Would you eat this apple?
It’s misshapen. It has a couple of small but suspicious-looking holes. But it’s from a tree once part of an orchard, likely cultivated over a hundred years ago. It’s an old variety, and the tree was left to grow organically for dozens of years.
Yes, I would eat this apple. Maybe with a knife, cutting out a few bits, but yes, I would enjoy its sweet tartness, free of any waxes and traces of chemical aftertaste. I’m trying to embrace the idea that good food doesn’t need to look like perfect food. That flavour and health benefits, not to mention benefits to the local ecosystem, far outweigh aesthetics. As Joni Mitchell said, “Give me spots on apples. But leave me the birds and the bees. Please!”
How about you – do you eat carrots with two legs, lumpy squashes, spotty apples and other imperfect fruit?
I’ve been receiving a delivery of organic food for a few months now, and I’ve been impressed with the local food available, particularly its intense flavour. Once in a while I pull back the box lid to find something I’ve never seen before.
A couple of weeks ago it was this crazy cauliflower, a fractal design in a harsh yellow green. Large and spiky, I was a little intimidated by it. What would I do with it? Too aggressive for a salad. Rather harsh for crudités. A couple of days went by while I thought about it, but this hardy cauliflower was in it for the long haul, and has survived long enough to get into stir fries, tossed into pasta and more. Because it doesn’t spoil easily and was fairly tasty, I’d order it again.
Yesterday when I cracked open my veggie box (it’s from Front Door Organics) I stared back at the contents in total surprise. I’d ordered edamame – green soybeans. I usually buy edamame in the frozen veggie section of my grocery store, so I thought it’d be fun to get them fresh. And fresh they were, still attached to the stem! Now I’m glad I didnt’ have to stuff the rest of the plant into my green bin during the garbage strike, but as I sat there clipping off the soybeans into a container, I realized just how conveniently our food is served to us. Considering how much work goes into producing healthy food such as soybeans, it’s only fair that I would do the easy final preparations. And hey, not a plastic bag in sight.
What’s your favourite local food?
Left on my doorstep
Just about every day, as part of my job at Homemakers magazine, I’m researching information about health and nutrition. While there may be some grey area in the
healthfulness of coffee or the most effective way to
meet our calcium requirements, one thing’s for sure: eating a variety of fruits and vegetables as a significant part of our diet is key to being healthy.
With that in mind, I recently subscribed to an organic food delivery service. I received my first box yesterday evening, and I was thrilled to peel back the lid and see the lush organic pears, parsley, mushrooms, Boston lettuce, grapefruit several other foods inside. Here’s a picture of what it included. The is the “basic box” from Front Door Organics; it costs $35, and I can decide if I want it delivered weekly or every two weeks. Knowing that I’ll be unable to resist the temptations of farmers’ markets this summer, I think I’ll upgrade to their custom box, at $40, and have it delivered every two weeks. That way I can get more of my favourite things and steer clear of the stuff I’ll get at the market (I’m thinking of super-ripe raspberries. Can’t wait!).
Front Door Organics is about organic food first, but they do promise to offer local food whenever it’s available, and a note in my box showed which foods are from Ontario (the mushrooms, the radishes, the potatoes and the Boston lettuce). They can also add other grocery items to the box if I add them to my order, such as coffee, milk and eggs, perfect for those really busy times (or when I’m home with a cold). The note also included some of the company’s principles, notably that they will not purchase food that’s delivered by air travel. Air travel “…accounts for 4-9% of the total climate change impact of human activity.” As I’ve realized recently, it’s all about the greenhouse gasses.
Do you have trouble finding organic food in your area? Is it important to you to eat organic? Do you consider what you grow at home to be organic?
During Earth Hour (this Saturday night at 8:30), my partner and I will be visiting my folks at their place in the Thousand Islands / Frontenac Arch region. If the weather plays nice, we’ll get to enjoy the fresh air (always has a hint of pine), get out for a good walk, hopefully do a little woodworking (my dad is making us some bedroom furniture) and then get ready for a nice, low-power Earth Hour.
I hope to get notes from you guys about what you did for Earth Hour, and what you saw. I’ll miss being in Toronto to witness lights blinking out across the city. Aside from the ever-present lights on the Thousand Island bridge, my folks’ place — and their neighbours’ — should be pretty dark.
At about 8:30 (Earth Hour), we’re usually having dinner. That takes power to make, but this year we’re planning to have a low-power meal. We’re still finalizing the menu, but my dad suggested fondue. Perfect! We’ll probably need a little camp stove to get things heated up – tealights don’t hold a candle to a stove’s ability to melt cheese – but once things are heated up we’ll be able to turn off the burner and dine by candle light.
After devouring the last bit of beer-softened cheese, we usually need to take a walk before embarking on the next fondue course. But when faced with chocolate and fruit, we always bravely find a way to scrape the pot clean.
Here are some recipes for chocolate, cheese and broth fondue from the Homemakers and Canadian Living Test Kitchens.
Which low-power foods might you enjoy during Earth Hour?
