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A count down of the 10 best local food programs found around the world, from Vancouver to Villanueva, Spain. .
Vast resources lie within 100 miles of Vancouver
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It’s been five years since their book, chronicling their trials and tribulations of eating locally for a year, was published. It was a year that saw a huge shift in the ways we think about food, thanks largely to their 100-Mile Diet, Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma and Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
One spin-off from the books phenomenal success is that Smith and MacKinnon’s lives have become subject to invitations from all over North America to sample and partake in various local food programs.
Their recent talk, part of the M.O.V.’s Food & Beers talk series in association with The Tyee (where the 100-Mile Diet first appeared as a series) and The Tyee editor David Beers, summed up 10 of the more inspirational initiatives the two have come across in their travels. (Vancouver get two mentions, but I think they may have been playing to the local crowd; there was some Ontario bashing too.)
Ward Teulon of City Farm Boy sets the bar for the urban agriculture movement. As well as selling raised garden beds to help people grow their own fruit and veggies, Ward also grows more than 40 different crops in 14+ backyards and rooftops around Vancouver. The garden owner takes a share of the vegetables and Ward sells the rest at the farmers market and weekly harvest boxes.
Similar Vancouver local food program: If you want to start growing your own but haven’t got the space, or have the space but not the time or inclination, the Vancouver yard sharing program Sharing Backyards connects yard owners and avid gardeners to get the most benefit for the most people.
A few years ago Ontario residents had major problems with their farmers markets. Trucks were coming from miles away (including south of the border) and passing themselves off as locally grown. Then the goverments got involved, admittedly not always a good thing, but so far, so good. The municipalities set up certifications for farmers markets, and now eight cities in Ontario specify that suppliers must be within 100 kilometres. Besides the food being super local, initiatives lke this foster strong, diverse agricultural regions.
City halls also started to guarantee that they would buy a certain percentage of the foods (for hospitals, schools, etc.) from local growers. The goal for Toronto is 50 percent, for the University of Toronto it’s 20 percent. That’s $250,000 per year going to local growers.
Local farmers are also being encouraged to employ sustainable practices, racking up points for: energy efficiencies, labour and animal welfare, organics and diversity.
Similar Vancouver local food program: Check out Vancouver’s farmers markets. They now run all year round. UBC also buys a certain percentage of foods from the UBC farm; though, unfortunately, the U of T puts them to shame: Last year UBC spent just $3,000 on UBC farm produce.
Some of the best developments come out of sheer desperation, and the combination of freezing Maine winters and recessions in factory towns can be pretty compelling motivation. Elliot Coleman grows all year round by using movable hoop houses, which comprise a simple metal frame and a double layer of plastic. In fact, he grows 40 percent of his produce between October and May. The so-called incubator farms took off during the recession with a dose of desperation and federal funding in equal parts.
Similar Vancouver local food program: The UBC farm has a comparable operation, and there’s a proposal out for a similar initiative in Richmond.
More importantly, the hoop houses can be cheaply created on a variety of scales and can be packed up when not needed. If you have space for a garden you have space for a hoop house.
That’s right, Manhattan, the downtown core. Five years ago when MacKinnon and Smith were looking for publishers in New York, the 100-mile concept was poo-poo-ed as a West Coast fad that would be impossible on the East Coast. Now, New Yorkers have 39 farmers markets to choose from throughout the week (27 markets up to four days a week). The stalls all feature maps showing the locations of the farms (which have a median distance of 90 “food miles”).
Two other initiatives out of New York City include one to encourage local wheat production and one training new farmers. In order to foster local wheat production, the Green Market Society is funding the building of a local mill; to ensure there is a demand for it, bakers at the market are obliged to use 15 percent local wheat in their breads. New farmers are being trained at Cornell; many of these “new” farmers are new immigrants to the US who bring and share traditional framing method from a variety of cultures.
Similar Vancouver local food program: In this cold, hard, money-is-king world, the best way to support local produce is with your wallet. So plug into a local green box program or head down to your closest farmers market, and check out The Flour Peddler for local, pedal-ground flour (learn about another local wheat program, Urban Grains, below).
On first hearing, the people at Fallen Fruit sound a little overzealous. They believe that access to free food is a basic human right. What started as an art project creating maps showing fruit trees that grew on, or hung over, public property (in California, once a bough hangs over public property it becomes public property). Fallen Fruit now give away fruit trees as long as the recipients promise to plant them so that some of the branches hang over into the public domain.
As well as mapping the fruit trees, Fallen Fruit lead foraging tours and jamming projects using public fruit. The maps around California, Colorado, Colombia, Spain and Sweden present a phenomenally novel way of viewing a community.
Similar Vancouver local food program: I haven’t found anything that matches Fallen Fruit in Vancouver but the foodtree offers a map to help you find local farms and restaurants serving local food. At Shared Harvest, also known as a “Craigslist for foodies,” you’ll find other food enthusiasts sharing tips, and food.
Europe is often touted as a local food Mecca. MacKinnon and Smith found this perception to be based on fact but largely romanticized. While many of the old traditions, such as public grazing for cattle, were still in place, many of the traditions weren’t being incorporated into modern lifestyles. One of the practices that impressed Smith was the implementation of Denomination of Origin. We’re familiar with this sort of thing with wines and cheeses (Champagnes from Champagne, Camembert from Camembert etc.) and though it can feel a little precious, it ensures that regional specialties are preserved. As a result, people travel to Villanueva to try the Asturian Cider for which the region is renowned.
Similar Vancouver local food program: Thanks to the local food movement, we’re beginning to see a revival of Canadian heritage foods such as Red Fife wheat, but does Vancouver have a food or drink that we can claim as uniquely ours?
The story of Napa is more of a lesson in what not to do. In Empires of Food, authors Evan Fraser and Andrew Rimas state that the strongest food system incorporates “embedded diversity, i.e., an emphasis on local specialties accompanied by a diverse range of other foods. Napa’s arable land went from 27 percent vineyards to 99 percent in a short space of time. The success of the wines meant that the land became too expensive to grow anything other than wine, so orchards were pulled up in favour of vineyards. The Napa Valley is trying to reverse the trend by linking farmers-to-be with available land (crop-sharing, leasing, etc.), organizing small loans and linking older farmers with youthful counterparts.
Similar Vancouver local food program: A similar fate is befalling the Okanagan. Supporting the wine industry there is great but we’re reaching a point where supporting the fruit and vegetable industries there is paramount to maintaining the diversity.
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Similar to BC’s Okanagan Valley, you can’t swing a cat in Napa without hitting a vineyard. (Flickr / Bala)
As part of Seattle’s mission to become a carbon-neutral city, the Salish Sea Trading Cooperative uses sail power to deliver fresh produce from farms on the Olympic Peninsula to members in Ballard. The co-op sails the 12-hour trip (weather gods willing) fortnightly. Once they return to Ballard, hand-offs are made by electric truck or bicycle.
Similar Vancouver local food program: I’m often jealous at the amount of amazing local food available in places like Salt Spring Island and the Cowichan Valley. A sail-powered delivery company would be a great way to connect those producers to the huge market for local produce here on the mainland. So… if you have a spare yacht, let me know and I’ll start putting a crew together.
Wapa-wha?! Apparently, this curiously named aquatic tuber (also known as a duck potato) was once a staple of the local diet. Historians found that just one island in the Columbia River produced enough wapato to feed 31,000 people. And in terms of sustainability, the more we harvest the wapato the more it flourishes.
The wapato is harvested in November (traditionally by women) by wading in the chilly water and stomping on the roots to release the tuber. Pieces of root are carried along the river to start new outcrops. MacKinnon described the taste as “potato with a hint of corn or chestnut.”
Similar Vancouver local food program: Get along your women-folk into BC’s rivers to perform the aquatic-stairmaster. If anyone knows where I can find some wapato in Vancouver, without harvesting my own (or making my lady friend), please let me know.
Smith and McKinnon were let loose in the bowels on the M.O.V. to find artefacts that spoke to Vancouver’s local food history. The mini-exhibition is on display at the M.O.V. studio. It ranges from First Nation’s fruit leather to a Diner menu.
www.museumofvancouver.ca
1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver
Number 10 comprises some of the great developments that have taken place in Vancouver since MacKinnon and Smith undertook their year-long experiment.
> Spot Prawns
When local fisherman Steve Johansen introduced Smith and MacKinnon to the spot prawn he also introduced it to a host of chefs and restauranteurs who were hungry for a local, sustainable food. Since then the Spot Prawn Festival has become a highly anticipated annual event.
> Winter Farmers Market
Winter used to be a long hard stretch for the 100-mile pair. Now, fortunately for Vancouver locavores, the farmers market is open year round as of this year. Find the new weekly winter market by Nat Bailey Stadium.
> Backyard beehives & chickens
Legislative changes now mean that Vancouverites can raise bees or chickens in their backyards. Not only is this great news for the fiscally minded foodies among us, it’s also meant that a whole new generation are developing better connections with where their food comes from.
> Urban Grains co-op wheat
Urban Grains is a community supported agriculture program based in Vancouver that aims to provide Vancouver residents with access to grain grown locally (and organically) in Agassiz in the Fraser Valley. Members are invited to “visit” their wheat at the farm, gathering as a group once a year to get the tour via hay ride. [Eds. note: This program offers great value and is almost worth it if even just for the hay ride! —Hilary]