Jon's presentation was centered around the deconstruction of a "typical Canadian meal" where we learned that essentially--as he put it-- we have very little choice at all about what we consume. Every part of this "typical" meal he traced back to one giant company... even down to the smallest ingredients like the salt in the steak and the corn syrup in the soft drink. It was a strak picture he painted as he continued to talk about only a handful of these companies that are controlling the food market.
Luckily, Jon saved time to tell us about some organizations and movements that are being carried out in his home town of Nelson, British Columbia. He spoke of the food being produced in people's backyards (ringing any bells?) and that is being harvested for sale at the market. He talked about the new grain CSA that sees hundreds of pounds of grain being sailed across the Lake to shareholders. Then there is the Co-Op store that sources everything locally first, where people can bring in their own cartons for refills on eggs, and where locals cart over their homemade soups and breads for sale. There's a local cheese-maker who takes part in the process all the way from the udder to packaging.
There is hope... and it sounds delicious!
After the presentation about a dozen people came together with Jon for a fantastic potluck featuring dishes like delicious organic chicken, curry, sour-cream cranberry pie, fresh salads, organic beef stew, roasted veggies from Mike's garden, and the most local of all meals was from the Landless Gardeners' very own gardens (within 50 feet or so... a yummy leak and potato soup!
To finish up, our very own Kerri interviewed Jon for CHSR so stay tuned for that which should be airing sometime this week!
Thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy the afternoon and to all who helped put it together!
