It’s All Things Food at the 2012 EPIC Sustainable Living Expo
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Karen Hamilton
May 12, 2012
One of my favourite annual trade shows is happening this Mother’s Day weekend. Now that I’m eligible to be pampered as such, I requested that the family join me as I checked out opening day of the 2012 EPIC Sustainable Living Expo. This year’s theme is All Things Food – Local. Organic, and Healthy.
Here’s what caught our attention.
#1 – EPIC KidZone
This is a model kids’ activity centre for the eco-conscious, food-loving family. Children are invited to plant one of 500 seedlings in raised garden beds. Representatives from Growing Chefs! were on hand to help my toddler plant a snap pea in a biodegradable pot to take home. We also got a packet of sunflower seeds to add to the garden. It’ll help us lure bees to the strawberry and blueberry plants that have just begun to flower.
Don’t forget to enter your name to win one of the 16 raised garden beds that are on display. I had forgotten, and now I’m tempted to return just to be in the ballot.
#2 – Abeego Food Storage
Beeswax is the new cling wrap. No, really.
Abeego is natural, reusable, eco-conscious food storage created with hemp/cotton fabric infused with a blend of beeswax and plant extracts. The fluid-resistant coating keeps food fresh and is easy to clean. Simply hand wash Abeego in COLD, soapy water and enjoy the long life of this breathable, plastic free innovation. Three styles to choose from: Abeego Wrap, Abeego Snack and Abeego Square.
Even Abeego’s cards were made out of the fabric. As I took one to go, I was told that it covers your opened wine bottles in a jiffy. Haven’t seen a business card this food-functional since Meat Cards.
#3 – SpiceWorks’ butter chicken mix
I can’t be bothered to custom-blend Indian spices now that I’m running around after a toddler, but I’ve been reluctant to invest in a mix from a grocery without knowing what it tastes like first. There were other exhibitors peddling butter chicken and its kin. SpiceWorks won the taste test by a green mile.
Happy that the list of ingredients reads like a page from a recipe book, as opposed to a chem lab. Bonus: no MSG and gluten-free.
We are so making this for dinner this weekend.
#4 – 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Program
Whole Foods Market has committed to rating all their chicken, beef, and pork suppliers against the respective standards developed by Global Animal Partnership. It’s like the SeaChoice of livestock: each supplier is rated between Step 1 and Step 5+, with Step 5+ being the most “animal centered”.
Every chicken, beef, and pork product sold at Whole Foods carries a minimum rating of Step 1.
It’s another positive step (heh) towards transparency in our food systems.
#5 – Lunapads
If beeswax is the new cling wrap, then cloth menstrual pads are the new cloth diapers. While Lunapads does not at all fit under the All Things Food theme, I just had to include them in my highlight reel. It was the only EPIC exhibitor I was planning to throw dollars at before I even showed up. Got 2 maxi pads with liner at the show, with $14 worth of enclosed coupons for use at London Drugs ($2 off) or their online store ($5 off when you spend $30+).
I sincerely hope that it’ll be easy to surpass the mental block of what washing these items entails, because I am sick of having single-use plastic against my lady parts!
Visitor Info for EPIC Sustainable Living Expo 2012
Take the time this weekend to check out this great showcase of sustainable products, services, and initiatives. Buy online instead of at the door to save yourselves a few bucks, too.
EPIC Sustainable Living Expo
Vancouver Convention Centre West
Friday, May 11: 1pm – 8pm
Saturday, May 12: 11am – 7pm
Sunday, May 13: 11am – 5pm
Categories: Events, Food, Food Purveyors
Ohanami, bicycles, and a West Coast sakura tea service
1 Comment Karen HamiltonApril 20, 2012
My favourite time to be outdoors in Vancouver is when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Our new neighbourhood is lined with aged blossoming trees, shaped with an artist’s precision by city stewards. The avenue that we frequent the most, from a distance, looks as if a guard of bonsais had been trained to rain pink and white petals on Marpole denizens.
The sakura zensen, or cherry blossom front, is an official weather pattern in Japan, where citizens emerge from their homes in droves during the fleeting Ohanami season. Ways to reflect upon and admire the sakura are numerous, but for many, it begins with a picnic under the blooms, often enjoyed with treats and tea. Celebrations can also linger beyond dusk, getting tipsy as the night goes on.
You can approximate this Japanese tradition in Vancouver if you know where to go. My top picks, in no particular order:
Nitobe Memorial Garden (UBC)
My shutter finger goes wild at this beautiful Japanese garden retreat in UBC. This year, one of the trees is laden with tags that people write on with messages to loved ones. It’s said that the well wishes will spread as the petals scatter in the wind.
Bike the Blossoms – April 28, 2012
Got bike? Follow the flowers with your cyclist brethren on the 28th. Your route will be lined with petalled trees, and vendors that you pass will sometimes have goodies for you to enjoy when you pause.
If you’re bereft of bicycle or not free that day, find your own viewing spot using these resources from the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival:
The Urban Tea Merchant
The Urban Tea Merchant remains unrivalled as my afternoon tea service of choice, much of it due to its rotating collection of top-tier teas and the seasonality of its tea services. Their courtyard on Alberni is canopied by cherry blossom trees each spring.
The courtyard blossoms have already come and gone this year, but their Ohanami tea service, featuring several items infused with cherry blossoms, is still being served until April 30th. This menu ranks as my favourite high tea food pairing to date–it is not to be missed.
Sakura West Coast Tea Service
$30 per person (minimum 2 persons; 90 minute seating)
to begin
Tea Sommelier’s choice of chilled white tea
sweets
tea-infused macaron, chevron strawberry, chocolate truffle
edible spring flowers, Sakura! Sakura! tea-infused jelly, sous vide vanilla watermelon, green tea-infused melon ** LOVED THIS! **
savouries
open-faced smoked salmon & wasabi aioli with in-house ponzu jelly
miso-maple glazed sable fish wrapped in butter lettuce ** LOVED THIS! **
spring rice roll with honey & balsamic, shiitake mushroom and crisp vegetables
Japanese fish crackers, crisp soba noodles with tangy seaweed salad and sesame crumble ** LOVED THIS! **
My seasonal tea pairing picks for the Sakura service
Both of The Urban Tea Merchant’s Ohanami tea features pair beautifully with the Japanese-fusion menu.
Enchanted Beauty Tea: ”Sophisticated oolong tea leaves are handcrafted into a bouquet with amaranth and orange lily. This TWG Tea composition will bloom in the teacup.”
Sakura! Sakura! Tea: “An ode to spring, this fragrant TWG blend evokes Kyoto’s most celebrated season. A scattering of cherry blossoms and green tea yields a most aromatic and elegant fragrance.”
Where will you go for your cherry blossom celebration?
Categories: Downtown, Food, Restaurants
Garden Bites #002: Learn to grow organic edibles with Farmers on 57th
2 Comments Karen HamiltonMarch 26, 2012
Less than two weeks before the Organic Gardening Course with Farmers on 57th begins!
I’ve been emailing with course instructors Karen Ageson and Tessa Wetherill over the past few weeks (pictured above, centre and left). They’ve been kind enough to accommodate my barrage of questions about the course curriculum, so allow me to share their answers with you.
Where’s the instructional garden located?
The George Pearson Centre is a long-term care facility on 57th Avenue just west of Cambie. It’s home to 120 residents living with physical disabilities.In 2009, Jen Rashleigh (pictured above, right) founded Farmers on 57th, fundraising and negotiating with Pearson to cultivate some of their land into community-integrated gardens in exchange for programming with their residents. After that was all set up, she put out a call for urban farmers, and that’s when Tessa and I got involved.
How big are the plots that the students will work in?
There will be 12 instructional plots on the southernmost end of the market garden. Plots will be 8 feet long by 4 feet wide, which is a bed width that will allow students to reach into the middle of the bed standing from either side.
What will students be growing this season?
We’ll be providing students with seeds for things that we grow in the market garden. There’s a list of these crops on our website.
There’s a whole host of reasons why we grow these crops and not others. We like having a good a mix of very dependable crops well adapted to our climate like lettuce, kale, and beets, plus some more difficult-to-grow, heat-loving plants that don’t like getting wet, such as tomatoes.
How much produce can each student expect to harvest?
The amount of produce coming out of each plot will totally depend on what each student decides to grow.
Can a student bring in seeds/transplants and grow something that’s not on the list?
Definitely. If someone wants to grow eggplant–another hot-weather crop–they should do that! There’s someone registered for the class that wants to grow burdock, which is a plant widely cultivated in Japan for its long root. We don’t grow it for market but I’m excited to see someone else grow it!
How do I register for the Organic Gardening Course?
We’re taking online registrations through the Marpole-Oakridge Community Centre. Email us directly with registration questions or payment plan options.
Organic Gardening Course
- Class meets at 6pm on every second Wednesday from April 4 – September 5, 2012
- $300 for plot, supplies, instruction, and season-long access to the garden
REGISTER ONLINE >>
[ED: As of this posting, only 4 spaces remain. Sign up soon!]
Where does the produce grown by Farmers on 57th go?
Most of our produce goes to members of our CSA. There is space available for this year. We give some of the extras to the farmers and apprentices, as well.
Every month, we donate produce to Community Kitchen, which is a program largely run by volunteers. They cook homestyle for residents of George Pearson who otherwise eat hospital food. There was also a juicing program last year, getting more fresh food into Pearson resident diets.
Last year, we sold produce to the Growing Eden project. Participating families sat down every Friday in the garden for a communal lunch, which is cooked with our produce. It’s a beautiful sight to see! And each Growing Eden family takes home a box of groceries, including our freshly grown goods, when available.
Would you consider supplementing the CSA program with an on-site public market?
We don’t have a market stand on site. We are considering taking extra produce to market in a shared urban farmer stand at one of Vancouver’s Farmer’s Markets (Kerrisdale would be the closest).
Learn more about Farmers on 57th
Farmers on 57th runs a variety of programs besides the ones described above. I’m in awe of the care they provide to residents of Pearson and the Marpole-Oakridge community. Cannot wait to learn from their master gardeners and see how I can give back after the course ends.
Are you interested, too? Visit their site, follow their social feeds, and get involved.
- Farmers on 57th website
- Email Farmers on 57th
- Like Farmers on 57th on Facebook
- Follow Farmers on 57th on Twitter
Categories: Food, Urban Gardening
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Tiny Bites is a food blog that explores all things edible and imbibable in Vancouver, British Columbia. More >
Articles by Karen Hamilton
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