Hello again.
Now I know the answer to what starting school would do to my
posting. This has been such a huge
workload that I really haven’t had time to write posts, with all the writing I
have to do for my classes and all the time the program occupies – both in and
out of class. But when time allows, I
will continue to make posts, and this one is important.
It has now been a year that I have been following
the fight against a mega-quarry in prime farmland in Melancthon Township. Last year I attended Foodstock, a fundraiser
on a potato farm in the region that had over 70 local chefs providing tastes of
their cuisines. While the mega-quarry is
not a reality yet, the application is still alive and making its way through the
various permit processes. The Canadian
Chefs Congress along with the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community
Taskforce (NDACT) continue to fight the
project and are still raising money for legal representation to be sure the
voice of sustainability is heard. This
year, there will be another big event, and this one will be in the city, with
the expectation of more participation and a crowd that could top the 28,000
that attended Foodstock last year.
Now the cause has a large additional ally, the David
Suzuki Foundation, perhaps Canada’s most respected environmental organization. This year the event is Soupstock, and it will
be held Sunday, October 21, 2012 at Woodbine Park in Toronto, Ontario, from
11am-4pm.
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As the name suggests, all the
chefs will be serving soups, something I’m pretty sure was inspired by that
cold, windy and rainy day we had at Foodstock last year. The cost of the event is also being handled
in a somewhat different way. While last
year it was a $10 suggested donation to enter, this year entry is free but the
servings of soup will be pre-purchased with tickets. $10 will buy three servings of soup. Similar to last year, participants will be
expected to bring their own bowl and spoon.
Seeing as they are charging $10 for only 3 portions, I am guessing the
servings of soup may actually be full, or close to full, servings as opposed to
tiny tastings that they had last year.
There are well over 100 chefs this time, I’m sure a result of relocating
to Toronto. Notable attendees include
returning chefs Michael Stadtlander, Jamie Kennedy and Brad Long, and other
chefs joining include Susur Lee, perhaps Canada’s most talented chef, and Greg
Rennet, the chef from Painter’s Hall right here in Barrie, the subject of one
of my posts this summer. The set list
for the musical portion of the day is also considerably more extensive.
I will be attending this year as well. While I am very busy, Soupstock is taking
place during my reading week, when I will not be in Barrie and will have access
to transportation. Furthermore, this
time I have a larger network of friends and colleagues and I will make an
effort to spread the word and suggest to many of my classmates that this would
be a worthwhile event. Since some of
them live in the Toronto area and might be home for reading week, I hope some
of them may be able to attend and lend their support to this cause.
Again, I ask any of my readers who live in the
Greater Toronto Area to please consider attending this event and lend your
support to this very important cause.
You can taste soup of some of the best chefs in the country and keep up
the fight against the mega-quarry. For
information about the mega-quarry visit the Soupstock website or refer to my post from last year. And in addition to
my voice, I include this message from David Suzuki of the David Suzuki
Foundation.
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Oh, and of course, one more thing. Happy Birthday to me!! I'm 31 now, and at least I'm finally making some progress towards my future.
