March 09

The Sunflower Cafe - Crescent Beach. *** Warning - food delicious and experience addictive ***

I like going to Aphrodite's Pies and Aphrodite's Cafe at W 4th and Dunbar. The ingredients are locally sourced and the results are delicious!

I just finished cooking a delicious meal of rice, steamed yam, and stir-fried tofu and gailan. Total cost of ingredients: under four dollars. This meal was much more sustainable for my budget, health and general sense of well-being and enjoyment of life than eating out at a restaurant (which I do far too often, I confess). The gap between the cost of my home-cooked dinner and eating the same meal at a restaurant is probably also a good measure of how 'dining out' fails in terms of global sustainability.

Food ingredients themselves are really incredibly cheap, in historic terms - even if we buy organic, local, small producer, small retailer. I bought many of the ingredients for tonight's meal at my local green grocer - I have no idea how he manages to find such great produce and sell it at prices competitive with Safeway across the street - but he does! I also can't understand why anyone buys their produce at the Safeway - it's often more expensive, almost always from the USA or further away, even when the local produce is in season. The supermarket produce is almost always not as fresh or of as good a quality, and it's amazingly lacking in variety.

Also, because my local green grocer is so close to home, I don't need to use a car to go shopping. When I do venture farther afield, I love to visit the farmers' markets around town, or the small producers in Richmond. Last time I stopped to buy some local apples, potatoes, and honey, I discovered that the farmer had been growing his fruits and vegetables pretty much organically since reading Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" in the mid 1950's. His farm, which used to be essentially rural, is now stuck behind a Tim Horton's in a mini-mall in Richmond - built on some of the best farmland in the world.

Every now and then I'm reminded of how fantastically lucky I've been to be living in this part of the world for the past 25 years. I hope that 25 years' hence, I'll still be able to shop at my green grocer's, and visit local farmers in Richmond.

Someone told me the other night at the Hundred Mile Dinner that Raincity Grill offers a hundred mile meal on their menu. Sounds worth checking out!

Of course, proximity to the food's source is only one of several important considerations - organic? ethical business practices? etc.

The best places for sustainable food of course starts in your own garden or balcony. Next out would be things grown in your local community garden. After that, things that are clearly local, purchased at a farmer's market or through other means from the farmer where possible.

After these, then organic and healthy food from responsible retailers such as Whole Foods, Capers, Choices, and others.

I have had excellent meals at various restaurants that feature local organic produce, meat and fish, such as Raincity Grill and the restaurant at the top of Grouse Mtn.

.... we can all produce food in our gardens.

There is a great little natural food store out in PoCo called Planet Organic. Fresh and local as much as possible is their credo..........and not as expensive as Capers or Whole Foods

I know this isn't fair to Vancouverites, but last weekend I wandered down to the beach on Vancouver Island, picked out four nice-looking oysters, talked them out of their shells, and, with apologies, sauteed them in crumbs for lunch. The point is that Vancouver once had a treasure trove of seafood at the doorstep - salmon year round, crabs, prawns, halibut the size of Smart cars - of which crumbs remain on local beaches, such as crabbing from the piers and setting beach nets for smelts. The old men's stories about how many fish, whales, and seabirds there were in the 1920's bears zero resemblance to depopulated Georgia Strait today. The US Marine Fisheries and Fisheries and Oceans Canada are now adding chinook and coho salmon to the "threatened and endangered species" list. So, just so you can tell your skeptical kids one day, you should saunter down to the wharves in Steveston, Ladner, Gibsons, and buy a whole spring salmon or a Dungeness crab fresh off the fishboats. Admire that scene and reflect on how much wealth the wild seafood industry could provide (again). If organic, oil-rich salmon growing in cold water 1000 miles from land  is not the best food on Earth and the Lower Mainland, I would sure like to know what is, and would be willing to trade a fresh oyster lunch (in season) to find out.

Healthy and organic food restaurants and grocery stores are popping up all over and major grocers are building up the number of organic and healty choices available so it's getting easier to find a favorite place you can walk or bike to. There are a number of organic food delivery services that will bring groceries to your home or office. Spring will bring the Farmer's Markets back to our communities giving us a greater abundance of locally grown produce and other food products.

Great listings for grocery sources on Farm Folks City Folks site in their "Knowledge Pantry" www.ffcf.bc.ca

For dining, check www.dinehere.ca - listings are sorted by neighbourhood, price point and type of cuisine (look at organic/healthy category)and you can add your favorites if they're not currently listed.