Edmonton groups fight hunger with local food
Non-profits tackle food insecurity with fruits and vegetables but systemic issues remain
Read the full article in the link below.
FOS - Edmonton Prime Times Article - September 03, 2018
Source: https://www.edmontonprimetimes.com/article...
CTV Coverage
Des Melanka and her cameraman spent a day picking rhubarb, watching us make ketchup and finally put our story together for a spot on the news. Thanks for the spot! Here is the link to the video.
September 2013 bounty
Local Bounty
We are just completing our third year of creating. The first year we collected apples and crab apples in the autumn and rhubarb the following summer and that sure seemed like a lot of local fruit. As we grew over the last 2 years we have been gifted with more and more local fruits and are totally surprised with the treasures that grow in this city. This photo shows the bounty gathered in a couple of days in the middle of September when we were in our harvesting frenzy. If you look closely you will see rhubarb in all colours, local pears, tarragon (for crab apple tarragon jelly), boxes of local apples and sweet little crab apples, sour cherries, and in the middle - local concord grapes. The gold lids around the cherries are full of juices we have been busy producing as a way of saving this bounty for winter work.
What is not in this photo are the following locally rescued treasures we have tucked away for creative time in the winter: local apricots, honey berries, saskatoons, lovely plums (golden yellow, red and purple), some chokecherries and a lovely variety of local herbs. What will we make with these? Some are destined to go into products already on our list, but there are some new fruits that will be carefully considered. The honey berries will probably go into something for the Compliments line as there is only a small amount and we want to highlight them. The plums will be fun as there are enough to create a run big enough to go into the Seasonal Specialties listing on the web. The apricots will go into Apricot Amber - a great condiment for cheeses in the Compliments line. The herbs will find their way into a variety of items over the winter, so look for new taste options. Finally we have a challenge with the grapes. It is the first year with enough lovely concord grapes and we will make a condiment with them. It will be a challenge to keep the lovely flavour and keep it on the savoury side. However we do like challenges, so look for it in the Compliments lines as the gift season opens.
How will you find these new items? If we have over 250 jars they will be in the Seasonal Specialties section on our list of Preserves for Sale. The others will find their way into the local Farmer's Markets or craft and gift shows. It is the advantage of shopping locally - you get to be our tasters for new products or to purchase the small unique craft offerings. Anyone can send us a request if you interested in these special batches that are not listed on the web and we can tell you what is available at that time.
Thank you to our supporters in the Edmonton, St. Albert and Sherwood Park area. It is amazing what you grow and have chosen to share with us.
We Have Stepped Into the Big World
As we close in on our first year of fruit rescue in our neighbourhood, we are celebrating another step in our growth. We started selling our preserves in our community league hall and to friends and family who tasted and liked our products. Then this July we started selling at the Callingwood Farmer's Market on Wednesdays and Sundays.
This has been a great opportunity to see what people like and to watch their reactions as they read our sign about "rescued fruit". We get laughs, questions and looks of distrust. It is to these people that offer that we don't pick things up off the ground or out of the garbage. That often gets a nod but they continue to move on quickly. It is such an interesting way to sort out those who understand that food comes from the earth and those who just want things in plastic and cellophane.
The attached photo is of two of our volunteers who sell at the Wednesday markets setting up with the assistance of my granddaughter.
We have been watching the Eat Local initiative here in Edmonton and the Good Food Box program that specializes in promoting local producers and local products. We looked at our jams made with rhubarb picked within walking distance of our kitchen and raspberries that hang into our back lanes, also being rescued by us and agreed that this is about as 'eat local' as one can get.
We have good jams and preserves and with our courage rustled up, we approached the Good Food Box to see if they would be interested in our product. Our contact, Heidi was very encouraging and sent us off with some challenges to sort out and ideas for moving forward. As we were sorting things out, we also approached Earth's General Store here in Edmonton to see if Michael would carry our preserves and he gave us our first order.
Finally after getting labels and other issues sorted out, we were ready to make our first delivery to the Good Food Box and to Earth's General Store with 5 of our more popular products. And today was the day! We labelled, packaged and delivered our first orders today. Lorraine - a friend and neighbour took photos of each jar with it's lovely new label as I surrounded each jar with the fruits that we preserved inside. Here is a sample of our work that will be in the listings of the Good Food Box.
So as the title says - we have made another step in our program of using what grows naturally here in our community - using it to feed people and to show that we do have local resources. It is all done by homeowners sharing their bounty, some volunteers picking, some doing the preserving, and others doing design, printing and photographing. It does take a community and together we are starting to show just what can be done.
It is a day of celebration!