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You are what you eat

Local food—when you can find it—is not only tasty, it’s good for the planet.

by Julie Ovenell-Carter 16 March 2007

Before you tuck into your next blue-plate special, consider this rather unappetizing fact: the ingredients of an average North American meal have typically travelled 2,400 km (that’s 1,500 mi) from farm to fork. It’s time to close that gap, according to British Columbia authors Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon, whose recent efforts to eat only local foods for one full year sparked worldwide media attention.
Get the scoop in the couple’s new book, The 100-Mile Diet: A year of local eating(out in spring 2007, www.100milediet.org). In a nutshell, the authors say, to reduce burning fossil fuel from trucked-in bananas and bread, commit to eating only what is grown, raised or produced within 100 miles of your home—or holiday spot.
It’s a tricky proposition. Let’s face it, winter in an eat-local world can often mean nothing but canned fruit, pantry potatoes, frozen peas and Jerusalem artichokes at every meal. And it’s just about impossible to find locally produced flour and salt in southwestern BC, for example.
But so far, at least one Vancouver restaurant has accepted the challenge. Every month, the Raincity Grill offers a different $55 100-mile menu, featuring backyard bounty such as Vancouver Island pork, Chilliwack duck and chicken, Cortes Island clams and Agassiz hazelnuts. “Far be it for me to tell other people how they should eat, but it’s something that matters to me personally,” says chef Andrea Carlson. “It’s a way to support local growers and help strengthen a community of organic farmers.”
While it’s not always possible or practical to source local suppliers, innkeepers and restaurateurs across Canada are increasingly making an effort to showcase regional cuisine. A visit to www.slowfood.ca is a good place to start the search. And though the list gets longer every day, here are a handful of places celebrated for serving feasts that never stray too far from home:

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We welcome you to use these story ideas as inspiration for your own stories about Canada. The CTC owns all rights worldwide. (Our images are also royalty-free and available for editorial print, broadcast and electronic use.) If you choose to reproduce these texts for editorial use only, please include the author's byline and "courtesy of the Canadian Tourism Commission." If you cut, edit or modify the text in any way, please include this note: "The text has been modified from the original." Thank you.

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Prince Edward Island, Credit - Mandatory Tourism PEI/John Sylvester - Background Image