On a Positive Note...

Credit where credit is due, the Ontario government has done something (environmentally) right recently! Ontario is now the first province in Canada to have a Local Food Act. Forest and freshwater foods have been included in the Act, and we can thank Ontario Nature (again) for this. Why is the inclusion of forest and freshwater food important? Because forest and freshwater foods rarely garner the same attention as agriculture in the discussion of local food. Yet it is intrinsically part of the discussion in many areas of our province, most certainly our boreal north. The new Act, which will probably be proclaimed in the spring of 2014,  will provide increased recognition of the importance and value of wild habitat and the need for clean water. Kudos for that. Or should we say two green thumbs up?

 

http://www.ontarionature.org/protect/habitat/local_food_and_northern_ontario.php

Here are a few interesting links about "edible" forests:

http://northernbushcraft.com/guide.php?ctgy=edible_Berries&region=on

http://londonfoodforest.blogspot.ca/p/welcome-welcome-to-carolinian-food.html

http://www.grandriverrafting.ca/ontario-edible-plant-hike-poisonous-plants-trees






 

 

 

 

 

The Latest Buzz

It has been a busy summer at White’s Wetland. Consequently, not much blogging! So this September update is all about honey. The 2010 crop is in and it is bee-autiful. It seems that our bees were just as busy this summer, providing us with significantly more honey than last year. The colour is exquisite and the taste divine.

Thanksgiving Means Thanking Our Farmers

Giving thanks this harvest time means thanking our farmers for all the great food we enjoy every day and in every season.

Foodies and farmers must join forces says Thomas Pawlick in his new book, The War in the Country. The author of The End of Food warns that the demise of the family farm and local independent farming to "corporate farming" is a serious threat to both rural life and a nutritional food source for all of us. Rural residents and urbanites have one common enemy: the factory farm.

But before any joining of forces or bonding between the two groups can take place, some age-old misconceptions, prejudices and animosities have to be replaced with enlightened awareness and a shift in attitude.

As someone who has a foot in both the rural and the urban, I can't help but lament the average city dweller's lack of awareness (and respect) toward the rural and farming community. There is a rather obnoxious hypocrisy about the urban rush for organic or fair trade food, the general "greening" of the urban dialogue, and the concern over sustainability when indeed the most sustainable and healthy mode of life—the rural life right here in Canada—is under threat.

Unfortunately, urbanites really don't really know where their food comes from or know much about the precarious existence that the providers of that food often endure in order to preserve a way of life that is very precious to them.

There is real misunderstanding about farmers and farming. Farming is most often a choice. Farming isn't something people do because they can't do anything else. Farmers are first and foremost business people—entrepreneurs, if you will. And because they must live with risk—a constant factor in a farmer's life—they have to be astute, patient, optimistic, even visionary. It is their dedication and toil, through weather fair or foul, that ensures that our supermarket shelves are always well stocked with food.

The next time you buy a bunch of carrots, a dozen eggs, a bag of milk or a package of pork chops, give some thought to the source. Where did my food come from?

As more and more Canadians ask that question, the possibility of forging a mutually beneficial and respectful dynamic between urbanites and farmers becomes a reality for the future—and that can only be good for all of us.

More on the misconceptions and misunderstandings about agriculture and rural life in other posts. I'm off to order my copy of The War in the Country.

Of pics, flics and videos: questions and answers

Yes, all of the nature photos on this blog are of White’s Wetland! Stock photos have not been used. Although I have much to learn about nature photography specifically and outdoor photography in general, I will doggedly keep taking the photos for this blog myself.

The one exception, however, is the black and white photo used in the August 8 post about birds.

No, that is not me, and it’s not my mother. That’s actress Tippi Hedren, who appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds. Ms. Hedren, a longtime animal lover and devotee of the big cats, founded Roar in 1983, which exists to support her big cat sanctuary, the Shambala Preserve, “a meeting place of peace and harmony for all beings, animal and human.”

Home to MJ’s two tigers, Thriller and Sabu, the Shambala/Roar Foundation has two highly admirable missions, as I see it: it seeks to educate the public about the dangers of private ownership of exotic animals and provides permanent homes to rescued big cats so that they may “live out their lives with love and dignity.”

Another question was prompted by the video of the moon above a cornfield. Yes, that is also part of White’s Wetland. To take a step back, let me describe our wetlands to you in greater detail.

The ESA that has been officially identified as White's Wetland lies on the north side of our road; the house, barn, lawns and surrounding fields are on the south side. The wooded wetlands are also surrounded by fields that belong to us and are currently being farmed.

As you can see, the field in the photo has been planted with corn. Crops are rotated annually, but I most love the years in which corn is planted in the horseshoe-shaped south field that hugs the house and barn. Once the tall, graceful stalks reach a certain height, they seem to wrap around our home like loving arms. Tall, green and elegantly tassled, the cornstalks provide a high, natural fence that is both inviting and sheltering.

Our wetland is properly “buffered” from the agricultural activity, in accordance with the regulations governing wetland stewardship and management.

More about agriculture and the environment in another post. It’s high time to enjoy the day.