How can you make a difference?

Livin' on the Veg Tuesday, May 17, 2011

At The Cutting Veg, we try to inspire and support people to take action in their relationship with food to improve their quality of life, while making a difference. A healthy world starts with healthy lifestyles. Here are a couple options of how you can take action to enhance your relationship with food, and the health of the planet:

Cook and eat with whole foods: As food-revolution author Michael Pollan likes to say "Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food." A diet based in fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and moderate amounts of fresh meat and dairy products is best for you and for the planet

Grow your own: The 2nd best place to get your food is directly from the producer. The best is when you grow it yourself! When we grow some of our own food organically, we enrich the environment, learn valuable skills, enjoy exercise and time outdoors, and get to delight in the flavours of homegrown produce.

Vote with your dollar: Purchase your food directly from the producer, or from a source you believe in. Buying your food at Farmers Markets and CSAs provide you and your family with the highest quality food (nutrition and flavour), while supporting the development of a healthy food system.

Support a Food Security Organization: Volunteer for, or donate to, an organization whose focus is the creation of a healthy food system:
FarmStart: http://www.farmstart.ca
FoodShare: http://www.foodshare.net/donate01.htm
The Stop: http://www.thestop.org/donate
West End Food Coop: http://westendfood.coop/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=5

Teach others how to cook, grow, or eat healthily: Expose your loved-ones to these simple life pleasures. And of course, the best way to teach is to lead by example.

Focus on Kids: Connecting the children in our lives to a healthy food system will help them to choose a healthy lifestyle as they grow. Bring them with to your local farmers market or CSA. Involve them in cooking and gardening. Model for the kids in your life that food, and a healthy food system, is important to you.

There are countless ways to get involved in the food movement. Enrich your quality of life, and make a difference. How are YOU inspired to take action?

The Cutting Veg in the News:
Check out last weeks Globe & Mail article referencing The Cutting Veg's Garden Coaching service: http://bit.ly/kp9kW1

Farm and CSA Update:
We finally had a dry window of weather last week, enabling tillage at the farm in Brampton. We had a major plant-o-rama last week including 13 beds (100ft x 4ft) of Peas, 6 beds of Salad Greens, 4 Asian Greens, 2 Radishes, 2 Turnips, 4 Beets, 2 Chard, and 12 Onions. The rains of this weekend were perfect for us, as it gave a nice soaking to all the seeds we planted. Lets hope for fantastic germination for all the new crops! Meanwhile, the crops planted in mid-April in Sutton are doing very well. We're working furiously to keep up with the weeds, but it's looking like we'll have lots of salad, Asian greens, arugula, etc, for our early weeks at the Farmers Market and CSAs. It's certainly not too late to join our Community Supported Agriculture Program. We up to 180 members now, who have chosen to be part of a healthy food system while delighting in some of the freshest, localest, organicest produce around. More info at www.thecuttingveg.com/CSA.

Join FoodShare for Recipe for Change:
Join FoodShare for an unforgettable evening of fine food, wine and beer featuring 29 top Toronto chefs, 8 wineries, a brewery and a champion coffee barista. Recipe for Change is a Tasting Adventure unlike any other, and includes a lovely full meal and accompanying beverages, plus unprecedented opportunities to mingle with top chefs and local gastronomes. Tickets are $100 for a full meal and accompanying beverages. And best of all, Recipe for Change is a celebration of food with a purpose, supporting FoodShare's innovative and multi-faceted work toward Good Healthy Food for All and specifically the Field to Table Schools program, which returns Food Literacy to students from Junior Kindergarten through Grade 12. Visit http://foodshare.net/RFC2011/index.htm for full details, including the Menu, a full chef list and bios and to purchase tickets, which are selling quickly. Don't miss out! Marion Kane (former Food Editor of the Toronto Star, local food sleuth and broadcaster) calls Recipe for Change "the best fundraising feast I have attended", saying "chefs and guests all relished the fantastic food and uplifting spirit."

That's all the news from the farm for now. Until next time, Keep Livin' on the Veg!

Daniel

P.S. We will start welcoming volunteers to the farm in a couple weeks. Stay tuned to "Farm Talk" for updates. Also, a reminder that our CSAs start in 2 weeks. Take a risk and try something that's good for you, your family, and the planet: www.thecuttingveg.com/CSA
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Posted by Daniel Hoffmann at 5:10 AM