A perfect balance

Last week we were in Saint John. Of course we stopped at the market to buy yummies. Kevin noticed new potatoes so thought he would pick up a few to go with our fish. Just on the safe side....he asked where they were from...and..they were from Florida.

In this perfect world of Yin and Yang.....I assume somewhere in Florida there is a person standing in front of a stall of Canadian potatoes saying "@%@$#&!@...where are all the US potatoes"

Spring Thaw

In the past, I never really noticed when local spring produce starts to appear. This year, it was May 24. Rhubarb and Fiddleheads. Though I have been eating frozen rhubarb all winter….it was nice to see fresh.

It just smells better.

Every week, for the past 5 months, I have made a batch of either stewed rhubarb (using frozen) and/or applesauce. I make enough to last the week. There is nothing like a bowl of warm stewed rhubarb and applesauce, topped with yogurt. It is one of my favorite things to eat. Total ambrosia.

Having such a sweet tooth…I thought I would miss my cakes, ice cream, cookies etc. Or at least the non-Canadian ingredients. But I haven’t. I have actually cut down on my chocolate. My sweet cravings are very satisfied with my stewed fruit and yogurt.

So..what did I do with the fresh rhubarb? Well, I stewed it of course, and made a rhubarb cake. Did I notice a difference? Yes….besides the smell…it did have a tad more flavor.

Stewing fruit is so easy with a slow cooker. You just throw in the diced fruit, add a small amount of organic sugar, a dash of spice and turn the cooker on high. About 2 – 3 hours later….it is done.

With local fresh produce starting to appear on the shelves, it makes me realize how easy this lifestyle choice has been….except for fish. That one still bites.

Harpers Bizarre

I certainly enjoyed the CBC report on the Prime Ministers announcement to change the way food is labeled in Canada. (Especially “Made in Canada” and “Products of Canada”). This is great news. It also reinforces others are questioning the labeling process.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/05/21/food-label.html

I try to use my brain when I am choosing food……and .. I admit I make mistakes. But really……are there people out there buying orange juice and thinking it is a product of Canada?

I have not had any oranges since 2007. Nor bananas, pineapple, kiwi. I haven’t bought peanuts, rice, olives, raisins, coconut, …there are lots of things I have not been purchasing. I sort of figured out Canada does not produce these items…even if the packaging says differently.

I have been purchasing apples, strawberries and blueberries from Nova Scotia, cranberries from Atlantic Canada (?) and rhubarb from British Columbia.

Except for an occasional error on my part….I feel the majority of the items I purchase are Canadian. I check most websites and email companies for answers if I still have questions. The majority of the companies respond (usually with the answer I was hoping for).

That is not to say that we do not need improvement….we do..big time. I am very pleased Harper is planning to have the new labeling process in place by the end of the year. Until then, I will read labels, check ingredients,and ignore the unknown or obvious.

Carrots in perspective…

Well….I did drive down to Maugerville. I did not find any Canadian carrots. I did not find any carrots. The store was closed. I knew those roads were closed during the flood…..just because the water had receded…did I really think everything had returned to normal? On the drive down we commented that the water was still quite high. It wasn’t until we reached the store that we realized how little we were affected during the flood….but how others were affected. The store was closed….the doors were opened…. everything was outside drying out. (Freezers, shelves, storage units). We just stood there in silence. Almost in disbelief.

On the return drive….we then noticed all the garbage on the side of the roads. All the damaged items from the flood…well, at least the moveable ones. It is about a 15 minute drive….and we saw garbage piled up for most of the ride. It will take a long while for homes to return to normal for the people living in this area.

It was a very quiet drive home.

Canadian Carrots

I have checked every grocery store in Fredericton …and could not find one Canadian carrot. I missed the local famers market this past Saturday morning so now I will have to drive to Maugerville.

Hopefully the flood hasn’t affected their produce…and hoping they have Canadian carrots.

Living the Canadian Dream?

Last night while waiting at the check-out, I caught up on the latest Angelina news, plus noticed the cover of the Canadian Living Magazine…….Market Fresh… “185+ recipes celebrating local food from across Canada”. It was a tough choice…but I chose the Canadian Living Magazine. Once home, I sat down and started flipping the pages.

On the second page, there is a very nice editorial about buying local…..visiting your local farmers markets. Telling us, if we buy local…we use less fossil fuel. “We should eat local and eat Canadian”.

I was expecting great recipes using local and/or Canadian ingredients. Canadian Living magazine is always known for their great recipes… (any that I have tried…and there have been many...always turn out yummy).

I was amazed at the foods that are now growing (produced) in Canada. New Brunswick is definitely the weakest link. There seems to be many tasty items in other regions.

I certainly do not feel like I have been missing out on anything…nor have I had cravings where I thought I should end this lifestyle choice. On the contrary…I am very happy with my food choices. However, …it is nice to know the choices from other regions of Canada.

In flipping the pages and scanning the recipes…here is a list of foods I never knew were Canadian;

Figs, cashews, walnuts, almonds, peanuts, lemons, limes, anchovy fillets, raisins, olives, capers, long grain rice, arborio rice, soba noodles, miso paste, pineapple, chocolate, bananas.

I haven’t checked banana labels…just assumed they were imported…but now....I will be checking those little blue stickers. Maybe Chiquita is somewhere close to Chilliwack.

Why would we buy foods from other countries? We have it all right here.

Purchasing a prepared and packaged product

What’s on your labels?

A few simple definitions taken from the Concise Oxford Dictionary:


Manufactured - making of articles by labor or with machines on a large scale

Prepared - make ready for

Packaged – put together in a pack

Made – prepare, construct, accomplish

Product - things produced by a natural process


Except for a few errors, everything I purchase this year is labeled a product of Canada. The other labels….well…they just don’t cut it.

When I starting checking labels a few years ago, I only checked that the item had Canada on the package. It seemed enough. However, now, even if it says Product of Canada, we can’t be sure how much of the product is Canadian.

A few months ago (maybe more) I was watching an episode of Marketplace and Wendy was checking the No Name Vanilla Ice Cream which was labeled a product of Canada. I am not sure of all the details or the Canadian mumbo jumbo guidelines of food…..but the final result? Not all the contents of the ice cream were Canadian. Do all products of Canada follow the same guidelines? I don’t know, maybe Wendy does.

What I do know, is that it is time for the Canadian guidelines to change.

Until then,....this is the best I can do.