available at Culinarium, Fiesta Farms
The most flavourful canola oil you've ever tasted; has a nutty quality to it.

How-To: Sprout in a Jar

Guess who's bizzzack---??? I've been busy moving, and vacationing, and unwinding from all the moving and vacationing, that I've been ignoring my lil' P-a-J for too long.

Let's talk about GROWING FOOD already. For a blog about local food, it's about frickin' time.

Jar sprouting: me love. With some common kitchen equipment, a tiny bit of apartment space and a little time, you too can help sprouts emerge from their hard shells and enter the real world. Not only is it fascinating to watch, but sprouting seeds improves its digestability and nutritional value. So go ahead and eat your cute little sprout babies.

You can sprout many dry beans or seeds from your local bulk store (e.g. chickpeas, wheat berries, quinoa), but the yields likely won't be as high as if you used seeds specifically sold for sprouting. I usually buy Mumm's brand, since this seems to be the only brand available in Toronto. You can buy a variety of Mumm's seeds at many shops, including Toronto Sprouts, The Big Carrot and Essence Of Life.

Before you start, check to make sure the seeds can be sprouted by the jar method.

Tools:

Wide-mouthed glass jar (I usually use a 1L mason jar)
2 tbsp sprouting seeds (my favourite: daikon radish seeds... spicy like wasabi! And they grow little white root hairs that look creepy and neat)
J-cloth or cheesecloth - cut to fit over the top of the glass jar opening
Elastic band
Medium-sized bowl

Directions:

Add 2 tbsp seeds into the jar. Secure cloth onto top of jar with elastic. Rinse seeds by adding water to jar (through the cloth), and draining water. Fill jar again to cover the seeds. Let seeds soak for 2-6 hrs. Drain water, invert jar, and prop on an angle in the bowl. Twice a day, say, when you wake up and before you go to sleep, add some water to the jar, swirl, drain, invert and prop. In 3-6 days, you'll have a jar full of sprouties ripe for the eatin'.


Home-Style Potatoes with Daikon Radish Sprouts
Season: Autumn or winter

I adapted this from The Veganomicon cookbook's "Diner Home Fries" recipe. You can change it up a bunch of ways.... add/sub chopped peppers, turmeric, cumin seeds, chili peppers. Serves 2 as a side dish.

Ingredients:

2 medium sized potatoes --- sliced into 1/2" thick pieces
1/4 onion --- chopped
a handful of fresh daikon radish sprouts
oil for frying
salt and pepper

Directions:

Bring a medium-sized pot of water to boil. Add potatoes, and cook on medium heat until firm but can be pierced with a fork (10-15 mins). Drain.

Heat oil in a skillet on med-high heat. Add potatoes, arranging in a single layer in the skillet. Cook until nicely browned (7-10 mins), and stir to brown the other sides, adding oil if needed. Add onions, stir and cook for 3 mins. Add sprouts and cook 2 mins until onions are transparent. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Urban Foraging

One brisk autumn evening, I was downtown with 2 friends, walking home after dinner and a couple of drinks, when a spontaneous foraging moment reared its head.

Me: "Hey --- look over there, by that office building.... it's KALE!"
Friend #1: "That green plant? Are you sure???"
Me: "Helllll yeah I'm sure. It's definitely kale."
Friend #1: "Ok, be cool". Looks left and right, waits for other pedestrians to walk past.
Friend #1: *pick pick pick pick.....*
Me: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING???? Are you crazy??!?!"
Friend #1: "Hey, it's just going to go to waste anyway. This office building is just using it for decoration."
Friend #2: "......."

Well, Friend #1 was right. We walked by the same spot a couple of weeks later, and the remaining unharvested kale plants were wilted and dried up, ready to accept their wintery death.

Urban foraging ---- ethical or not? Discuss amongst yourselves. I'm not letting this kale go to waste. So here's a make-shift recipe if you ever find yourself with questionable kale in-hand.


Stir-Fried Kale
Season: Summer to autumn

Ingredients:

Leaves of 1 kale plant
2 cloves garlic --- minced
soy sauce
oil for frying

Directions:

Rinse the heck outta that kale. Not knowing how the kale was grown (... pesticides? fertilizers?), or what it absorbed from its surroundings (... car exhaust? doggie poo?), each wash will ease your mind a little more. Roughly chop leaves and blanch in a large pot of boiling water (30 sec). Heat a frypan or wok on high, add a little oil and garlic. Add kale leaves, and stir fry for about 2-3 mins. Add soy sauce to taste.

CSA --- A Locavore Baby Step

One of the first major milestones in my local food foray was signing up for a CSA this past summer.

CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, is a system whereby members support a farm operation by sharing the farm costs. In turn, the members receive a share of the harvest. Members usually pay up-front, early in the growing season when the farm operation needs the funds the most (VS the industrial model, where farmers are paid only AFTER the produce is purchased by the consumer.... this even goes for when you buy at the grocery store).

After researching several CSAs available in the Toronto area (e.g. Plan B, Green Earth, Mama Earth, Front Door), I selected Everdale. For me, it was the BEST choice BY FAR:

• Local pick-up (vs delivery.... not sure if it would work for those living in an apartment building)
• Select your own produce (vs receiving a box with surprise produce)
  
• All organic and local produce
• Bonus: free herbs!
  

Not only does Everdale run a CSA, but they also operate a not-for-profit Environmental Learning Centre --- providing farmer training, school programs, and educational tours and workshops open to the public. They are located about an hour's drive north-west of Toronto.

For more information about Everdale, visit www.everdale.org.

Photo: small Everdale share from early October, plus produce from the Trinity-Bellwoods Farmers Market -- carrots, beets, celeriac, potatoes, tomatoes, parsnips, onions, peppers, butternut squash.

Writer's note: I personally don't like the term "locavore". Though it's clever, it suggests "better-than-thou" and food snobbery. My aversion has grown considerably since I heard the term used on Lipstick Jungle (a TV show about 3 rich, whiny New York women) when the annoying, stuck-up character played by Brooke Shields was organizing a Locavore Thanksgiving. Barf.