Greater Vancouver In-Season Chart

Greater Vancouver In-Season Chart

Silence of the Bees

I now feel super dumb. I watched last night on the National Geographic channel a program called Silence of the Bees, and it informed me that 3/4 of all plants rely on pollination, and that every fruit/ vegetable/ nut/ seed that grows is a result of being pollinated (usually by bees). I had no idea. I guess I had always figured the things just grew on their own! Where was I during biology 12? There's a big scare right now too, the colonies are collapsing due to pesticides and a few different viruses, and bees are declining big time. This, scientists say, is a more imminent, immediate, and bigger threat than global warming. I knew I was off the sugar for political reasons, as well as the massive carbon footprint to get it here... but if there was ever a time to support local honey, its now.

The British BeeKeepers Association has more to say.

Getting Started

Hello

Thank you for stopping by.

For my first post I would like to introduce some books that have changed the way I view food and eating behaviour for the better. The unified theme is locally inspired eating to different degrees, and minimizing our carbon footprints while maximizing our well-being in terms of not just physical health in general, but also spiritual health and family connectedness are desirable by-products. Dive right in...

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle ~ Barbara Kingsolver

http://www.kingsolver.com/bookshelf/miracle.asp

In Defense of Food ~ Michael Pollan

http://www.michaelpollan.com/indefense.php

The 100 Mile Diet ~ Alisa Smith & J.B. Mackinnon

http://100milediet.org/

The final web-link is a rich resource for all things locally inspired.

I have incorporated many of the ideas used in these books into my everyday life, though in no way am I a pure Locavore. I believe that if you can or want to live in any or all of the ways discussed, some change is better than none at all. I now frequent my local farmers market (a simple google search got me there), I have switched to locally produced honey and given up sugar, and at the local organic market I found amazing laundry detergent produced locally and kindly, called "Vancouver Only" and made specifically with our water in mind. There are other things, but I don't want to bore you with the specifics all at once.... what have you discovered??