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This Photo Friday’s shots: from the Chefs Table Society who provided delicious local food at the Michael Pollan event at UBC Farm. Fitting for the season we’re in, and with what’s on the horizon for me.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Cheers,
Jackie
In May I wrote about the food event Defending Our Backyard, put on by the Island Chefs Collaborative at Fort Rodd Hill, and I wanted to share just a few shots from the event.
There was great food, amazing initiatives and groups, and of course very tasty local beer and wine (yes, my mother and I tracked down a glass to share and sampled a bit at the tail end of the event, once my work was done).
Enjoy!
Wheat from Makaria Farm in the Cowichan Valley
The folks from Ragley Organic Farm
It’s that time of year again; early bird tickets to the Lowe Mainland Feast of Fields are now on sale online here. Get ‘em while they’re hot!
Feast of Fields is the major annual fundraiser for Farm Folk/City Folk, a local Vancouver non-profit society that works with farm & city to cultivate a local, sustainable food system. They develop and operate projects that provide access to & protection of foodlands; that support local, small scale growers and producers; and that educate, communicate and celebrate with local food communities.
Now, more than ever, food security and local food efforts are rapidly growing in importance, and this is a great event held at UBC Farm to enjoy some great local food, wine and beer and relax on the farm.
I’ll be photographing the event for the 3rd year in a row, and my advice to you would be to forget your childhood rules of eating dinner before dessert, and head straight for the gelato to beat the massive line up!
See you there!
As a food photographer who shares in the belief of the importance of local food and supporting our farmers that grow it, there are few things more totally awesome than being welcome to shoot a few food and local farming people enjoy a fabulous lunch in a farmers garden of all places.
This is what I had the opportunity to photograph, prior to Michael Pollan’s talk and book signing on his latest book, In Defense of Food. Having written about his books in previous blog posts, and since then seeing his name pop up in documentaries and casual conversations with friends, it’s clear that people identify with what he’s saying. To quote Michael and the premise behind In Defense of Food:
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
The day was beautiful, the food was delicious and nutritious, and the company was inspiring. Thank you Barbara Jo and Carol for welcoming me and for organizing the event; and to Mark & Samara for hosting everyone at UBC Farm, and to Vikram & Meeru Vij for filling our stomachs with such tasty Indian cuisine (and for that chick pea & mung bean recipe that I have yet to perfect, but will continue to try!). And thank you of course to Michael Pollan for being part of this movement towards more local, more nutritious, food.
Mid week last week (yes, I will admit my blog postings are not quite keeping up with my real life occurrences) was a solid day of participating in the local food scene, and further opening my eyes to even more of the issues that face our food security, our health, and our agriculture. It was truly inspiring in every sense of the word.
First, a fellow food blogger and I visited the season opener of the Main Street Farmers Market. A seriously central location (Main and Terminal, in front of the Greyhound station), and certainly no lack of vendors with local produce and crafts; I was impressed. We both intended to simply check it out, but that all ended as soon as we saw cake; fluffy, delicious cake. We ate cake, bought produce and Mammoth Sunflower plants, and had to drop everything off at our respective houses before heading to the next spot. Oh, and we went reusable bag-less. Dumb. Thank you Vancity for helping us out with this, made carrying all that produce home much easier.
Next we stopped in at Chill Winston for a quick bite of Ahi Tuna Salad, Ginger Tofu Rice bowl, and a glass of Joie Noble Blend. Yum! We had hoped for a seat on the patio, but apparently on a sunny mid-week at 5.30pm everyone else had the same idea.
The final stop of the evening was at the UBC Robson Square Campus to see a film screening of the documentary FRESH. Literally straight out of Michael Pollan’s talk about his book In Defense of Food this past weekend at UBC Farm (photos from that coming tomorrow), we heard from Pollan along with others including farmers/promoters of local, non-antibiotic/hormone/pesticide farming Will Allen, Joel Salatin, George Naylor and Diana Endicott in this documentary by ana Sofia joanes. Sending a message about our food system, it’s production methods it’s premise drove home the important that we have to, and can make a difference by, voting with our forks for local food and the farmers who grow it. A great line from the film that has stuck with me since seeing it is “Food is at the foundation, but it’s really about life.” Well said Mr. Allen.
The market season is kicking off at UBC Farm this Saturday June 13th, and I’m not just talking about produce for sale, though I’m looking forward to picking up some locally grown strawberries! There will be lots of entertainment and activities to do, a pancake breakfast, and it’s also the official launch of the Vancouver 100-Mile diet Foodshed Map.
UBC Farm Produce this weekend will include arugula, lettuce heads, eggs (these always go fast), garlic scapes, herbs, rhubarb, radishes, ruby streaks, salad mix and strawberries.
Here’s is the schedule of events for the day:
• UBC Farm Saturday Market 9:00am to 1:00pm
• 100-Mile Pancake Breakfast 9:00am to 11:00am (or until they run out, get’em early!) with Chef Ian Lai
• Speakers: Mark Bomford and Kelly Kuryk 9:30am to 9:45am
• UBC Farm Tours 10:00am – 10:30am
• Beehive Tours 11:00am – 12:00pm
• Music – Upbeat acoustic roots: Betz 9:00-11:00; Old-time string band: Shout! White Dragon 11:00am-1:00pm
• Ongoing Tool sharpening with Henk Suys from Lee Valley ($5/tool), bike maintenance provided by the UBC Bike Co-op (by donation), children’s activities.
And if you haven’t taken a wander past the market, past the greenhouse, and the next greenhouse, and hang a left through the clay archway you’ll find the Children’s Garden. It’s pretty awesome to see what they’ve plated over there, and there’s a picnic table to sit and enjoy a picnic lunch with the garden as your backdrop. Beautiful!
UBC Farm address: 6182 South Campus Road; here is a map.
See you there!
The Smoking Dog Bistro on West 1st is having an anniversary party, and you’re invited! I shot a delicious pate and salad at The Bistro a few months back for UrbanDiner; Jean, Jude and the team were exceptionally accommodating and welcoming. If you’ve dined here before and had great service, wonderful food, or a notable wine with your meal (or all of the above!) you may want to consider heading their way on Wednesday June 10th at about 6.3opm to celebrate with them. After all, they’ve been providing Kits with comfy French fare as owners for the part 4 years. That deserves a pat on the back, don’t you think?
Ticket’s $25 per person
Included - Hors d’oeuvres will flow all night,
unlimited Pomme Frites and as a special one night feature,
all wines and feature cocktails at just $5 a glass
FEATURING SPECIAL GUEST
JUNO AWARD WINNER JIM BYRNES
Reserve by telephone with a credit card at 604-732-8811
or purchase in advance at the door
The Smoking Dog French Bistro 1889 West 1st Ave 604.732.8811 www.thesmokingdog.com
Did you know there exists a fraternity of cheese experts? People who have dedicated their life to learning all they can about cheese? People who vow to strengthen the world of cheese? Well there is, and they are a pretty dedicated bunch of folks.
They are called the Guilde de Fromagers. Based in Paris, France, and founded in 1969 in order to uphold the cultural and historical significance of quality cheesemaking they came to Les Amis du Fromage in order to induct many new cheese experts from Vancouver, the Okanagan and Calgary, including the folks from Les Amis, food&wine editor/radio host Jurgen Gothe and the Vancouver Courier’s Tim Pawsey. You can read more about it on the Les Amis blog. Congrats to you all!
Guilde members with inductees Joe, Alice and Allison of Les Amis du Fromage
Alice and the kitchen team from Au Petite Chavignol. That's interviewee and fellow food blogger Owen Lightly on the left.
It was awesome to witness to the inductions, and we were treated to a great lunch (with wine!) afterward at their new restaurant next door, Au Petite Chavignol. Delicious pate, a German Alsace that was so incredibly yummy, and a lively, excited crowd.
Thank you Joe, Alice and Allison!
The Oliver Osoyoos wine region is hosting their 2nd Annual Kitchen Party May 26th at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts on Granville Island in Vancouver.
Their thinking:
” We’ve noticed the best parties end up in the kitchen, so why not start there?”
We couldn’t agree more.
From 6:30pm-9:30pm you will get to sample limited releases and specialty wines from the regions’ 19 wineries including Dunham & Froese Estate, Gehringer Brothers Estate, Road 13, and Stoneboat Vineyards to name just a few. Local restaurants including our friends O’Douls, The Salmon House and Terra Breads, among many others, will complement the wines with their fabulous nibbles.
Tickets are available here, and they’re on sale already so you’d better hup to it!
Vancouver Island is my home. Yes, I currently reside in Vancouver (”the big smoke” as my Uncle calls it) but being born and raised on the Island will always be part of me, and I hope to end up back there one day. I also look for any excuse to go back, and when I heard about the Island Chefs’ Collaborative 2nd Annual Local Food Festival Defending Our Backyard I got excited. I’ll be shooting the event for the organization, which is happening at Fort Rodd Hill in Victoria on May 31st, just a few weeks away.
What to expect?
” Chefs from some of the finest restaurants on Vancouver Island are working together to raise public awareness of the importance of local food and supporting local farms. Defending Our Backyard celebrates Island food, farms and flavours.
Defending Our Backyard is aimed at the growing audience of people interested in food issues and increasingly seeking local food. In the first year, Defending Our Backyard brought together over 600 people. This year we’re expecting over 1,000 to attend.
We have expanded the event to feature more local food, information and activities. Defending Our Backyard focuses on personal experience and, in addition to sampling some tastes of the Island, participants will also learn about growing more of their own food, composting, the ethical harvest of seafood, local wineries and breweries, the work of food-related special interest groups and farmers’ markets.”
Anyone interested in tickets can call 1-250-888-2047 to buy over the phone and they will be held for pick up at the gate.
I’ll certainly post photos after the event, but I hope to see you there!
