Credit 96dpi via Flickr

Like most Canadians over the years I’ve been told of our abundant freshwater resources, and how we are one of the richest countries when it comes to fresh water resources. Numerous reports have been publishes that put our global fresh water share at varying amounts; 25%, 20% and so on. Either way many people would agree, we have an abundance of fresh water. Or do we?

Upon closer examination it becomes clear that only a fraction of the fresh water we currently have is renewable. Again there are varying stats but I’ve read numbers such as only 7%, 9% etc of our national fresh water supply is renewable. That means most of our fresh water is tied into non renewable resources such as glaciers, icebergs and other resources that are in retreat. Withe the onset of global warming it only speeds up the diminishing nature of these non renewable resources.

Many climate and water experts now believe that water scarcity in many countries will reach a global crisis in the latter part of this century, wich raises the possbility of conflict in certain parts of the world.

The myth of abundant, never ending fresh water seems so tied to our public psyche here in Canada that most of us take it for granted. Perhaps that’s why Canadians are amongst the top consumers of fresh water per capita in the world. In fact Canadians use more than twice the water people in Europe use.

But it doesn’t have to be this way, with simple steps we can reduce our consumption. GoBlue.org is a site created by Unilever canada, it discusses the issues above in detail and gives tips on how you can reduce your water consumption in your home.

Visit GoBlue.org
More stats on Canadian water use in Canada

King Corn

In King Corn Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis are two Ivy league grads who after analyzing their hair samples discover that the carbon in their body is mostly made up of corn. They also discover that they are the first generation to potentially have a shorter life expectancy than the previous generation. Both of these issues are directly related to our diet and what we eat.

Determined to find out how corn has become such a staple of the American diet they move out to Iowa to grow an acre of corn. After convincing a farmer to lend them an acre of land they set out planting a crop. Little did they know planting and growing the crop would be the easy part, once their acre of corn ended up in the commercial grain system it was easier said than done tracking it’s progress as it was processed into other products.

Wanting to find out exactly what happens to all this corn lead them to examine the underbelly of American corn production. They begin by explaining why America in particular produces so much corn, how it’s subsidized and how the corn differs from the corn we eat at the dinner table.

They also discover how corn has seeped into every corner of the food supply, from artificial sweetners, to hamburgers, all of it corn. The fact that just about everything we eat is corn based has drastically altered our health, and not necessarily for the better.

Watch the trailer here

SF Landfill Entrance

The city of San Francisco is one of the greenest cities in the US. (More on this coming in future posts.) So it’s not surprising to find that its landfill doesn’t fit the standard stereotype.  They are very careful to sort all incoming waste so that everything which can be recycled is, in addition, they also have strict policies on handling items such as electronics and chemicals.

If it stopped there you might think it wasn’t that impressive, however they have incorporated interpretive centers for visitors, green spaces and even artists in residence into their landfill. Have a look at Treehuggers’ photo gallery for details. It will make you think twice about what a landfill should be, and what role a landfill can play in helping to slow the environmental impact caused by our throw away society.

Visit the gallery on Treehugger.com

Mark Bittman

New York Times food columnist and author Mark Bittman is interviewed in this NPR radio show. In it he discusses his move to a healthier diet and how it impacts not only his health but also the planet.

Mark Bittman found himself at a cross roads, his health was suffering from extra weight and after consulting with his doctor he was told to shift to a more vegetable based diet. At the same time he also became more aware that our meat and process food centric diet was not only unhealthy but that we needed to change our views of food. After reading the UN report “Livestock’s Long Shadow” Mark discovered that 18% of all greenhouse gases are produced by industrial livestock production, therefore almost a fifth of all greenhouse gases are produced by eating meat, Second only to energy production.

With this knowledge he made positive changes that not only helped him loose weight and become healthier but also help reduce his carbon footprint.

Listen to the interview here
Amazon page for Mark’s Cookbook: Food Matters a Guide to Conscious Eating

Credit: Daniel Morrison via Flickr

The Assiniboine Park Conservatory will be holding their “Seedy Saturday” event coming up on March 7th. The event is free to attend, there will be workshops, a speaker series, tool swap and more. A friend who attended last year was able to take part in their seed exchange. Here’s a direct quote on how it works:

You just have to bring couple packets of seeds and drop them on a communal table.  This gives you the right to pick up packets of seeds that others have brought, many of which are quite interesting and new.

Might be a good way to get some rare or hard to find vegetables for your garden! Below is the press release from the Friends of the Assiniboine Park Conservatory:

The majority of Winnipeg residents may not consider March the beginning of
gardening season, but the Assiniboine Park Conservatory is working to change
that through their Seedy Saturday event.  This year the Assiniboine Park
Conservatory is hosting their annual Seedy Saturday on March 7 from 10-3.  Free to the public, this event includes a speaker series, a seed and tool swap,
hands-on workshops and over 15 vendors representing various garden and food based organizations.  Gardeners will not be the only ones interested in this event, assures Bonnie Tulloch from the Assiniboine Park Conservatory, “We try and include all aspects of gardening, incorporating everything from birdwatching to local food.  People can come here for more than just seeds; they can get locally made soaps, dried herbs, teas, honey, botanically inspired clothing, as well as information and resources on various sustainability
issues.”

Seedy Saturdays have been popping up all over the country since the late
1980’s. The Assiniboine Park Conservatory started participating in the Seedy
Saturday movement back in 2001.  Many of the early Seedy Saturdays were
designed to create a space where seed savers could exchange heritage seeds with one another at no cost.  The purpose was to encourage more people to grow and save heritage seed varieties, so as to prevent them from going extinct.  Today, Seedy Saturdays often include a wider agenda that includes related sustainability issues.

The organizers of this year’s Seedy Saturday recommend getting there early if
you are planning on swapping seeds because gardeners are always eager to access new and exciting varieties.   The speaker series begins at 11 am with certified Horticultural Therapist Millie Richard, who will share her experience in this new and exciting field.  Julie Fine from Growing up Organics will discuss how her organization is increasing children’s access to organic food at 12 pm. At 1 pm David Hanson from Sage Garden Herbs and Karen Pearce from Assiniboine Park Conservatory will present on designing small scale ornamental and edible gardens.   The day will end with a hands-on seed starting workshop with the education staff at Assiniboine Park Conservatory.

www.friendsconservatory.com

My bread

Eating something you’ve made yourself just tastes better somehow, maybe it’s the satisfaction knowing that you created the food that’s on your plate. Whatever motivates you, be it eating local, eating organic or just because you like to make your own food; one thing is certain, fresh food you’ve either grown or prepared yourself is much better than anything you could purchase.

Recently I can across a recipe online to make bread, specifically it was called No Knead Bread. Now when I was a kid my dad made bread, it was a long arduous activity of kneading, putting it in a warm spot to rise, kneading again and so on and so forth. But this recipe is different, no kneading is involved so much of the hard work is removed. In fact preparing a loaf or bread took less than an hour of combined work, all you need is a little patience.

Released by a baker name Jim Lahey, in the New York Times the recipe took off with online baking groups. It became so popular you can now find variations of the recipe all over the internet. I’ve tried it myself a few times and I can attest it’s very simple. There are two key items, firs is time, you need to allow the dough to rise for about 18 hours. This eliminates the need for kneading. Second is to cook the bread inside a large (6 quart) casserole dish or pot with the cover on. Professional bakers have ovens that shoot steam at the bread while baking it, that’s what keeps the crust nice and thin. By baking a wet dough inside a pot you keep that high moisture content necessary for a light crackling crust.

The photo above is my first attempt at making the bread. I think I almost at the loaf in one sitting.

Here is the recipe and accompanying video, if you want to try other versions just search google for “no knead bread” and add the ingredient of your choice such as “100% whole wheat no knead bread”.

Happy eating!

Video talking about the process
Original recipe from the NYT

Farewell My Subaru

Farewell my Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living, is a book that gives the reader the sense that change is possible, no matter the obstacle. And the reader could not have picked a better guide for this journey. Doug Fine is the kind of person that naturally finds the positive in the most difficult circumstances. You can feel his enthusiasm for his low impact lifestyle jump off the page. This energy empowers the reader, after a while you start thinking that installing a solar panel is something you could do too.

It’s a green living tale for those of us that aren’t Al Gore. Doug Fine strikes the reader as down to earth as they come, in his own words:

I started in Long Island, New York, growing up on concrete and Domino’s pizza. I didn’t see a real tomato probably until I was 18. I thought supermarket orange baseballs were what tomatoes were. I didn’t understand why anyone would eat solid pieces of wax. But I always wanted to camp out in the backyard, and knew that there was such a thing as an ecosystem.

Here’s the publisher’s summary:

In Farewell, My Subaru, Doug Fine vows to grow as much of his own food as he can, use only the sun to power his ‘Net surfing and sub-woofer, and consume little to no fossil fuel for an entire year — never mind that he’d never raised so much as a chicken or a bean. Or that he had no mechanical or electrician skills. Or that coyotes and mountain lions would like to treat his Funky Butte Ranch like a buffet line.

Beginning with a near-Biblical flood that makes Doug’s ranch in New Mexico resemble Noah’s Arc, and ending with a hilarious farewell to his beloved Subaru, Fine struggles at every turn with the contradictions and challenges of going green as his shopping list changes overnight from things like, “wasabi” and “pineapple juice” to “shotgun shells” and “goat syringes” (for the mischievous Pans he found on Craigslist).

Including practical resources for regular Americans who want to live greener and funny sidebars with facts you never imagined about the clean, local life, Farewell, My Surbaru is both a hilarious romp and an inspiring call to action; it’s a book for the reluctant environmentalist, the armchair traveler, and anyone who has ever wondered: do I really need that four dollar frappuccino from Kenya?

Farewell My Subaru is available Amazon, or if you prefer to lower your cabon footprint order from Eco-Libris, a portion of the book sale goes towards planting new trees.

Official webpage page for the book
Video promoting the book (Doug is great in this)
Eco-Libris link for purchase
Treehugger.com interviews Doug Fine

Credit: Simon Sherk via Flickr

Here is a four part BBC documentary that examines in great detail the food distribution system of the western world.  From growing the food, to harvesting and ultimately distribution. The series also examines our dependence on fossil fuels in relation to the food we eat, and how without these fuels our food supply would no longer be sustainable.

With the exception of the last 60 years, no other time in human history has the person consuming the food been so completely separated from the food source. Ask yourself, if the supermarket suddenly disappeared, how would you feed yourself?

(Note: while this may be a BBC production the same issues exist here. When you buy a fruit in winter check the sticker, often it will be shipped from another country such as Chile etc.. )

Click to view part 1
Click to view part 2
Click to view part 3
Click to view part 4