Slow Foods Vancouver Cycles the Fraser Valley

Posted on August 9, 2010 by bigsnit

Here’s the info on Slow Foods Vancouver’s cycle tour of the Fraser Valley. Friends of our rave about this bike tour, the whole family goes and it’s one of the highlights of their summer.

Slow Food Vancouver is happy to invite you to join us in Agassiz on Saturday, August 21st, and in Chilliwack on Sunday, August 22nd, for two leisurely, self-guided Slow Food Vancouver Cycle Tours.

These tours provide an educational and culinary experience exploring many farms, some that are open to the public on these days only. Meet the farmers and learn about sustainable farming, your food and how it’s grown.

Net proceeds from the cycle tours support our delegates attending Terra Madre 2010, an event that teaches best farming practices and supports small-scale sustainable farming.

Global issues such as climate change make supporting our local food producers essential. This is an event that is suitable for families of all ages. Come for one tour, or spend the night and do both.

Register online at www.slowfoodvancouver.com or for questions please email cycletours@slowfoodvancouver.com. We look forward to having you join us!

Holiday Trash

Posted on December 17, 2009 by bigsnit

It’s true.

We generate a huge amount of trash during the holidays, all in the name of giving.

Metro Vancouver is encouraging us to cut down on our holiday trash.

Here are some suggestions:

Give great gifts, but don’t buy garbage. When trying to decide between two gifts, choose the one with the least amount of packaging.
Give the gift of time. Offer your services or expertise as a present. Make dinner, knit a sweater or plan a special day out.
Give an experience. Dinner, tickets to the movies or a hockey game, or passes to the local skating rink.
Give a gift that lasts. Pass on a family heirloom or start your own tradition.
Give a group gift. Pool resources with a few people to give a high quality gift.
Give a gift wrapped in newspaper. Reuse a ribbon to fancy it up.
Give your garbage can a break! Visit www.metrovancouverrecycles.org for a comprehensive list of things that can be donated, reused or recycle.

If you’ve got some holiday waste tips, you can share them with others on the Metro Vancouver website. Here are some waste tips already submitted.

Here’s the video they did to get the point across:

Will That Be Cash or Trust ?

Posted on August 4, 2009 by bigsnit

Spring Gillard and David Tracey have released the latest in their series of podcasts, Can Urban Agriculture Save the World?

A bit of serendipity was involved with this one.

While on their way to interview Cam MacDonald in Mt. Pleasant, they passed a small corner store. Taking a peak inside they discovered a very unusual city corner store – packed with local products and oozing country charm.

It’s called the Home Grow-in Grocer, and it’s a place where trust trumps the credit card…

Runs 10:28

Podcast ISBN: 978-1-926758-01-5

photos and podcast © Robert Ouimet & Bigsnit Media 2009

The Home Grow-In Grocer is at 196 West 18th in Vancouver.
The owner Colleen refers to in the interview is Deb Reynolds.

Just Missing the Goat

Posted on August 3, 2009 by bigsnit

I’ve become quite addicted to my daily salad.

For one thing, it doesn’t get any fresher than this.

I walk out the kitchen door into the side yard.

2 steps away is what I call the Salad Bar – a series of small cedar garden boxes (there are more greens in the garden out back, but these are closest). It’s packed with a nifty salad mix that’s been feeding us since May.

2 more steps in the other direction is a medium sized pot at the end of the driveway with lovely little Tumbler variety cherry tomatoes. (EB thinks this variety isn’t quite as flavourful as some – they definitely aren’t the flavour explosion you get with some cherry tomatoes, but they are still pretty darned tasty. And prodigious.)

I’ll sometimes throw in a couple of snow peas, they’re 5 steps in the other direction.

Next, a quick wash up and spin dry in the salad spinner.

I sprinkle on a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar, then a bit of olive oil, and crumble with some zingy paillot de chevre (goat cheese) and a bit of fresh ground pepper.

It’s all organic and aside from the cheese (oh, and the oil/vinegar/pepper), travels just a few metres from plot to plate.

Now if the District of North Vancouver would just let me raise a goat or two in my yard…

Today’s tomato harvest from the Pot At The End of the Driveway

Urban Agriculture podcast

Posted on June 27, 2009 by bigsnit

I’ve started producing a series of podcasts about Urban Agriculture, hosted by Spring Gillard and David Tracey.

The series is for Spring’s new website, CompostDiaries.com, and will also be available here on VanGoGreen.

We recorded the first in the series on Tuesday at the YWCA downtown’s roof garden. It’s an interesting project, and all the food grown in the garden is taken to a women’s group on the downtown east side. You can read more about the rooftop garden / food project on the Y’s website.

Ted Cathcart runs the project, and he was kind enough to spend an hour with us explaining the project and discussing the challenges.

The podcast runs just over 18 minutes.

podcast and photo © Bigsnit Media Consulting Inc.
podcast ISBN 978-0-9809054-9-6

Compost Has Never Been So Fun

Posted on June 18, 2009 by bigsnit

Author Spring Gillard has launched her new website with a funny article called Compost At Sea .

… just the other day a friend called to find out what she should do with her compost while at sea with her husband. A few days into the trip, she might also be asking what to do with her husband while at sea with her compost. Coincidentally, the two situations could be resolved in much the same way

It’s great to see her bringing her wit and wisdom to the internet.

She’s well known in British Columbia for her work with City Farmer and her book Diary of a Compost Hotline Operator, Edible Essays on City Farming.

She told me she’ll soon be selling the book online from the website, so check back soon – it’s entertaining and informative.

(cross posted on the bigsnit blog)

If This Is Earth Day, I Must Be…

Posted on April 21, 2009 by bigsnit

Raising my Otter Bottle in a toast to celebrate the day
Taking transit for my lunch meeting downtown even though, to be honest, I’d rather drive.
Later, I’m going for a short sail on Madsu, because Earth Day includes the water too, and sailing is kind.

Here’s a list of things you can do – any day – to be kind to the Earth. It is, after all, a small and fragile place.

Sustainability Is Fun

Posted on March 26, 2009 by bigsnit

One of the criticism of causes like sustainability and environmentalism is that it’s too preachy and serious.

No Fun.

The gang at YERT prove otherwise.

YERT stands for Your Environmental Road Trip, and while it may seem counter-intuitive, they’ve been driving (yes, a car) all over the USA to try to raise awareness about sustainability. The car, by the way, was a hybrid.

They’ve hit all 50 states and have been making videos along the way.

Their web site is fun and refreshingly un-serious. Mark Dixon from YERT emailed to ask if we’d mention their YouTube video Earth Hour: Feel DePower, regarding EarthDay coming this Saturday 28 March at 8:30.

The video is also a good invite for you to get involved with Earth Hour.

It’s easy.

And it’s fun.

More information about Earth Hour :
(EarthHourCanada.org seems to be having trouble with its web site, so check these alternate links)

Take an Hour for the Earth

Posted on March 26, 2009 by bigsnit

This weekend, on Saturday, why not give 60 minutes to the earth, and help be part of a global celebration of the planet.

Earth Hour’s goal is to get all of us to turn off our lights at 8:30 on Sunday night, and …

raise awareness about climate change and demonstrate that people are ready to take personal action and that in turn, people expect more engagement on behalf of the government

More information about Earth Hour :

EarthHourCanada.org
website seems to be having some problems, so you can check these alternate links
EarthHour.org
on Facebook
on Twitter

Nov 20 | WE Sustainable Sushi Challenge: Sushi Bento Express

Posted on November 4, 2008 by aron

It’s certainly a better habit than McDonalds, but the vast majority of your neighborhood’s sushi restaurants need a sustainable overhaul. Styrofoam take out containers, endangered seafood (look no further than the giant prawns in your dynamite roll), and that is just what you see in the front of the house.

Continue reading →

VanGoGreen

Live.Greener

Category Archives: feature