This article is a first person account of a Torontonian that made the leap to attempt a very unique project. As the article points out, Canadians are among the highest energy users in the world. There are so many modern conveniences that we take for granted regardless of their ecological cost or how they disconnect us from natures' cycles. This article decided that the fridge is one such convenience. Upon unplugging her fridge, the author decided to learn about how communities used to deal with food. She tells a story of how her father's community built a barn insulated with sawdust and used huge chunks of ice cut from a river in the winter that they stored in the barn keeping it cool throughout the summer months. This barn was used to maintain a community grocery store year round with no power other than human power and horses. She uses examples of how little of our food actually needs refrigeration. Most vegetables keep quite well at room temperature for at least a week. Gardens allow you to take food or herbs when you need to. Of course, those of us that have lived our entire lives with this modern convenience forget that food never knew the inside of a fridge till 50 years ago (Refrigeration was invented in the late 19th Century, but it was not until the 1950's that it was common). In the winter it is rather easy to keep things cool, but in the summer you have to be more creative. This person used a basement cellar, which is common in any older house. Other techniques involved just bowls of water. While, I do not expect people will be unplugging their fridge anytime soon this was an interesting article and reminds us of how we take for granted so many conveniences in our day to day life.
full life cycle assessment
The rise of local farmer’s markets in Toronto: Parkdale-High Park
Eating foods that are in season and buying local foods are suddenly back in fashion. Witness the slow food movement, and the 100-mile (or km) diet. BUT, there have always been farmer's markets in Toronto, and Foodland Ontario has been around ever since I can remember, urging me to eat more squash in the Fall. This "rediscovery" of local foods and farmers isn't just happening in Ontario. In the UK, Gordon Ramsay's brilliant F-Word tv show is urging Brits to remember their forgotten local foods, as well as trying to get the younger generation, who have apparently forgotten how to boil an egg, back into the kitchen. Check out Gordon on CBC's The Hour below.
Doing the homework around local foods, and sustainable shopping, and fair-trade coffee can be very tiring. These tomatoes in my local supermarket looked identical, but one batch came from Mexico and one from Canada (talk about needing to read the fine print). SO, I was thrilled to hear that I can access reliably sourced local and organic foods much more easily now that Sorauren Farmer's Market will be in walking distance from my house. The Westend Food Co-op which runs the market has posted clear statements on its vision, mission, and values.
This goal of transparency at the Westend Food Co-op is fantastic, because when it comes to ecological footprints, the intuitive idea that ALL local foods must have lower footprints for energy production, is NOT always true. A Swedish colleague once told me about a full life cycle assessment comparing local produce with that coming from Spain, which found that the ecological footprint of the Spanish fruit and veggies, was actually lower than the Swedish produce! In sustainability, full life cycle assessment or cradle-to-grave analysis looks at the total amount of energy and resources that it takes to produce some object, including food. It embodies the concepts inherent in full-cost economic accounting.
Dawn Bazely
