For those who have their own small garden plots, me included, the growing season is just getting started. But I want my fruits and veggies now, because I am spoiled and various other reasons that we don't have to get into. So lucky for me, I am signed up for a CSA (community supported Agriculture) at the University of Ottawa. I've already covered the uOttawa Farm Basket Program in another post but here is a brief summary just in case you missed it. A CSA is at its core a special contract with a farmer. Instead of paying for fruits and vegetables at the market, you pay for them before they are planted and they are delivered to you as they are ready. You share the risk with the farmer, but you also share the savings. This is the third year that the program will operate at uOttawa with the cooperation of Health Promotions and Food Services. The reason we got involved and brought the program on campus was pure convenience. We figured that if we make healthy food easier for ...

The community gardens are back... and just in time cause this snow is killing me. Sunday the community garden group got together for a garden work bee. Thanks to a compost delivery last Friday, there was plenty of work to do. A good part of the day was spent cleaning out old plots, trenching the existing plots, adding some compost, and finally.... gratuitous hi-fives. This marks the 8th consecutive year of community gardening on campus at the University of Ottawa with approximately 50 plots available to staff, students, and community members. Not bad considering the garden originally started out as a small group of 10 students sharing 4 plots. This year, like that last few years, the resources for the garden were provided by Physical Resources Service and the community organizing was provided by OPIRG . And like last year, the plots are open on a first come first serve basis and are free to all those who participate. I am really happy to see the gardens up and running thi...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo While preparing dinner this Sunday October the 16 th , take a minute to think about where that food came from. Were any of your ingredients local? Fair-trade? Did it come from your freezer, ready to be nuked in the microwave? This Sunday is World Food Day, a day to recognize the intricacies of our global food production system and more importantly- your place within it. It seems odd to contemplate where every last ingredient in your meal came from, how it was produced, who grew it, how long it was transported for, and what it cost you, but you should try it. Hell, try for even for half your meal’s worth of ingredients and you would be surprised. Thinking back to the last meal I prepared, vegetarian chilli, it seems impossible to recall off the top of my head where the ingredients were produced. I know that the tomatoes were from Canada, as were the beans…but where on earth was my fake beef, the spices, etc. made? The intentions of World Foo...