The Compost Diaries

Several well-known charities are encouraging donors to buy live chickens, goats and cows as Christmas gifts for the impoverished. The nice catalogue is full of pretty pictures and tells a very convincing story. I admit I was tempted by the idea of giving bunnies that breed blessings for a family in need or a stable [...]

I am finishing up the final chapter of my book on the politics of food. While writing about the current international aid system, I noticed the population explosion emerging once again as the scapegoat for poverty and famine. The population theory has been discredited and dismissed many times over the years. But the article prompted [...]

Eating is a political act. Find out how the food on your plate can affect a farmer half a world away. Through field trips, guest speakers, classroom presentations and discussions, students will explore the entire food system from table top to ground and back again.
Covers local food issues and movements and the more complex global [...]

My friend Robert Ouimet is the man behind my blog curtain. Former CBC Radio producer and new media wiz, this guy fell from the sky into my life, right when I needed a web site. He also produces Can Urban Agriculture Save the World? – the podcast I do with David Tracey.
Aside from collecting authors, [...]

I went to a wonderful event last spring called, Weaving the Chains: Heritage Grains and CSAs. It was put on by Farm Folk City Folk (FFCF). They are part of a grain revival movement in BC. Until the 1940’s, grain was being grown here in significant quantities, but the Prairies finally muscled us out of [...]

On Christmas morning, I eat their chocolate cherry panettone. That herald of the season. It is tradition. At Easter this year, I was surprised by their chocolate hazelnut brioche. A poem in my mouth. Mother’s Day brought little chocolate cakes, tall cupcakes really with a caramel butter cream icing! Although I am no mother, I [...]