Start looking for local sources of animal protein (Change 94)

I watched a very interesting, and very disturbing, movie the other day.  For those of you who have seen Food, Inc. you'll understand why I'm now trying to find local sources of pork and poultry.  For those of you who haven't seen the movie, you should.  You will never look at food the same way again. 

This quote from the movie's website (http://www.foodincmovie.com/) says it all - "In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment......Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here."

This movie (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary), watched in companionship with reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, both by Michael Pollan, has really prompted me to think about where the food I buy really comes from.  DH and I enjoy growing our own vegetables - we've had fairly successful crops of lettuce, spinach, potatoes, and tomatoes before.  But winter means buying fruits and veggies at the store.  And of course, having a house in the suburbs does not allow us to grow our own meat.  And althought the film details American farming, I can't help but have a sneaking suspicion that the reality of Canadian farming isn't that far off.
I've been surfing the Internet in the last few days, trying to find local sources of grass-fed, preferable organic, animals, as well as starting to look at potential Community Support Agriculture shares.  I've narrowed the list down to a few possibilities.  In the New Year, after all the holiday craziness has died down, DH and I are going to take the kids on a road trip to check the farms out.  I hope this leads to another eco-change or two in January - buying food directly from a local farmer.

Buy only Canadian juice (Day 37)

I had another eco-revelation today.  I don't know why this revelation surprised me, because when I think about it, the environmental impact of orange juice is fairly large.  We certainly don't live in a climate that naturally produces oranges - the distance that oranges have to travel from Florida is considerable.  Then there is the environmental impact of the growing, harvesting, processing and delivering of the product to the store.

But it wasn't until a visit to Vanessa's blog, and an entry about OJ, that I really started thinking about it.  In her entry, she reviews a book called Squeezed, by Alissa Hamilton.  Ms Hamilton writes about OJ, its history and manufacture.  The biggest thing that caught my attention was this quote, "Of particular interest to OJ drinkers will be the revelation that most orange juice comes from Brazil, not Florida, and that even “not from concentrate” orange juice is heated, stripped of flavor, stored for up to a year, and then reflavored before it is packaged and sold."  Huh?

My OJ comes from Brazil?  The more I read this blog entry and its comments, the more concerned I became.  I then watched the interview with Ms Hamilton on CBC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qerc7a_dL_I&feature=player_embedded).  I immediately put the book on my request list at the library.

While I can't give up my morning juice (I drink a small glass to take my medications with), I think I will start looking at juices produced closer to home.  One of Vanessa's readers recommended home grown apple cider - I'm going to check out what's available the next time I'm at the store.

Preserving foods (Day 14)

I've been thinking about food today. I was trying to decide on a green change for today, and read Vanessa's list. "Preserving and canning food" stood out.

I was at the grocery store this evening, and noticed all the fresh Ontario produce that is available. 
 
DH and I have a vegetable garden.  Not a big one, but enough that we enjoy fresh lettuce, green beans, zucchini (!), and potatoes on a regular basis.  Summer and fall offer lots of fresh food.  But what about winter and early spring?  Our food typically comes from far away places like Mexico, South Africa and Chile.  Is this a really sustainable way to eat? 

For those who wish to discuss the merits of sustainable eating, Michael Pollan's books The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food are required reading.   I read IDOF last year and DH is currently reading TOD.  We've been discussing the whole food processing cycle, and wondering how to make our consumption more sustainable. 

DH comes from a family of farmers, so it was only natural that we planted a small garden in our yard.  I've always tried to eat locally in season, especially peach, pear and berry season!   I usually buy Ontario produce, and gorge myself sick on corn when the local stands open up. 

But then winter rolls around, and local produce becomes almost non-existent.   I always make jam from in-season (and preferably local) strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and peaches, but that's usually as far as local goes in winter.

So this year, I decided a reasonable next step would be to preserve some of the produce from our garden.  I chopped rhubarb and froze it, and canned beets for the first time.

But it didn't occur to me to preserve other fresh produce for the winter months until I saw the peaches at the grocery store.    They looked and smelled wonderful.  And they were cheap.   I was only going to buy one container of them, until today's lunch flashed through my mind.  The kids ate canned peaches at lunch, and we went through a whole can in one sitting.   As I stared at the peaches, I thought, I could can those.  Not only would it be cheaper (I'm sure I'll get at least three jars per 4L basket of peaches - at the cost of one of the cans of store-bought), but it will be with fresh summer-sweet fruit.

If I have any success, I'll expand to pears and applesauce.  Maybe even freeze some local corn, too.