Wayne is now reviewing books about food policy, food security, the environment under a new category, Foodbooks for Thought. Simply enter Foodbooks as a search term below, and the latest posts will pop up!

Hidden away betwixt a currency exchange and variety store on the south side of Dundas Square — Toronto’s stab at a European-style piazza — is a hole in the wall that’s one of the few signs of a true public square to be seen at the intersection of Dundas and Babylon. A small chalkboard posts [...]

By sheer luck, our family stumbled on a little-known urban success story while looking for a place to crash in Quebec City that offered direct access to the throughway to northern Quebec, where our daughter was going to learn French. Right next to Quebec City’s famous central core, preserved as a walled monument of an [...]

Visiting Japan a few years ago changed the way I look at the difference between conventional and nuclear war. On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima became the target for the first atomic bomb dropped on civilian populations, a chilling example of the use of non-conventional weapons. That moment is now commemorated around the world every August. [...]

Canadian Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff released his proposed national food policy on April 26. Policy-wise, the dish makes for slim pickin’s, mostly overcooked, a bit stale, loaded with artificial sweeteners and flavors, low on basic nutrients. But that’s not the point. Ignatieff is Canada’s first major political leader to stake out ground for the next [...]

The best publisher’s freebie on the ’Net these days is the February special issue of Science devoted to Food Security. But, as with all things gratis, it rolls out a welcome mat to something else that should raise more questions than gratitude for the free pass. It’s an indicator of the potential of the emerging [...]

Wayne will be speaking about his essay in The Edible City at the Hart House Library and Literary Committee meeting on March 1 from 7 – 8:30 in the Hart House Debates room. More details found here!

A review of Raj Patel, The Value of Nothing: Why Everything Costs so Much More Than We Think (Harper Collins) I can barely contain my enthusiasm for Raj Patel’s book on the failings of market-driven societies, but at this stage of my and my younger daughter’s life, all I can think is: what a terrific [...]

The British government raised the bar on New Year’s Resolutions on January 4 when it released its 20 years worth of pledges in Food 2030. Eat more fruits and veg, lose weight, buy local, sustainable and fair trade, grow your own, stop wasting so much, make full use of people power… the list goes on. [...]