An interesting article from Saturday's Record:Locally grown, tantalizingly tastyA taste bud treat is the payoff for buying local fruits and vegetables . . . and it's good for the environment, tooNICOLE O'REILLY
If everyone in Waterloo Region ate locally grown food, the environmental benefit would be the same as pulling 17,000 cars off the road every year.
The damage comes from the fuel used to fly, ship and truck produce to local supermarkets from sites around the world, according to a report by Region of Waterloo Public Health.
We'd be doing our part to slow climate change, said
Marc Xuereb, public health planner and author of the Food Miles report.
The report looked at the distances 58 commonly available foods travelled by land, air and sea from 2000 to 2004.
Crispy heads of lettuce turned into salads in January travel an average of 3,726 kilometres.
Tomatoes travel 2,800 kilometres.
The average travelling distance among the 58 items, ranging from apples to yogurt, was 4,497 kilometres.
And yet there are plenty of farms in the province -- 14,000 of them in Waterloo Region alone.
But more and more people are looking at local food as a solution to environmental, economical and health concerns raised by shipping and importing.
Sitting on a bench facing her garden, straw hat on her head,
Esther Devries-Lasby gazed out at her handiwork on a recent, sunny afternoon.
Devries-Lasby, who teaches English part-time at Conestoga College, says she has been eating local foods since last summer.
Her garden is filled with produce, from peas to garlic, tomatoes to potatoes.
"I tell you, eating locally for the winter got to be carrots and potatoes in the end," she said. "But that asparagus, oh when that asparagus became ripe, it was so good. And then the rhubarb and then the spinach and now strawberries; we have strawberries for every meal because we can."
For the sixth consecutive year, Foodlink Waterloo Region -- a non-profit organization that promotes buying local food -- has published a Buy Local! Buy Fresh! map.
It leads people to 81 market shops and farms selling locally produced meat and produce.
Eating locally protects and promotes the economy, the environment and society, said Foodlink executive director,
Peter Katona. Importing food from the south also takes business away from local farmers.
"This is hypothetically a lot of money that could be put into local farmers' products," he said.
The payback is job creation.
Aura Hertzog and her husband,
Timothy Simpson operate the Golden Hearth Baking Co. in downtown Kitchener. It's a recent addition to the list of businesses promoting local food.
The couple bake with local products. They are also avid local shoppers themselves.
"It does take a little more effort, but it does make you value your food more when you know (you) bought this local bread and met the person that actually made that bread," Aura Hertzog said.
"Or bought the honey from the guy who raised the bees.
"I think you just enjoy your food more."
She plans to pass on the lessons of buying local to her 14-month old son, Elliot.
"It's important because you are teaching the next generation to eat well," she said, adding that she hopes her son will learn to value food.
Devries-Lasby is sure those messages get through. They did in her family while she was growing up on a farm near Ayr.
"I remember my mom cooking dinner and saying, 'We grew all of this stuff,' " she said. "We would often have dinner that was all (grown) by our own hand."
Her own family started with produce, then they moved to local meat and cheese, then to bread.
Now there is no going back.
Devries-Lasby recognizes that jumping into local eating can be overwhelming. The key to making it easy is to ask a lot of questions.
"A lot of it was word of mouth: I'm at my girlfriend's house, I see her eating something and ask, 'Where did you get it?' " Devries-Lasby said.
For instance, she was always told peanuts were only grown in China and the United States.
But thanks to a friendly tip, Devries-Lasby now takes her son to grind their own smooth and creamy peanut butter at Picard's Peanuts in St. Jacobs. Picard's uses Ontario-grown peanuts.
Now her husband and son have become quite accustomed to local taste, and will settle for nothing less.
For dinner, several weeks ago, Devries-Lasby was rushed for time.
In haste, she grabbed chicken burgers from a supermarket.
"I cooked them and gave them to my husband and my son and they just looked at me and said, 'What is this?'" she recalls.
It's a mistake, she says, that she won't make again.
Not knowing where your meat is coming from is more common than most people may think, said Katona.
Many Ontario abattoirs and meat- processing plants have headed south of the border, even though cattle are still raised in Ontario.
"A lot of Canadian beef is shipped off to the States live," he said. "You could be eating local beef and it could have already travelled 3,000 miles."
But people are starting to wake up.
People are reading labels more carefully. Large retailers selling natural foods are moving into the market.
And books such as The 100 Mile Diet help. The authors, journalists Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon of British Columbia, wrote the book after sticking to eating only the food they could find within 100 miles (160 km) of their home.
"When you buy locally, the person, the small independent -- whoever you are buying from -- spends that money locally as well," Devries-Lasby said.
"Spending money is a little bit like voting and I'd rather vote for somebody that I can actually talk to."
The greatest limitations to eating locally are the distinct seasonal changes in our climate.
Preserving foods is one way the Lasby family diversifies its meal plans through the winter.
"There are lots of books with instructions and lots of rules -- sterilize everything, don't mess with the sugar or the vinegar, because it's the preservative," Devries-Lasby said.
In the winter, her family can eat homemade salsa, apple sauce, pickles, pickled beets, jams and jellies.
As for freezing,
Elsie Herrle of Herrle's Country Farm Market in St. Agatha, said the trick to avoiding soggy fruits and veggies is to freeze everything individually
"You have to put the strawberries on a tray and freeze them individually. Put them in a bag once frozen," she said, and they will last all winter.
As people tune into local-food initiatives, senior governments are starting to pay attention too -- with cash.
The province recently announced a $12.5-million program to promote local farming.
Representatives from regional public health, local farms and advocacy groups such as Foodlink make up the recently established Food System Round Table, a group formed after a report examined how the region could improve its food quality and access to local food.
The report suggested forcing public institutions, such as hospitals and universities, to use a certain percentage of local food in their menu planning. Last month, Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory said he supported the idea.
Both Hertzog and Devries-Lasby say they're fortunate to be shoppers in Waterloo Region where there is a variety of fresh food and accessible farms.
no'reilly@therecord.comTHE VETERAN: Herrle's Country Farm Market
Wander down to number 37 on the Buy Local! Buy Fresh! map and you will find Herrle's Country Farm Market.
Howard and Elsie Herrle have lived and farmed on the St. Agatha land for 43 years.
Their market, which opened in 1989, is a haven for local food shoppers, with its fresh produce from around the region.
The rustic barn setting, with wood plank walls and wagon wheels, is enveloped these days with the scent of fresh bread and strawberries.
From humble beginnings, the Herrles have grown into a business with more than 50 staff members.
They grow peas, beans, beets, cucumber, zucchini, pumpkin, squash, corn, tomatoes, flowers, and strawberries.
"We have 200 acres of produce," said Howard.
"They are pioneers of local food," said Peter Katona of Foodlink Waterloo Region.
What they do not grow, they buy from local farms to sell in their market.
"I know I'm actually shopping from about 400 families," Katona said.
This year the Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association honoured the Herrles as the 2007 Outstanding Farm Marketers of the Year.
This is first time the winners have been from outside Toronto.
For more information about Herrle's Country Farm Market, visit the website at: herrles.com
THE NEWCOMER: Golden Hearth Baking Co.
When Aura Hertzog and her husband, Timothy Simpson, moved to Kitchener this year, they searched for the right environment to apply their culinary expertise.
Four months ago they opened Golden Hearth Bakery at 343 King St. E., at Cedar Street.
The venture combines both Simpson's baking skills and Hertzog's management talent.
The bakery sells all-natural and organic baked goods using local ingredients.
Simpson picks up the flour straight from the mill about once a week.
Two area shops, The Old Kitchen Cupboard and Eating Well Organically, sell Golden Hearth bread once a week.
And Whole Lot-A Gelata has just started selling its biscotti.
Since they use organic flour and butter, the bakery's bread is a little more expensive than a name-brand loaf.
"We won't charge $8 for a loaf of bread because it's organic flour, because it doesn't make sense," Hertzog said.
"We still want everyone to enjoy the bread."
The breads range from $2.50 to $4. The hand-rolled, all-butter croissants are $1.50 to $1.75.
For more information about Golden Hearth Baking Co., visit: goldenhearth.wordpress.com
SMART TIPS FOR A HEALTHY LOCAL SHOPPER
Look for the green Foodland Ontario symbol and read the price card.
Look for "product of Ontario," because food grown in the United States is sometimes packaged here in Ontario.
Be careful if you read "Ontario Produce" because there's a city in California with the name Ontario.
Ask: "Was this just packaged here, or actually grown here?" Read the labels closely.
Just because produce is sold at a farmers' market, doesn't mean it is local. Foodlink Waterloo Region launched a new logo a few weeks ago, with a sign that participating local farmers can place at the front of their market stands.
If there is no sign at the farmers' market, ask the vendors where the food was grown. If they don't know, the food is probably from outside Ontario.
Know what is grown and available seasonally. If you see strawberries in February, you know they aren't local.
Beware of filler, for instance modified milk ingredients, which actually contain no milk. The oil and sugar mixture fills cheese products, yogurt, ice cream etc. It's cheap and can be imported from the U.S. even more cheaply.
Beware of preservatives; they are not just found in packaged foods. For instance, nitrates are more and more common in meat. This is why ground beef can look so perfectly pink.
Large retail chains employ a strategy called a "loss-leader." They will mark down the price of one product and accept the loss, just to get you into the store to entice you with more pricey products. This is a ploy that local markets and farmers cannot afford.
FRESH FOOD FACTS ON THE INTERNET
For free canning and preserving guidelines: go to
www.canning-food-recipes.com/canning.htmTo find out when food is in season: visit Foodland Ontario at
www.foodland.gov.on.caFor a list of local farms and markets: or to get a Buy Local! Buy Fresh! map, visit website at
www.foodlink-waterlooregion.ca
