I recently caught the tail end of an interview on CBC Radio with Lynn Ogryzlo, local food enthusiast and author of a new book aptly titled, The Ontario Table. It was an inspired interview with all kinds of locavore tips on how best to enjoy the bounty right in our own backyards. Lynn maintains that having a close relationship with local farmers will provide you entry to a world of fresh, delicious and affordable produce – yes, even in the middle of winter. Lynn raved about the concept of winter gardens — all kinds of root vegetables can thrive under the snow. Lynn’s description of winter beets grown in this manner was enough to convince me that I’ve been missing out!
One of the biggest reveals was the fact that large manufacturers such as Green Giant, H.J. Heinz, Unico and Alymers (to name a few) use locally grown goods harvested and packaged right here in Ontario. So supporting them by purchasing their canned kidney beans, tomatoes, ketchups, soups, etc., is also a wonderfully easy way to support our local economy.
Lynn has taken on the role of fresh food activist and created the $10 challenge. She states that if every Ontario family spent $10 a week on food and wine, we would add billions to our local economy and 10,000 jobs! $10 a week is so easy to do — I could achieve that with my Harmony Organic chocolate milk addiction alone! In fact, that was really the beauty of Lynn’s interview, she made shopping for local foods seem effortless — little changes each week that add up to big changes over the course of year. No seismic shift in how you normally shop, tiny tweaks that happen organically (pardon the pun.)
Here’s a link to her $10 challenge — http://ontariotable.com/$10_Challenge.html and here’s the link for her book. http://ontariotable.com/The_Book.html
