Imitation is the highest form of flattery, and the intricate form of food production practiced by peasants through much of Asia and South America still express that flattery in relation to Nature. In the Global North, all food production except hunting and gathering is commonly referred to as agriculture. But in the Global South, the peasant and Indigenous styles of…
Category: Local Food
The Stress of Food Bank Food
I was fully prepared for several days of poor eats when I took part in the Stop Community Food Centre’s Do the Math media stunt earlier this April, when ten well-known Torontonians signed on to stretch a three day ration of food bank grub for as long as possible. But I was shocked by how quickly and completely this poverty…
First Lady Obama Will Have Weightier Impact on Health Debates than Hubby
President Barack Obama’s efforts at reforming the U.S. approach to medical care won’t win many imitators in other countries. Indeed, he’s likely to be upstaged in global health debates by First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity. Lady Obama launched a Let’s Move anti-obesity campaign on February 9, and is already catching up with the UK’s naked chef, Jamie…
Video: Food Policy and the New Urban Vision
Here is a video of Wayne speaking about food policy at the Toledo Public Library, from September 28, 2009. Thanks to the WGTE-TV (PBS) and Knowledge Stream for making it possible.
Let me be the first to say it: I think it might be okay for you to eat that mango?
I’m out on this limb because, when it comes to making green food choices, the beginning of wisdom is knowing how complex the whole matter has become. While the 100-mile diet makes for a dramatic storyline and expresses the green aspirations of today’s shoppers, it doesn’t necessarily say a great deal about sustainable or equitable food. Most people see me…
LOCAL FARMERS HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT THEIR CHAINS
A crack lets the light in, the song goes, and a first crack has just appeared in the corporate walls of Canada’s top food retailers. Sobeys — a chain that flies the banner “the Hometown Advantage,” and which ten years ago took over a chain that called itself “Hometown Proud”– now confronts nine formerly locked-in franchisees from farm country in…
Fusion Power
From Wayne’s archives. Fall 2008. I’m hanging out in the crowded back yard of a community recreation centre in Toronto’s west end on a warm and sunny fall day, listening to the reggae/funk/country sounds of a local band called Nine Mile, getting ready to cheer on two cooking teams in an Iron Chef competition featuring surprise ingredients from around the…