As promised, here is a report from the trenches of the Conscious Food Festival in Toronto this weekend!
Summary: OMG I HAD A BLAST! (and got educated all at the same time!) - oh, and there was ICE CREAM!
Where to start, oh where to start? Aside from the highlight I posted about earlier, these are the booths I was most impressed with - somewhat in order of impressiveness to me, but mostly going in order of how I remember them - because I was pretty much equally impressed with everything!
GEEZ LOUISE! Is that a tomato in your pocket or are ya just happy to see me?
First and foremost, I am going to start with the last booth we visited, because I was very impressed with this organization. It's called Second Harvest and basically, they are trying to tackle two problems in Toronto at once - HUNGER and FOOD WASTE. Ever wonder where the 'not-so-pretty-but-still-perfectly-fine produce from the grocery stores go? Normally, they go to the trash - but this organization is trying to collect it to feed to people! I just think it's a fabulous program. If you have extra food - instead of tossing it out, call them up and they'll come and get it for free. Note that 40% of their recipients are children! Go to
www.secondharvest.ca for more information OR TO VOLUNTEER.
The second booth that I was most impressed with was ChocoSol Traders a) because they deal with CHOCOLATE (hellloooooo!) and b) they used a modified bike to ground up corn to make tortillas (that you could get filed with CHOCOLATE). I, myself, indulged in the "Drinking Chocolate" which was most YUMMY to say the least! My friend was rewarded (for grounding up the corn for her own tortilla) with a bean tortilla which was exquisite!
From their website
www.chocosoltraders.com:
ChocoSol is a community of innovative and dynamic individuals engaged in a trans-local trading relationship that goes beyond mere commerce to intercultural dialogue and reciprocal relationship building.You can find them at Farmer's Markets all over the place (see their website) or you can visit them at 6 St. Joseph Street (off Yonge, 1 block North of Wellsley (sp?)).
Do you want to know the best part? I am copying all of this information from the notes I took because they don't have any cards or pamphlets or ANYTHING because they are all about minimal waste!
They can also be found on FB!
Curried Cabbage with Nasturtiums (from the 18th century)courtesy of Fort York's Officer's Mess Hall kitchen and garden and volunteers...the RECIPE is from the late 1700's or early 1800's, the actual cabbage/curry/nasturtiums were recently harvested (from the kitchen garden at Fort York). I have never been so bombarded with "kitchen history" before in my life and I loved every minute of it! I learned a bit about curry, a little about how people cooked back in the day, a little about gardening, a little about baking breads in an old-timey oven, a little about volunteering at the Fort, and even got some info on open houses and classes :) I'd say we easily spent the most time here, and got to taste a treat of curried cabbage (FULL OF BUTTER! 2 pounds of butter per about 4 smallish heads of cabbage!)
Juicy tidbit: The earliest recorded recipe for curry was back in 1747.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with flower eating (I went through a phase in the early 90's with the rest of the foodies and have had 'flower salads'and dandelion tea- this piece of trivia will matter a little bit further on too!) Nasturtiums (pronounced like "nisturshioms") are a nice little peppery flower! Very tasty! And they are pretty too!
For those of you who are interested, there is an Open House planned for October and a Hearth Cooking Class planned for October - check out the
Fort's website for info or check back here because I think I may be going to each of these events! :)
Next we must talk about ICE CREAM because I had some delish samplings at the Festival! Would you like to know the most unique flavour of ice cream I have ever had (let alone heard of!) - DANDELION - and it was SO YUMMY!!!! I love dandelions, and this is a great way to use them!!! If you ever get the chance, TRY IT! It's one of
Mapleton's Organic signature flavours! Another delish option is the Chai ice cream! Mapleton's Organics also has a farm that you can visit, with tons of fun things to do!!!
I also had frozen Kefir - which was beautiful! It was much sweeter than regular ice cream, and didn't have that tartness that alot of frozen yogurts have, but was les rich than ice cream! It's sweetened with xylitol (which according to the pamphlet, is a natural insulin stabilizer, is found in fruits and vegetables an has 40% fewer calories than regular sugar and 75% fewer carbs. It was also served in bamboo cone/cups which I liked ALOT! You can find frozen kefir from
Yogalicious.ca I was highly impressed that the festival did not hand out leaflets and maps or any other paper waste that you get at other events like this. I was also very highly impressed that no one was selling bottled water anywhere! It was available at a tap for FREE. LOVED IT! (but felt like a goof for not bringing my trusty canteen with me, and had to refill a plastic bottle that I had used earlier). AND - allllll of the containers and utensils used for all food samples were 100% biodegradable if not 100% compostable! EXCELLENT!!!!
There was also a booth where you could pledge to 'shift $10 per week to certified local sustainable food'. I think this is a FABULOUS project because as we all know, we 'vote' with our dollars! Check this out at
localfoodplus.ca Foodland Ontario was also there (and I suspect they were the ones who were handing out peaches, but I could be wrong...although peaches are in season RIGHT NOW and they are cheap cheap cheap and sooooooo yummy!)
And the Vancouver Aquarium Conservation Program was there to remind us to be Ocean Wise with our fish and seafood choices. Y'all might know that the "ocean" is a cause very close to my heart, and if haven't yet heard me rant on and on and on about how we are KILLING THE SEA, just wait, because you will be subjected to it at some point (people should know never to mention 'long line fishing' within earshot of me) - and I don't even eat seafood (some fish). I also happen to love the Vancouver Aquarium and I support everything they do!
Organic Oysters
They were HUGE!
I also got to talk to some peeps from a local Toronto restaurant (REALLY local to the festival as it wa sonly a few blocks away!) called
Marben - I found them very passionate and very knowledgeable. I need to find some dining out options around the city, and although I am eating whole foods, I am not transforming into a 'granola kid'. I still eat meat, and like to have some options available to me in that regard (read this as: I am pretty tired of going out to eat and having to choose vegetarian options, or fish (if they have wild Talapia)...lately, for convenienec sake, I have been eating whatever meat, but I am definitely feeling the after effects and with that also comes GUILT!. In any case, not only does this restaurant only serve 'clean meat', the butcher also helped start up a side business like a beef cooperative called West Side Beef Co. - where the restaurant acts as the liason between the local farmers where they get their meat and the consumer. So, you can sign up for a 'portion' of a side of beef - you know what I mean yes? They have these types of deals where you buy a side of beef and then stock your freezer. Well, this is sort of the same thing, except the restaurant buys a side of locally sourced humanely raised 'clean meat' beef and divvies it up for anyone who's interested. They also make beef stock as part of your order so very little of animal goes to waste. I LOVE IT! I asked if they would do the same thing with poultry or pork in the future and they said they are considering it, but are sticking to beef for now. Apparently it's hard to find people who would buy a 'case' of chickens...I don't know what a 'case' of chickens means, but if you're someone like me, that case would go pretty fast because I eat alot of chicken - especially if I could pay a little extra and have some of it chopped up by the butcher!
I haven't even really gone into depth about all the fantasticness of the Festival! They had TONS of vendors there to talk about their products- whether it be cheese, or wine, or meats, or beer or what have you. IT WAS A GREAT EVENT! If you missed it this year, you should plan on hitting it up next year - OR, if you live somewhere other than Toronto, keep an eye out for a Conscious Food Festival near you (and tell me so I can post it here!)
Organic Beer!
Poutine is EVIL no matter what!
