We have added another product from Greens, Eggs and Ham near Leduc. Along with their Smoked Duck ‘Prosciutto’ we now have their duck eggs in stock. They are beautiful big eggs that are amazing in baking and great just plain old sunny side up. 6 Duck Eggs for $8.
So we’ve got some great specials this week and a couple of stories behind them…
Our soup this week is mushroom and hazelnut. When I was in Seattle a couple weekends ago, I stocked us up on Holmquist Orchard (www.holmquisthazelnuts.com/) hazelnuts. I consider them local because their farm is just across the border from Abbotsford near Lynden, WA. That’s Canada to the North of their farm in the picture. They planted their trees in 1928 and the fifth generation is now running the farm. We buy their dry roast nuts and they are sweet and tasty. We are looking into bringing them in for sale at Forage, but in the mean time the soup this week will include some of the hazelnuts and some of their cold pressed hazelnut oil.
Also this week we are trying a pork belly and beans dish that will include cured and braised Berkshire pork and white beans. Not exactly pork and beans, but an even more delicious play on that.
I’ve posted a great newsletter from Peter Haase of Buffalo Horn Ranch to the website. He was able to summarize some of the issues facing our global food system and it is worth a read.
Also, dee Hobsbawn- Smith’s book Shop Talk is now available at Forage. It is an invaluable resource for everything food related in Calgary.
Here is the menu for this week:
Monday - BBQ Bison Casserole
Buffalo Horn Ranch bison, green peppers, and potatoes in tangy BBQ sauce with a cornmeal biscuit top $14
Tuesday - Moussaka
Ground Cakadu Heritage lamb, Gull Valley Green house eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes and spices topped with bechamel $13
Wednesday - Spinach Risotto Cake
Spinach risotto cake served with caponata $12
Thursday - Italian Meatballs
Broek Pork Acres Berkshire pork meatballs simmered in tomato sauce served with penne $12
Friday - Chicken Pot Pie
Sunworks Farm organic chicken, potatoes, carrots and peas in a herb white sauce with biscuit top $10 add a green salad $4
This Week’s Soup – Mushroom and Hazelnut $8
This Week’s Stew – Pork Belly and Beans $9
Something Sweet – Tomato Soup Spice Cake $4
Peter Haase from Buffalo Horn Ranch wrote a great piece for his monthly newsletter. I am posting part of it, with his permission, because he is able to sum up some of the issues currently affecting our global food system. Go to http://www.buffalohornranch.ca/index.htm for more info on Buffalo Horn or for information to sign up for their monthly newsletter.
Peter Haase writes:
As I pen these words a few flakes of snow are falling on the tiny green blades of grass that are struggling to find a few rays of sunshine, promising to grow into a lush crop of grass if the rains come. This has been a dry winter and spring so far, with little snowfall and no rain yet. Fortunately last summer and fall were wet, so there should be some reserve moisture in the soil. This is the time of year that farmers around the globe anticipate new beginnings and a new crop. About 60 bison calves are due to be born over the next several weeks and in about a month and a half the grass should be long enough that their moms will not have to eat dry hay again until the snow falls next winter.
Over the past several months I have been following the news of crop price increases, international shortages of rice, wheat and other foods. Food riots are happening in Mexico, Haiti, Pakistan and many other countries of the world. India and other countries are placing export bans on rice and other foods to ensure a sufficient supply at home. In Canada some of our food prices have actually fallen because the rising Canadian dollar allows us to buy more produce and processed foods from the U.S. for the same amount. The story is different in the developing world where many families who have traditionally faced a food bill of 50% or more of their take home pay, are now having to contend with price increases of 50% or more to feed their families. I guess that new 42 inch flat screen HD TV won’t be hanging in many living rooms in the Philippines this year.
I have a strong interest in food issues around the world. It is my business. This is how we put the bread on our table. But, being involved with the Slow Food Terra Madre movement, http://www.terramadre.info/ , we have become united with farmers around the world. We all face many of the same issues. Some of these have faced farmers since the beginnings of agriculture, 10,000 years ago. Will we get the rains we need for our crops, will pests such as grasshoppers destroy my crop, will my livestock remain healthy? Other issues facing farmers today include the globalization of the food system and control of the food supply by a handful of multinational corporations to which food is just a commodity to be traded around the world to the highest bidder. At one time a society required a stable local food system in order to survive. Civilizations like the Sumarians, Mayans and countless others collapsed when their local food system failed due to environmental changes. Today, thanks to cheap oil, we have developed a global food system that allows us to transport food around the planet. Countries like Ethiopia were encouraged to plant crops like coffee instead of food crops. The revenue from these cash crops would allow them to buy corn grown in Kansas or Iowa. But things are changing, the oil supply is tightening. There is a policy to turn much of that food corn (over 30% of the U.S. corn crop this year), into ethanol to fuel our cars. We still want our coffee from Ethiopia, but if they want our corn (if there is anything left), they can now pay the going price, which by the way, will cost 50% more than last year.
We probably don’t have to worry much here in Canada, we are a huge exporter of food, mostly grain and meat, but we are also large importers of fruit, vegetables and processed foods. We are a very wealthy country and even if we had a complete crop failure in Canada, we would be able to buy food from the developing world, even if it meant starvation in Africa. We are also expanding our military might, as are other western nations and if they won’t sell it to us, we’ll just take it. We still need to protect and expand our local food system in Canada by providing a reasonable living for the farmers’ time, effort and risk to put food on your table.
The point I am trying to make today is that we take our food for granted in North America. It has always been plentiful and cheap (10% of our take home pay). Consequently, we think very little about our food. What I encourage everyone to do is to think about your food, where it came from, who grew it, the environmental and social costs of producing the food and putting it on your table. Become more aware of what you are eating and you will enjoy and appreciate it more. Food is a blessing and a basic human right that should be universal. Unfortunately it’s not.
In the lane snow is glistenin’… Ah, only in Calgary do you get more snow in April than in February. On the bright side though, you have to appreciate that this snow is as good as rain, if not better, for our farms. Unlike rain, the snow can melt slowly and is able to soak into the ground over a long period of time instead of just washing away. The kind of farming you do also affects how much precipitation your soil can hold. Gert Lund has told me that his certified organic land can hold up to 6 inches of rain while many of the conventional farms in his area can only hold about an inch. That means that anything over that amount just pools in the field or washes away the nutrients, pesticides, and herbicides.
A reminder that Forage will be at the Calgary Farmers’ Market this Friday, April 25th from 1PM to 2PM with dee Hobsbawn-Smith in support of her weekend long book launch there. She will be signing copies of her new book Shop Talk and we will hopefully be sampling some new products we are developing for Forage. See you there!
Here is the menu for this week:
Monday - Roast Berkshire Pork
Broek Pork Acres Berkshire pork served with buttermilk smashed potatoes and pan gravy $14
Tuesday - Chicken Paprikash
Sunworks Farm chicken and Gull Valley Green Houses peppers in a paprika sour cream sauce with egg noodles $13
Wednesday - Vegetable Tagine
Lund’s Organic carrots, cauliflower, chick peas and tomatoes with moroccan spices and cous cous $12
Thursday - Beef Macaroni Casserole
Hoven Farms organic beef, macaroni, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage all baked with cheddar $11
Friday - Roast Chicken
Sunworks Farm organic chicken roasted until golden, served with mashed potatoes and gravy - $38 whole $25 half $14 quarter
This Week’s Soup – Cream of Tomato $7
This Week’s Stew – Spaghetti Bolognese $9
Something Sweet – Fudge Brownie $4
Forage Hours Monday to Friday 2PM to 7PM - Forage Phone 269-6551
So I’m posting a little early this week because I am off to Seattle for the weekend to eat, shop and drink. It’s all in the name of research and development! I’m checking out some farmers’ markets and some new restaurants and stocking up on supplies from places like www.worldspice.com , www.spanishtable.com , and 
www.delaurenti.com . Some of my favorite places.
This week dee Hobsbawn-Smith (www.curiouscook.net) is launching her new book Shop Talk – The Open-All-Hours Insider’s Guide to Finding Great Ingredients in Calgary, the Bow Valley and Beyond. This is going to be an invaluable resource for all of us and she has spent almost two years of exhaustive research to bring it all together. The book launch is Thursday at The Cookbook Company at 6:30 PM. Forage will be helping her with the book launch at Calgary Farmers’ Market on Friday, April 25th at 1:00 PM. I will also try to get some copies available for purchase in Forage. Thanks dee and congratulations on an incredible effort.
Here’s the menu for this week:
Monday - Italian Chicken Sausage
Grilled Sunworks Farm garlic rosemary sausage served with bell peppers and potatoes $13
Tuesday - Beef Stroganoff
Hoven Farms organic beef in a sour cream mushroom sauce with rice $13
Wednesday - Vegetable Lasagne
Roasted squash, vegetables, tomato sauce and ricotta with fresh pasta and sage cream sauce $12
Thursday - BBQ Meatloaf
Buffalo Horn Ranch bison and Hoven Farms beef meatloaf with a bbq sauce glaze served with smashed potatoes $13
Friday - Chicken Burrito
Sunworks Farm chicken, rice, beans, tomatoes, and Sylvan Star Cheddar in a Tres Marias tortilla with salsa $14
This Week’s Soup – Carrot and Ginger $7
This Week’s Stew – Bison Chili $8
Something Sweet – Lemon Poppyseed Cake $4
Forage Spring Hours Monday to Friday 2PM to 7PM
Forage Phone (403)269-6551
This week we are celebrating the carrot! Gert Lund is now done for the season and he is busy preparing his land for seeding this year’s crop. In years past his supply has lasted right through until the new crop comes in, but this year he was not able to store them as long. This is the same at other carrot growers in his area so I’m guessing that means spring is upon us The flip side of the early spring is that he has been able plant some early spinach seeds so we’ll look forward to the first of his new crop..
In celebration of his efforts, and the sweet carrots he grows organically, we are offering some of the last supply this week. Carrot Ginger soup, carrot cake, carrots in slaw, carrots in stir fry, carrots in just about everything! Enjoy! Here is the menu for this week:
Monday - Bison Tamale Pie
Buffalo Horn Ranch bison, beans, corn, and tomatoes with a cornmeal crust $13 add creamy chipotle slaw $3
Tuesday - Chicken Rigatoni
Sunworks Farm organic chicken, penne, mushrooms, spinach, tomato sauce topped with bechamel and cheese $13
Wednesday - Vegetable Pot Pie
carrots, peas, potatoes, and corn in a dill white sauce with biscuit crust $9
Thursday - Teriyaki Pork
Broek Pork Acres Berkshire patty with ginger and teriyaki glaze served with noodle and carrot stir fry $14
Friday - Roast Chicken
Sunworks Farm organic chicken roasted until golden, served with mashed potatoes and gravy - $38 whole $25 half $14 quarter
This Week’s Soup – Carrot and Ginger $7
This Week’s Stew – Chicken Chorizo Stew $8
Something Sweet – Carrot Cake $4
Forage Spring Hours Monday to Friday 2PM to 7PM