I've been re-reading one of my favourite books this summer "An Everlasting Meal-Cooking with Economy and Grace" by Tamar Alder.  As far as I'm concerned anyone with an interest in eating (that would be all of us) should read this book.  It's a poetic ode to eating well.  There are a few recipes, but mostly she weaves cooking and living advice into her prose, leaving you hungry for more (words and food).

She covers all the things I'm passionate about including eggs, using the ends of things to create new beginnings and the importance of using the whole animal, "there's not yet a cow with an eternal supply of steaks...".  Her chapter "How to be Tender" relates perfectly the importance and challenges of procuring and eating sustainably produced meat. 

I feel like I should include a copy of this chapter with all my meat orders, it conveys perfectly how to cook the hardworking cuts of meat (slowly in a pot) and how to make the most of the whole animal.  Most of all, don't be afraid of the weird bits, steaks that aren't labeled strip loin and just throw it all in a pot with some liquid, herbs and cook low and slow.  She does recommend Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's The River Cottage Meat Book, which being a fan of Hugh's and British cooks in general I'm going to have to add it to my collection. 

In summary, buy good meat and make a little go a long way.  It'll be easier on your budget and the environment.  I'm may be a little biased, but I like the fact that she recommends organizing a group of friends and buying all the meat of an animal as an economical way to buy meat. She also has nothing against frozen meat-so fill your freezer!  This is good news for those of us who spend our time raising animals that have a good life.

This article was orginally published in the Chronicle Journal supplement Horizons:

By the time this article is published, we’ll be watching the closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics and tallying Canada’s medal count.  However, those of us who attempt to grow and store our own food will still be in a sprint to the finish.  I won’t be focused on Canada’s final results (although I did manage to sneak in a little viewing time); instead I’ll be worried about picking and freezing my green beans.  At this time of year, it feels like the days are never long enough to pack everything in and the finish line is still a long way away. 

Like the splashy opening ceremonies for the London Olympics, the spring garden is full of potential and hope, not for medals, but for an abundant harvest.  The beds are freshly ploughed, the weeds haven’t yet germinated and the varieties of crops to be planted are endless.  A snapshot from my garden a month ago shows orderly and (almost) weed-free beds.  That certainly isn’t the case now.   The hot weather with the occasional rain shower that has been good for most crops, but is also a boon to weeds and pests and so, there is a ton of weeding to be done. 
At least the battle with the potato beetles is over and this year I have claimed victory! Daily inspect and squish sessions have left my potato plants intact and I can’t wait for our first serving of boiled new potatoes with
butter and rosemary.    

It’s mid-summer and my “to-do” list feels insurmountable as the maturing crops need to be harvested almost daily and preserved by canning, pickling, freezing or drying. Right-I guess we should enjoy some fresh veggies too.  This would be the perfect time to experiment with some new recipes from my
ever-growing cookbook collection, but in my mildly stressed-out state I usually rely on old favourites like steamed peas, sautéed green beans or a simple Caprese salad. Then, it’s back to shelling peas and making pickles. 
We all want our cold cellars to resemble a Harrowsmith photo shoot, but
in reality I’ll be happy to have enough canned peaches for my daughter’s lunch and a few jars of jam to give away at Christmas. At least my results are based on my own efforts and measured by my family’s appreciation and not arbitrarily evaluated by a judge!

You don’t need to live in the country and plough up a ¼ acre to grow some of your own food.  A few simple raised beds in the back yard will do the trick; tuck some edibles into patio pots or pull out those ratty-looking Spireas that never get pruned anyway and create an edible garden in your front yard. 
You can create your own podium moment when you harvest your first lettuce
crop or sneak a sweet cherry tomato from the vine.  Although my closing ceremonies may be weeks away, I’m thankful for the opportunity to compete in the gardening Olympics and am always looking for ways to improve my performance next year.  
  
Boiled New Potatoes

This isn’t meant to be a recipe more like a guide
to enjoying the waxy, creamy flavour and texture of new potatoes.  
You’ll need:
A pound and a half of small new potatoes, preferably “grabbled” from your own plants, otherwise coaxed from a friend with a bumper crop or purchased from your favourite farmer.

2 Tablespoons real butter or a generous glug of good olive oil. 
Don’t use margarine or butter substitutes, you’re looking for flavour here
and besides you want to support our dairy farmers, not the edible oil
industry.

3 Tablespoons of your favourite chopped fresh herbs, try: rosemary, chives, dill or mint.  Salt to taste.
Boil potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender
when pierced with a fork (approximately 10-15 minutes). 
Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking. 
Halve any larger potatoes (this also gives a good surface for the butter
to adhere to), toss with butter and herbs, season with salt to taste and
enjoy.

(This article orginally appeared in the Chronicle Journal supplement, Horizons).
A few weeks ago, Jian Ghomeshi mediated a debate on the disadvantages of eating locally on the CBC radio program “Q”. The program featured, Pierre Desrochers, an economic geographer and author who claims that
the locavore movement is harmful to our modern food system and doesn’t make sense on an economic or agricultural basis.  As I madly scribbled notes refuting his arguments, I wanted to shout-out: eating local makes sense! Derochers asserted that we have romanticized the notion of “know your farmer” and that farmers are just too busy and tired to interact with customers.  I’d agree that any farmer who earns their living from the land is
extremely busy and tired at this time of year; but they’re always happy to take a minute to explain their growing practices, discuss favourite vegetable
varieties or cuts of meat and recommend the best cooking methods for their
products.   Farming is a 24 hour a day (there’s a narrow window for seeding fields, cows can calve in the middle of the night and strawberries may need frost protecting), 365 day a year profession; so farmers must love their work. I’d argue that farmers want to get to know their consumers (or co-producers as they’re known within the Slow Food movement) and discussing production methods with “your” farmer is the best way to ensure you’re eating real food, produced in a sustainable manner.

Economic geographers can argue that shipping food across the continent or half-way around the world is economically feasible due to economies of scaleand the efficiencies of modern freighters and therefore, eating local isn’t necessary.  This theory requires one to ignore the important measures of flavour and nutritional content.  Food grown and ripened locally will always win the taste war and be nutritionally superior to that of its industrial agriculture counterparts. If you don’t believe that local food tastes better, I challenge you to purchase a clamshell of strawberries from California and do a blind taste comparison with a basket of local berries.  You’ll be able to tell the difference before you even take a bite!  The strawberries grown in Thunder Bay will be fully ripened and have a pronounced sweet aroma.  Notice the amazing taste profile of the locally picked berries (there is often a honey essence), they may be small in size, but they pack a mighty flavour punch. 

Wine experts often discuss terroir, which roughly refers to taste
of the land. The soil and climate conditions and farming techniques specific to our region impart a unique flavour profile or terroir to the fruits,
vegetables and meat and dairy products produced within the region. The soil that our farmers have nurtured and cared for makes available a wide variety of vitamins and minerals that will end up in our local food supply.  That is something that can’t be duplicated in a California strawberry, New Zealand apple or Florida tomato.  

Eating local does make sense economically, because when we support local enterprises we contribute to a healthy local economy.   Desrochers asserts
that the locavore movement is only accessible to the world’s most privileged
consumers.  I disagree. Eating locally and in-season, is affordable and accessible to people from all demographic groups.  Harvesting lettuce and cherry tomatoes from pots on your patio or purchasing a basket of new potatoes and some ground beef from the Thunder Bay Country Market is far
more affordable than a trip to your local fast food outlet.  Our region needs a stable local food supply, not more out of season produce shipped from half-way around the world.  Summer in Thunder Bay is the perfect time to focus on eating more food produced within our region.  The farmer’s markets are bursting with produce, backyard gardens are in full-swing and pick-your-own operations offer you an authentic farm experience and the chance to save some money by harvesting your own produce.  

They say it’s beneficial to learn the other side of a debate, so you can strengthen your own argument.  If that’s the case I would recommend you read Desrochers’ “The Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000 Mile Diet”.  Just be sure to balance
your literary diet with Joel Salatin’s “Folks, this ain’t normal”.