Comments on: Canada’s farms not suited to 100 mile diet? http://www.foodandfarmingcanada.com/2009/10/30/canadas-farms-not-suited-to-100-mile-diet/ A blog about the farming side of food Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:30:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Sean Doyle http://www.foodandfarmingcanada.com/2009/10/30/canadas-farms-not-suited-to-100-mile-diet/comment-page-1/#comment-575 Sean Doyle Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:32:52 +0000 http://www.foodandfarmingcanada.com/?p=1296#comment-575 Hi, I work for a Halifax Nova Scotia based TV production company that has recently completed a half hour documentary for CBC about local food called Turning A Green Leaf. In the film we take the McMillin family and challenge them to first measure and then reduce their food carbon footprint but without giving up any of the items that we can’t grow in Canada like coffee, tea, oranges, or chocolate. It’s like the 100 Mile diet but without the guilt trip. We didn’t ask the family to change what they bought but rather to simply find a local source for all of the items they would normally buy. We then measured the average distance traveled of the finished product and the corresponding carbon emissions and calculated the difference over a two month period. The results exceeded our wildest expectations and the McMillin family provides a great example for anyone living in Canada of how to enjoy your food while managing to reduce your carbon footprint. Turning A Green Leaf will broadcast nationally on the CBC main network as part of the Land & Sea series this Sunday November 22 at the following local times: Atlantic Canada / Quebec / Ontario - 12 Noon Saskatchewan / Manitoba - 15:00 Alberta - 15:00 British Columbia - 14:00 If you’re not able to catch the broadcast this Sunday you can watch the full episode online starting later next week on the CBC website : www.cbc.ca/landandsea I hope you enjoy the film and feel free to spread the broadcast info to any of your friends, family, or work colleagues that might be interested. If you have feedback or comments on the film we’d be happy to receive those as well and you can email us at: info@telltale.tv Thanks, Sean Doyle Tell Tale Productions Inc. Hi,

I work for a Halifax Nova Scotia based TV production company that has recently completed a half hour documentary for CBC about local food called Turning A Green Leaf. In the film we take the McMillin family and challenge them to first measure and then reduce their food carbon footprint but without giving up any of the items that we can’t grow in Canada like coffee, tea, oranges, or chocolate. It’s like the 100 Mile diet but without the guilt trip.

We didn’t ask the family to change what they bought but rather to simply find a local source for all of the items they would normally buy. We then measured the average distance traveled of the finished product and the corresponding carbon emissions and calculated the difference over a two month period. The results exceeded our wildest expectations and the McMillin family provides a great example for anyone living in Canada of how to enjoy your food while managing to reduce your carbon footprint.

Turning A Green Leaf will broadcast nationally on the CBC main network as part of the Land & Sea series this Sunday November 22 at the following local times:

Atlantic Canada / Quebec / Ontario – 12 Noon
Saskatchewan / Manitoba – 15:00
Alberta – 15:00
British Columbia – 14:00

If you’re not able to catch the broadcast this Sunday you can watch the full episode online starting later next week on the CBC website :

http://www.cbc.ca/landandsea

I hope you enjoy the film and feel free to spread the broadcast info to any of your friends, family, or work colleagues that might be interested. If you have feedback or comments on the film we’d be happy to receive those as well and you can email us at: info@telltale.tv

Thanks,
Sean Doyle
Tell Tale Productions Inc.

]]> By: Lilian http://www.foodandfarmingcanada.com/2009/10/30/canadas-farms-not-suited-to-100-mile-diet/comment-page-1/#comment-547 Lilian Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:16:59 +0000 http://www.foodandfarmingcanada.com/?p=1296#comment-547 Infrastructure is definitely a problem. The general trend in our society over the last number of years has been consolidation and centralization in order to cut costs and boost efficiencies. This means fewer processing plants, fewer abattoirs, and less presence in local areas of everything from food producers to banks. Even Canada Post attempts to cut back its mail service and number of rural postal outlets periodically. And I totally agree with the concept behind your raspberry example - I can't see that being a good use of resources on any level. Thanks for reading and for commenting! Infrastructure is definitely a problem. The general trend in our society over the last number of years has been consolidation and centralization in order to cut costs and boost efficiencies. This means fewer processing plants, fewer abattoirs, and less presence in local areas of everything from food producers to banks. Even Canada Post attempts to cut back its mail service and number of rural postal outlets periodically. And I totally agree with the concept behind your raspberry example – I can’t see that being a good use of resources on any level.

Thanks for reading and for commenting!

]]> By: Lilian http://www.foodandfarmingcanada.com/2009/10/30/canadas-farms-not-suited-to-100-mile-diet/comment-page-1/#comment-546 Lilian Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:11:02 +0000 http://www.foodandfarmingcanada.com/?p=1296#comment-546 The domestic market is an opportunity but given the realities of our geography and climate, perhaps we need to look at total agricultural production or food production across the whole of Canada instead of province by province. Of course, it's also a question of labour, population and infrastructure which can vary quite substantially from province to province or even region to region. You're right, there are no easy answers - but thanks for reading and for commenting. This is a debate that needs to happen. The domestic market is an opportunity but given the realities of our geography and climate, perhaps we need to look at total agricultural production or food production across the whole of Canada instead of province by province. Of course, it’s also a question of labour, population and infrastructure which can vary quite substantially from province to province or even region to region. You’re right, there are no easy answers – but thanks for reading and for commenting. This is a debate that needs to happen.

]]> By: Al Scholz http://www.foodandfarmingcanada.com/2009/10/30/canadas-farms-not-suited-to-100-mile-diet/comment-page-1/#comment-544 Al Scholz Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:42:33 +0000 http://www.foodandfarmingcanada.com/?p=1296#comment-544 If the 100-mile diet doesn't work well in Southern Ontario - what are the chances for Saskatchewan? I've been working on sustainable food systems for the prairie region and it's a challenge to figure out how a commodity export economy will remain viable [competitive] as fuel and transportation costs increase over the next 10-20 years. So perhaps the domestic market is an opportunity. Currently about 2% of retail food sales in Saskatchewan's stores comes from farms in the province. It other words, 98% is imported. However, converting to serve a higher percentage of the domestic market has huge climatic, production and economic challenges. There are no easy answers ... but many people agree something will have to change. If the 100-mile diet doesn’t work well in Southern Ontario – what are the chances for Saskatchewan? I’ve been working on sustainable food systems for the prairie region and it’s a challenge to figure out how a commodity export economy will remain viable [competitive] as fuel and transportation costs increase over the next 10-20 years. So perhaps the domestic market is an opportunity. Currently about 2% of retail food sales in Saskatchewan’s stores comes from farms in the province. It other words, 98% is imported. However, converting to serve a higher percentage of the domestic market has huge climatic, production and economic challenges. There are no easy answers … but many people agree something will have to change.

]]> By: Carrie Oliver http://www.foodandfarmingcanada.com/2009/10/30/canadas-farms-not-suited-to-100-mile-diet/comment-page-1/#comment-543 Carrie Oliver Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:49:16 +0000 http://www.foodandfarmingcanada.com/?p=1296#comment-543 A 100 mile diet may not be available or appropriate in all regions in any country. What I don't want to see is Ontario raspberries on sale in San Francisco and then during the same week find California raspberries on sale in Toronto. I also think more fruits, vegetables, and meats could be raised and consumed within a local/regional/foodshed geographic area if the infrastructure existed to minimize the number of steps from farm to shopping bag. Sadly, no grocer within 30 miles of me carries any meaningful % of locally grown food. Indeed, what few locally grown food that are available are terrible - they pick the tomatoes and peaches green. This is a disservice to the farmer and consumer (and frankly everyone in between). A 100 mile diet may not be available or appropriate in all regions in any country. What I don’t want to see is Ontario raspberries on sale in San Francisco and then during the same week find California raspberries on sale in Toronto. I also think more fruits, vegetables, and meats could be raised and consumed within a local/regional/foodshed geographic area if the infrastructure existed to minimize the number of steps from farm to shopping bag. Sadly, no grocer within 30 miles of me carries any meaningful % of locally grown food. Indeed, what few locally grown food that are available are terrible – they pick the tomatoes and peaches green. This is a disservice to the farmer and consumer (and frankly everyone in between).

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