The problem, I find, with the food industry is that…

Soon after you feed your customers, they are hungry again and they come back for more.

This pressure of continual hunger from your customers has put a great strain on the industry, encouraging businesses to fill that hunger need with whatever means possible. This pressure is true not only for the little local minded food businesses, but also for the large multinational food corporations.

You can go into a fast food chain and find the same hamburger across North America because of the demand for consistency for that hamburger. And you can also find chefs of small restaurants sacrificing sleep whilst they scour the city for a bag of locally grown onions for tomorrows special because there is a demand for the knowledge of where your food comes from. The pressure is the same for all sectors of the food industry.

 
(more…)

It’s official: the backlash against local food has begun. May it be as short-lived as it is ill-conceived.

Earlier this year, a Toronto couple released ‘The Localvore’s Dilemma’, critiquing the localvore movement and turning on its head many of the valorous claims it made. Lower carbon footprint? More ethically sourced? All quantifiably bunk, say authors Pierre Desrochers and Hiroko Shimizu.

But they miss the most important motivating factor of the local food movement.

It’s never been about quantitative trade-offs on miles-trucked or litres-of-pesticide-sprayed. It’s about satisfying a deep, emotional desire to feel connected to what’s on our plate.

Two years ago, at Pecha Kucha night 8, I delivered a talk about some of the tensions of local food – the need to overcome the geographic barriers of our cold, continental climate; the fickleness of the tastemakers that deem local food trendy and authentic; and the risk of cooption from bigger players in the agrifood business. But in my talk, I forgot one divisive, and perhaps unsolvable challenge: isolation.

 
(more…)

Edmonton’s NextGen presents MEÆT 3.0 | MICRO-FUNDING TOGETHER | Mystery MEÆT Edition on June 28, 2012, at 6:00 PM at a mystery location! A project of ENGAGE, producers of the popular DIYalouge and Candi{date} forums, MEÆT brings local creatives and Edmontonians together for an evening of short pitches followed by a shared meal. At the end of the meal, all diners (each of whom put $10 to the pot, no charge for the food) vote on which proposal receives the pot of funds to move forward with their project: immediate funding for awesome ideas! For more information on MEÆT, to register as diner, or to pitch an idea, visit www.meaet.com.   All diners and presenters are to meet at Century Park Bus Terminal at 6:00 PM sharp to be whisked away by ETS to the top-secret MEÆT 3.0 location.

“MEÆT 3.0 brings us together for a meal and to fund home-grown projects. By getting together and pooling our wealth we can avoid bureaucracy, get right down to the meat of an idea and make it happen. We’re thrilled to partner with ETS and the City of Edmonton to offer our Mystery MEÆT edition. We hope you’ll join us on this adventure; stay tuned to the NextGen Twitter and Facebook pages for  updates and more information,” says Carol Neuman, Engage Working Group Co-Chair.

Edmonton NextGen is looking for MEÆTing participants – limited space is available:

1. Presenters: Apply to have a project funded, present your project & come enjoy dinner;
2. Diners: Come enjoy dinner, experience the presentations, vote for your favorite, and donate $10 to fund something awesome;
3. Less than 30 spots remain; register as a Presenter or Diner at www.meaet.com.

Another Earth Day, another avalanche of press releases and sales flyers. Sometimes it feels like ‘green’ has become another hokey sales pitch for gadgets you don’t need, doesn’t it? However, Earth Day is more than just an opportunity to get a great deal on a rain barrel at the hardware store. It’s a chance to rethink how our everyday actions have an impact, not just on the planet, but closer to home.

Want to make your impact on the planet and your community a positive one? Try slowing your life down.

 
(more…)

Historically, the decision to purchase local was an easy one. You would never have to make a point to do so, and in fact would have to deliberately seek out an alternative. Unfortunately, in current market conditions it is often cheaper to buy goods produced afar despite the added cost of packaging, transportation, etc.. Despite this, support for locally owned businesses is growing as

more and more people are discovering the intrinsic value in spending their money somewhere besides the major chains.

When talking about the environment, it’s easy to get caught up on green initiatives. While these are certainly important, now more than ever, we wanted to focus on the urban environment, the city we live in, and ways in which we can develop and improve it.
 
(more…)

April’s NextGen Speaks Out! theme will be environment

 
April is traditionally when we start seeing the grass start greening and life starting to poke out of the ground. April also touts national events such as Earth Hour (technically held March 31st but close enough) and Earth Day (April 22). Local events start gearing up and the city starts their Capital City Clean-up Programs.

There is a perception that you have to live in the cold and the dark to be green but in reality environmental issues and solutions aren’t just about being green and don’t have to require a hardcore committment. Caring about our environment can really mean simple and small changes to your day to day behaviour. This means a little something different to each of us and that is okay because the collaborative effort is what makes a difference. The simple changes you could consider could mean taking transit, recycling, installing a compost area or solar panels, shopping at a farmer’s market or a local establishment, planting a garden, participating in clean-up events and much much more.

This month we’ll be bringing your posts that expand on those options. They might expose you to new information that you hadn’t heard about before or inspire you to make a small change to your own routine or encourage you to suggest solutions to others.

We also want you to engage in discussion. Come on nextgener’s we know you have opinions and thoughts on these themes too. We’d love for you to comment, start a discussion, and share these posts with your networks.

Check back weekly as we will be adding new NextGen Speaks Out! posts regularly. We’re looking forward to it and hope you do too!

Disclaimer
NextGen Speaks Out, our guest blogging series, is envisioned as a hub for information and discussion. NextGen is a non-political, non-denominational organization focused on giving all nextgeners a voice. NextGen does not represent the opinions expressed by the individual columnists.