About the Presentation:
In recent decades, Canadian communities have become considerably dependent on a concoction of unreliable and unsustainable ingredients beyond the control of individual communities themselves.
With over a decade of experience involved in the food system, Jon Steinman shares perspectives on food via his weekly radio show Deconstructing Dinner. The show encourages Canadians to rethink how we produce, access and consume food. By taking
apart the building blocks of our globalized food system, Jon believes Canadians can
discover a wealth of opportunities to create more resilient and sustainable communities.
Jon will introduce his talk by deconstructing a standard North American meal, only to
reveal shocking insights into the state of our food system. Using a dynamic audio-visual presentation, Jon will share a handful of inspiring examples of how the Kootenay region of British Columbia is quickly redefining how it accesses food. Through independent cooperative grocery stores, community/retail supported agriculture projects and innovative and passionate farmers, a movement of food lovers is enhancing local economies, increasing food security for the region, strengthening community well-being, and providing residents with a strong sense of place and purpose.
About Jon Steinman:
After growing up in Toronto, Jon attended the University of Guelph where he graduated from the Bachelor of Commerce program in Hotel and Food Administration. While there, Jon developed an immense appreciation for food. The University did also introduce Jon to agriculture,but regrettably this link was not made as an integral
part of his program of study and instead was a result of the University being home to Canada’s largest agricultural school. In other words, Canada’s future food service and restaurant managers were not learning about where all that food originated. Jon developed a concern about this unhealthy detachment between eaters and farmers across the country, and indeed this disconnect is still present today.
Jon became enthusiastic about pursuing positions in restaurants that were fostering a greater connection to their suppliers than is otherwise found within any standard foodservice establishment. This commitment took Jon to the Niagara region of Ontario and the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. Chefs there were developing working
examples of how businesses and eaters could play a significant role in ensuring that viable local/regional food systems could remain healthy and prosper.
His work in the Niagara region also led him to spend one year in France, where the clash between traditional food systems and industrial food systems was glaring.
Upon returning from France, Jon developed a passion for communicating his servations about the food system. After maintaining a weekly column that was published in southern Ontario newspapers, Jon launched the weekly radio show Deconstructing Dinner in January 2006, and based the show in Nelson, British Columbia at Kootenay Co-operative Radio, CJLY. Today, the show airs weekly on 35 Canadian radio stations and reaches a global audience through international radio stations, the Internet, and a weekly column accessible in periodicals and on web sites.
Deconstructing Dinner takes listeners behind the scenes to examine where our food comes from. The show has been effective in addressing the risks and threats of an industrial food system in the face of vulnerable resources,environmental concerns, mounting negative impacts of our food on human health, and the rural and farm income crisis.
Deconstructing Dinner is unique. Unlike most other media, the show not only
points out weaknesses in the food system, but also recommends concrete
alternatives.
For more information on Deconstructing Dinner visit
http://kootenaycoopradio.com/deconstructingdinner/
