In last week’s Food For Thought I talked about the need for transparency in our food system. As I was researching I came across an excellent video by True Food TV about artificial fruit wax.They do a fantastic job breaking down the different ingredients used in artificial food waxes. One...

How come we don’t get to know the names of the chemicals that are sprayed on our food or if it’s been genetically modified?There are strict rules and regulations for the ingredients used in processed foods. Pick up any packaged product at the grocery store and you can find a...

If you've ever created a compost pile you'll come to this realization as well. A compost pile is nothing but a pile of dead things decaying. Plant matter, egg shells, manure, bones and blood. And once it's decayed enough that compost will be used to feed plants. And those plants...

Have you ever watched the Emmy award winning series Chef’s Table on Netflix? If you haven't, you should. If you watch every episode like we have you’ll start to notice a theme. Almost every master chef they interview is obsessed with finding the freshest locally-produced ingredients.There is inevitably a scene...

This is a video by CNBC about the current state of the organic industry. Most people don’t know what the term “organic” truly means and I thought they did a great job explaining it.The one thing I didn’t agree with was the idea that all organically-grown food has the same...

This is What Vanilla Bean Farming Looks LikeWhen you think of vanilla, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Ice cream? Cake? Cookies? Vanilla is undoubtedly one of the most beloved flavours in our culture. It’s also one of the world’s most expensive ingredients, and so you only ever...

  Have you been following the story about the catastrophic flooding in California? You should be. Next time you’re at the grocery store take a look at where the vegetables, fruits and nuts come from. The vast majority of it is sourced from California. California is in fact Canada’s #1...

This is a powerful documentary we came across called Economics of Happiness. It brilliantly describes why our globalized food system and economies are at the root of so many of the environmental, political and economic challenges we’re face right now.We can all sense that things are getting worse. And when...

This is a free documentary I came across that was just released called "Into Weeds: Dewayne ‘Lee’ Johnson vs. Monsanto Company.” It’s about a man who was a former public school grounds keeper. His job was to go to local schools and spray a concentrated form of Roundup to control...

This week we made our first batch of our Roasted Tomato & Lime Salsa. This salsa is very special to us. It’s made mostly from ingredients that we grew on the farm this year. The paste tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, garlic and cilantro were all grown by us. The tomatoes in...

Have you ever wondered how a person becomes a small-scale farmer?There are no college courses you can take on how to start a farm business (Emily went to school for four years at a prestigious agriculture school and no such course was available). There are no trade schools. There is...

Do you ever feel like you lack community or a sense of belonging? You have your base community of friends, family (if you’re lucky enough to live close to them) and co-workers. Perhaps you’re even a part of a club or weekend sports team, but how many people do you...

This is an article I came across by Mother Jones about the lack of federal protect for farmworkers in US Agriculture. It starts with this story:“Last June, as a record-breaking heatwave baked Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Sebastian Francisco Perez was moving irrigation lines at a large plant nursery in 104-degree-heat. When...

Have you seen a Monarch butterfly this year? I'm sad to say I have not seen a single one. And I'm feeling anxious because I wonder "will I ever see a monarch again?" Over the past two decades, their numbers have fallen significantly. So much so that they have officially...

(The cover photo is an embarrassingly weedy bed that’s been taunting us for weeks. It got out of hand because we haven’t had the time or energy to get rid of them)August is right around the corner and most people can’t wait to enjoy the peak of summer. However, for...

Here is an article by the Guardian that came out recently. Apparently 80% of us have glyphosate circulating through our bodies right now. If you’re not aware of what glyphosate is, it’s currently the worlds most popular weed killer which is manufactured by Monsanto. And if you’re thinking “I only...