An expo of EPIC proportions
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Karen Hamilton
April 25, 2008
EPIC: Ethical. Progressive. Intelligent. Consumer.
I had first heard about EPIC from my pal, Melissa, who happens to run a local blog on sustainability. We decided to take in the sights last Saturday to see what we could learn about living sustainably in Vancouver.
Of course, my focus was on food.
On the Kitchen Stage
Aurora Bistro: Prosciutto-wrapped BC Spot Prawns
Chef Jeff Van Geest of Aurora Bistro put on a highly educational cooking demonstration using BC spot prawns. All the ingredients are sourced locally, particularly the prawns, which until recently have been consumed all around the globe save here. Watch what Chef Van Geest had to say about buying local and enjoying BC spot prawns while they’re in season.
Raincity Grill: Coho Salmon with Watercress and Hazelnut Vinaigrette
Omg omg omg, my favourite restaurant in front of me at EPIC! I tried to hide how starstruck I was while documenting the demo of Chef Peter Robertson, Raincity Grill’s new chef de cuisine. With some prodding from my friends, I got the chance to ask Chef Robertson a few questions after the demo. He let me know about the BC spot prawn tasting menu that will be coming to Raincity Grill on May 4th, to coincide with the BC Spot Prawn Festival kickoff on May 3rd. Dining there sooner than that? Enjoy their 100-mile tasting menu until then.
Green Table: Green Kitchen 101 with André LaRivière
Green Table is a Vancouver-based non-profit that helps its membership of restaurants and foodservice outlets shift to practices that are sustainable and eco-friendly. All the demos on the Kitchen Stage were by Green Table members.
During his talk, Executive Director André LaRivière describes how Green Table helps its members get greener, and provides some tips on how individuals can green up their kitchen at home. Check out his take on water consumption and the benefits of high-efficiency spray valves.
Interesting Exhibitors
The usual suspects in greening up the food industry were in attendance: Green Table, Ocean Wise, Your Local Farmers Market Society. There was also an entire section dedicated to organic, local, and/or fair trade food vendors. Notable appearances included Level Ground Trading, whose fair trade beans are always stocked in our pantry by my coffee-loving husband, and Happy Planet, juicer extraordinaire, who was dishing out samples of their new line of ready-made soups.
Some organizations were new on my radar and provided a wealth of information that I will attempt to summarize below.
BSI Biodegradable Solutions
Take-away plates and cutlery that will biodegrade and are compostable. Finally!
I asked the vendor when these items will be available at retail outlets. Currently, these are only available to you and I at tradeshows, but they hope to come out in stores soon. Take a look at their full range of products on their website.
GE-Free Solutions
Do you know if you are eating genetically-engineered (GE) food? Should you care? Talk to Nigel of GE-Free Solutions to find out.
Photo care of GE-Free Solutions
The disturbing things I learned:
- A substantial percentage of soy products out in the market have been genetically modified.
- Research by UK-based York Laboratory reports a marked increase in soy allergies since the introduction of genetically modified (GM) soy. (This is the most disturbing; I have friends who’ve recently been diagnosed with soy allergies…)
- Eating organic, while generally safe, does not necessarily mean that you are eating food that has not been genetically modified.
- There are currently no labelling standards or certifications in place for consumers to determine whether a product is GE-free.
GE-Free Solutions is the first such certifying body in Canada, and unlike American counterparts The Non-GMO Project and Cert-ID, wishes to shed light on end-consumer products. I’m going to be following Nigel’s UndoGE blog from now on to educate myself on this fascinating topic.
SeaChoice
SeaChoice aims to realize sustainable fisheries across Canada. I spoke with Taina Uitto, SeaChoice Program Coordinator, about how consumers can do their part.
What I learned:
- Check that your copy of Canada’s Seafood Guide is the latest one or you may be eating a fish to avoid! The guide is released once a year as research on each species is updated. Keep in your wallet as a reference at restaurants and vendors when choosing your next seafood purchase.
- The same type of seafood can exist in all three alert groups (green / yellow / red). Some examples are cod, tuna, and crab. Find out where your fish is from and how it was caught or raised. If your restaurant / grocer can’t give you these answers, the very act of asking goes a long way in raising awareness and demand for this kind of information.
- Think twice about eating farmed salmon.
- Raincoast Trading brings you a local alternative to the same ol’ canned tuna you see on shelves. The tuna is caught wild, by hook and line, and is fished from the Pacific Northwest (it even says so on the can).
It’s also damn good!! I made a wonderful tuna and fennel salad and tuna salad crostini from the can I got from the SeaChoice booth. Best I’ve had in a really long time.
At the end of the day…
EPIC opened my eyes to how many people in the Lower Mainland want live and eat sustainably. The surprising thing was that I also learned a lot about myself. Namely, about how much I really do care about getting greener and how it’s not so bad to come out of the food activism closet.
Hope you’ve gotten a fair idea of what to expect at EPIC. If you missed this event this time around, make sure to block out some time for EPIC in 2009!
Categories: Events, Food, Going Green
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[...] company, GE-Free Solutions, has finally launched, and received an excellent show of support at EPIC last weekend. Not only did we have 400 people sign a petition declaring that they would eat non-GE [...]
Thanks for sharing. I wasn’t able to go to the EXPO so it’s good I get to read about it on your blog.
By the way, is the Raincoast tuna easily available?
Hi JS,
Nice to meet another Vancouver food blogger! The tuna should be readily available in BC. I got a printout at EPIC with a list of 61 locations in BC that carry them. You should be able to find them at IGA, Meinharts, Nesters Market (that’s our grocer), and Whole Foods.
Will keep you posted about that locations handout. I’ve asked Raincoast Trading if they’ve got a version of it online.
[...] As we enjoyed our lunch, we chatted with co-owner Roy Blackwell about having recently become a Green Table member. He was enthusiastic about his plan to eliminate styrofoam use from all of their locations. He even showed us how he had already switched to takeaway containers and cutlery that were all compostable. It was the first I had heard of such biodegradable products. I learned more about compostable dishware at EPIC, which you may have read about in a previous post. [...]
Hey Karen, great write-up on EP!C…I really wanted to check it out but didn’t have the time. I wanted to let you know that I’ve seen compostable bamboo cutlery for sale at the Roots on W.4th and Yew if you’re interested. And for more information on genetically modified soy products, you should definitely check out a documentary called “The Future of Food” by Deborah Koons Garcia – I rented it about three years ago from Videomatica. Interesting, scary stuff.
[...] An expo of EPIC proportions (EPIC 2008) [...]
[...] in keeping with the seasons, and covering sustainability exhibitions such as farmers markets, EPIC and the BC Spot Prawn [...]
[...] I first met Nigel Tunnacliffe of GE-Free Solutions at EPIC 2008, finding out that I was already eating GMO foods scared the living daylights out of me. However, [...]