Well Preserved

This article is indeed about local food and a local group of farmers.  The photo`s are local though not from those mentioned.  We met Mark at a dinner featuring his food and did not have access to the whole product to snap some shots.  That will change in the future…

I feel so lucky for so many things – the most valuable being the fortune of great people in my life.  Dana and I have a bounty of wonderful friends and family and our time with them is our favorite treasure.

The term “friend” is near sacred to me – it is reserved for people with whom I share a special bond that cannot be quantified (nor qualified).  Some of my friendships are based on history, others on present, many on mutual respect and love, some on mutual interests and some are rooted in the soil of many good laughs and shared adventures.  There’s not one specific thing that friendship is to me – I cannot tell you what the difference is between a friend and an acquaintance but I will insist that there is a definitive difference and it’s simply something that I know when I see.

Recent weeks have brought many new people in to our lives – people I think will become friends.  It’s an odd occurrence to me at almost 36 years old that we are meeting so many fascinating people that have potential to form solid bonds over the test of time.  Recent events in the family (a wedding planned and executed in 30 days) and the commitment to this blog have brought a lot of people into our lives.  Some were met over meals and drinks to celebrate the union of two families, others were met as we explore the local food community around us more intensely than we have in the past.  Well Preserved has given us the push to meet more people and a reason to strike a meaningful conversation with them.

Our recent introductions have been wildly diverse.  Travel the world for 6 years studying how to make wine from the world’s best?  Preserve hundreds of bottles of “stuff” every year for fun?  Quit your secure job for a year to try to produce a movie?  Buy a farm with a graveyard to grow your own wine?  Join a Ukulele Troupe for kicks and giggles?  These are just some of the examples of the wonderful madness which has entered our lives in recent weeks.  Passionate, engaged, excited and willing to share is a common element of all of these people.

The above is a long way of introducing our next two posts (Norman Hardie tomorrow, Mark Trealout today).  Both appeared as guests of honour at the Farmer and Wine Maker Dinner that we gushed about at Gilead.

It takes a special kind of someone to be a farmer in Canada.  It takes an entirely different kind of special (and I truly mean that in the most respectful way) to decide to resurrect a forgotten piece of land which laid dormant for about 20 years.  There’s a third category for those who did not grow up on a farm trying it cold.  This is the story of Mark (and his family).

Mark had studied cooking, travelled west and his eyes were opened to unique foods not common to the local mass supermarket.  Excited by the adventure, tastes and purity of the food a small dream was formed that would reap a real harvest in years to come.  Mark started his organic farm about 6 years ago with the permission of his Father-in-Law who closed a strawberry and raspberry farm on the family property many years previous.  His family and new friends are instrumental in providing wisdom, tips and support to make the farm come to life.

The small family farm includes a catfish pond, a small amount of poultry, pork and local produce – domestic and wild.  It`s been a strong year for fiddleheads and he shared food I didn`t realize I could eat (cattail and stinging nettle as examples).  We are surrounded by food and so many of us (including yours truly), have lost the ability to recognize the bounty hiding in plain site in front of us.

It`s a hard go and their sacrifice is great.  They bought his first tractor two years ago – the first 4 years of the organic farm was entirely worked by hand.  Mark freely shares his unbelievable knowledge and even greater passion for making it work.  He tells stories of the men and women who, like him, are trying to make a difference.

I met Mark after a long day of driving a few hours to Toronto, dropping orders off at local customers, working a Toronto farmers market and then off to dinner representing Kawartha Ecological Growers.  The group is home to more than 20 family farms and represents many of his cohorts int he local Amish community.  They are pioneers of a different time – when the rest of us are moving so fast, willing to consume chemicals and ethically oblivious food sources, they are insisting on a better way and committing to making that happen.

The odds are stacked against them.  Beyond the climate of Canada, we are competing in a global market where price seems to mean more than quality.  I remember meeting a young farmer in St Jacob`s who could not understand how garlic can be shipped from Asia cheaper than he can grow it by hand and yet it sits there on the shelf, thousands of miles from it`s origin.  To put this in perspective, we started growing our own garlic last year by dropping a few cloves in the ground and covering them.  We have not done a thing since and their shoots are alive and healthy.  How much labor must one save (and HOW) in order to be cheaper after shipping it across the world?

There are victories though – weekly drives to farmers markets and restaurants insisting on quality ingredients (Jamie Kennedy, The Drake Hotel, The Gladstone Hotel, Table 17, Chez Victor, Starfish and Vertical Restaurant are locals who support the organization).  People are also growing wiser about their food choices and recognizing when `local farmers`are not necessarily what they seem (local lemons for sale in January and a sign for local fresh lobster are examples of questionable claims we`ve encountered).

You can participate as well.  The full details are on their site – click on the Community Shared Agriculture link here.  Weekly baskets of food are provided on a share-plan (with pickups in Toronto, Oshawa, Lindsay and more).  For $25 a week (or $35 for enough to share with 3-4 people), you can receive a weekly basket at a local pickup for 23 weeks.  KEG offers a great arrangement in that you are stocked with a `base` selection of weekly goods and receive credits to immediately customize the rest of your basket.

If you live close enough to pick up a weekly shipment, jump on board and support.  If not, look for them (and others like them) at your local farmers market.