The Mega-Quarry is Dead!!

For more than a year now, from Foodstock to Soupstock, I have brought you news of the fight against a giant quarry planned for rural Ontario that would be devastating to the environment. Environmentalists, community leaders and chefs have all been involved to save this prime Ontario farmland and ensure that our land and water remains secure.

Now I have found out that Highland Companies has withdrawn their application for the mega-quarry, specifically referencing a lack of community support for the project. They also expressed displeasure that an environmental assessment had been ordered.

Victory! In an era when large corporate interests always seem to carry the day, it is wonderful and heartening to see a grass-roots community based movement take down a damaging plan from a powerful corporation. And it is clear that the end of the mega-quarry is DIRECTLY tied to these grass roots efforts.

28,000 people attended Foodstock on a remote farm on a cold and windy day last year and a similar crowd converged on Woodbine Park in Toronto last month for Soupstock. And the community groups that rallied around the cause took up as their first challenge lobbying for an environmental assessment for the mega-quarry despite the fact that provincial law did not require one. Fortunately the governing Liberal party was facing an upcoming election and decided to order one to appeal to their base. Then they survived the election and actually carried through on that promise. Now Highland finds the approval process asking many more questions and that they have no community support, so they drop the project and withdraw the application. As they still own that huge tract of land, it is not fully dead, and Highland has not ruled out applying to start a smaller quarry at some future time, still the massive impending disaster of a mega-quarry will not happen. This would not have been possible without so many people mobilizing against it and making their voices heard.

Since I never got around to reporting on Soupstock, despite attending the event, I will write a little and post a few pictures in this post. It was an absolutely beautiful day, a little warmer than average for late October and sunny all day long. This time, we had to buy tickets to get servings of soup, with 3 servings costing $10. I found that this was worth it, as each serving of soup was actually a full portion. Like last year, I attended the event with my mom, and we had about 6 servings each. As this was a month ago, my memories aren't quite as clear as I would like, but some highlights were an onion soup with braised Cumbrae Farms lamb, a hot and sour soup prepared by Susur Lee, a potato, leek, and sunchoke (Jerusalem artichoke) soup with bacon, and a peach soup with granola and yogurt. Almost every soup we had was excellent and offered something noteworthy. As this was a park in Toronto, many people brought their dogs along, which added to the friendliness of the atmosphere.

So, great news for Ontarians and all those who care about the environment and sustainability. This may not be over forever, but it still a victory and a sigh of relief.

Soupstock 2012 - Still Fighting the Mega-Quarry

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.

A Mega-Quarry Update

If you recall, last fall I wrote two posts about the proposal to create a mega-quarry on prime farm land in Dufferin County, not far from where I live, and about Foodstock, a celebrity chef fundraiser to raise money and awareness for the cause.  I had mentioned a pending environmental review, but there was also a revision ordered to the Aggregate Resources Act, that lays out the manner by which quarries are to be set up and operated in the Province.  On Monday, I received an email from the Canadian Chef's Congress Foodstock Committee, saying that they had received word that the review was scheduled to start on that very day.  This is prime planting season, so the affected farmers will not be able to attend these meetings, and the time allotted for public consultation is too small.  Below is the email sent to me.

Foodstock Call to Action   Dearest Friends in Arms, As you know, back on September 1st the government promised that they would undertake a review of the Aggregate Resources Act. We have consistently attempted to get information on the process and when it would start, and just found out that the review will start in Toronto on Monday, May 7, 2012. Not only is the hearing taking place in Toronto (a place from which no aggregate is extracted), it is also taking place during prime planting season (virtually omitting the participation of farmers and others whose livelihoods depend on the preservation of farmland). It feels very tricky and we suspect that it is. The government has set aside just 4 short sessions to gather public input and we'd like to create a groundswell of participation to jam these sessions (there are currently only 12 hours allocated to public comment) so that they have to extend and expand the hearing. This is our chance to be heard and to share input on the future of how aggregate is extracted in this province. People wanting to voice their concerns have been asked to contact Sylvia Przezdziecki and Tamara Pomanski (their email addresses and a sample note are below). Please consider taking the time to write to them to request a chance to speak, or to voice your concerns about the destruction of farmland for aggregate.  Please also consider sending this email along to your friends--our hope is to extend the hearing and to prove to the government that we can't be caught unprepared. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” —Edmund Burke Sincerely, Michael Stadtlander, President Canadian Chefs' Congress and on behalf of the Foodstock Committee members Sample email Subject: Public Participation: Aggregate Resources Act To: sylwia_przezdziecki@ontla.ola.org, tamara_pomanski@ontla.ola.org Dear Sylvia and Tamara, I am an Ontario resident and taxpayer.  I ask that the Government of Ontario, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Standing Committee established to review the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) amend the ARA to address the following values: 1.  Make conservation of aggregate, a non-renewable resource, a priority over approval of new extraction sites.  Conservation can occur through aggregate recycling and use of alternative materials. 2.  Reserve virgin aggregate, a non-renewable resource, for use within Canada. 3. Prohibit aggregate extraction below the water table without a full Environmental Assessment and full understanding of the impact on all areas, near and far. 4. Prohibit aggregate extraction below the water table in drinking water source areas. 5.  Develop a process and guidelines for identifying and designating new Specialty Crop Areas to safeguard unique agricultural land resources.  Prohibit aggregate extraction in Specialty Crop Areas. 6. Conduct a thorough study of all existing aggregate reserves in Ontario.  We cannot know what we need until we know what we have. 7. Develop an “Aggregate Master Plan” and disallow new aggregate mining licenses within the Niagara Escarpment Plan Area, Oak Ridges Moraine and Green Belt until the “Aggregate Master Plan” has been approved by the province. 8.  Provide an assessment of the cumulative affects (dust, noise, air quality, traffic emissions; effects on water) of the “Aggregate Master Plan” on Ontario residents by district. 9.  Require that new quarry proposals demonstrate the need for additional aggregate resource extraction in meeting the demands of the Ontario market. 10.  Mandate that an Environmental Assessment occur for all new or expanding aggregate operations. 11.  Realign the cost of virgin aggregate to reflect reality.  Economically, aggregate is a low-priced, heavy-weight commodity that takes the bulk of its cost from transportation. Today, however, the price of virgin aggregate must include the activism necessary by residents to fight for their best interest despite the elected and public institutions designed to represent and protect the public interest.  As well, the cost must encompass the environmental cost on residents.  In other words the market cost for virgin aggregate is unrealistically cheap. Create a management system that works for residents and price the product accordingly. 12.  Address what will happen to the operators of small aggregate resources if a mega-quarry becomes the sanctioned approach.  What will small operators do when they are subjected to the monopolistic power of the goliath-like mega-quarry? Until such time as the above noted issues are sufficiently addressed, I do not consider the ARA an up-to-date and relevant piece of legislation. Sincerely,

follow on Twitter friend on Facebook forward to a friend  Copyright © 2012 Canadian Chefs' Congress Ltd., All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you attended the Canadian Chefs' Congress's FoodStock in 2011. Our mailing address is: Canadian Chefs' Congress Ltd. 148 Pearson Avenue Toronto, Ontario M6R 1G5 Canada Add us to your address book  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

I definitely agree with what is said here and with the importance of making sure this isn't all kept quiet so big business can do whatever they want to cropland, not to mention the watershed.  I will be acting on this.  The email also asks that this email be sent to friends, so here it is.  And I hope those readers who are actually residents of Ontario will also decide they want their voices heard so the government can know the environment and the food supply is at least as important as building materials.

Oh, also as a foodie and former cook, I also consider it cool and a bit of an honour that I have a communication from Chef Michael Statdlander, one of the best chefs in this area.  Sure, it isn't an actual signature and not addressed to me directly, but still...well, I like it.

A Day At Foodstock

I’m sure you are eager for news of how Foodstock turned out (at least some of you are), so here is my report and review of the event.

We planned to arrive around about a half hour after the official opening time of 11am, so we left Guelph at 10am, planning for about a 90 minute drive though the countryside. As it turned out we got within a couple miles of the farm in only an hour and 10 minutes - then came the first clue as to how popular this event was to be. All of a sudden, we hit total gridlock. When we eventually got to 20th sideroad and made the left turn I was able to really see how far back the line of cars continued down county rd 124. The volunteers did their best to let people know where the parking was and guided people in fairly well but, due to them lineups, it took about 50 minutes to get to the field being used as the main parking lot - a distance of maybe a few miles, if that. Seeing all the cars already parked there, in another full parking lot, and along the sides of a few sideroads as well as all the cars still on the road behind us, it was clear that many thousands of people were attending. Add that to the several buses that were bringing people from Toronto, Guelph, Collingwood and other places and this makes for massive attendance. I was wondering how many people would show up, as the forecast had been calling for rain most of the week and that day’s forecast was calling for mix of sun and cloud with a chance of rain. Driving up, it was raining in Guelph but closer to the event the weather was beautiful. Later in the day, the weather was more mixed, with intermittent showers, and a cold wind by mid-afternoon. The great thing, though is it didn’t seem to bother too many of the attendees. They came prepared and committed; perfectly willing to accept a little discomfort for a great experience.




There were close to 100 chefs at the event, from restaurants in Toronto, Collingwood, Niagara, the local area and many other places in Ontario and two from outside the province. Each booth was spread along a network of paths leading through a forested area and around the outside of that area. The paths were quite muddy, but people were warned to bring boots.  At each booth, the chefs served up tasting portions of a dish prepared especially for the event. There were rather long lineups at most, if not all, of the stations, which meant a good deal of time was spent waiting in line. Also there was no place to sit, but these two things kind of worked together; you would get one bit of food and you would eat that while you waited in the next line. I did not even get to half of the booths, especially since by the afternoon many were starting to run out of food. Still I must have had at least 20-25 different tastes, possibly more.




All the food was of high quality and as there were so many different things I can not even remember all of them. Many offerings featured potatoes, as this is a potato farm. Also, given the weather and number of people to feed, it was not at all surprising that there were a great many soups and stews on offer. An early standout was a Jerusalem artichoke soup with brown butter. They heated the soup on a campfire and suspended the pot rather than placing it on a grate.



Another standout establishment was Café Belong, a new restaurant in Toronto owned by celebrity chef Brad Long who has made multiple appearances on Food Network. Long was there himself, shucking and serving oysters. They also featured a vegetarian stew that was quite tasty and enhanced to spectacular effect by a chutney (don't remember what it was though). And the freshly shucked Malpeque oysters were among the best oysters I have ever had - juicy and very pleasantly briny. My mom has never really liked oysters but tried one and loved it - much to her surprise.

Later came two very good fish dishes: a smoked whitefish mousse with local potato chips (not sure if they were made commercially or in-house but they were phenomenal), then arctic char hot-smoked over a bed of hay and served on a thin slice of daikon with some sliced onion.




There was a very good apple and pumpkin cake that really got some nice juiciness from the apple.  Then was what I think was the best bite of the day - Le Select Bistro offered mustard-braised rabbit on a white corn polenta with dandelion greens, topped with julienned apple and pea shoots.  This was one of the more elaborate and composed dishes, yet still warm and comforting with a stunning  flavour.

Caplansky’s food truck, the only food truck operating in the Toronto area (though they are still not allowed to operate downtown) was at Foodstock as well, and offered smoked turkey on a beet-flavoured goat cheese. Maybe not one of the best items but still very good.

By this time we were in the area closer to the main stage where the musical performances would take place and the lines were even longer. There were some very good apple crullers dusted with maple sugar and served with an apple caramel. Then we entered what we thought was the line for the next booth but it was in fact a line that continued past several booths in a steady flow. First was pulled pork on an apple slice. Then was the George Brown college chef school which had several offerings: a squash soup with candied pecans, an excellent antipasto on fresh bread, and apricots preserved in an icewine syrup. Then was celebrated chef Jamie Kennedy’s booth. He was serving french fries.   No kidding. Of course he used potatoes from farms in the township and they were absolutely perfect.  It was raining when we were served, but the fries stayed crispy and they had some nice herb seasoning. They came with a choice of two mayonnaise-based dipping sauces, a chilli mayo or a cider vinegar mayo which was very tasty. There was also a good smoked pork sausage with an apple compote. Then finally came Michael Statdlander's booth, occupying the ultimate prime location right next to the main stage. That was only appropriate as he was the organizer of this entire group of chefs. He was serving a potato, pumpkin and cabbage soup with smoked bacon, which he ladled out of a giant pumpkin.  One booth I regret not stopping at was one that had bison prosciutto which the chefs were carving as they went.

Chef Stadtlander with his "No" Pumpkin

Yes, that is a leg of bison, cured like a prosciutto

We left a little after 3:30. The wind had picked up, it was getting a bit cold, and most of the food had run out.  There were many big name musical performances yet to come on the main stage, but that wasn't really the reason I was there. But for those that stayed on, the final hour and a half of the event featured performances from the Barenaked Ladies, Jim Cuddy and Sarah Harmer, among others. 

It was very hard to gauge exactly how many people showed up at Foodstock but the numbers were clearly massive. Based on a quick view of how many cars were parked in the field, it seemed quite likely there were at least 5,000 to 10,000 attendees, and of course the buses likely brought many more. Some of the preliminary estimates are suggesting there were as many as 28,000 -30,000 people on this one farm on that one day. That amounts to half the population of the entire county and was most likely the most attended event ever held in Dufferin County. Up to 30,000 people were willing to drive a good way to visit this beautiful bit of farmland and make a statement that this land must be kept as a potato farm, and a mega quarry is a very bad use of this land. There are also some  suggestions that the organizers may do this again next year. Now that an environmental assessment has been ordered, there will not be any final decision on approval of a quarry for several years, which will mean that the quarry opponents will have a long fight ahead of them with plenty of legal expenses to pay for. Proceeds from Foodstock and donations to the NDACT will pay for legal costs and advocacy work to make sure that the environmental assessment is done properly and addresses all of the potential risks. There was also some worry in previous weeks about what effect the provincial election might have had, as the opposition Conservative party is very pro big business and seems to be against environmental concerns (they are very much like the US Republicans) and if they had won it was very likely they would overturn the call for the assessment. As it happened though, the Liberals barely won re-election so what was agreed to before will continue. No decision will be made as to approving the quarry for years. Still that does not mean there is no risk, since many environmentally damaging projects still receive a go-ahead despite such concerns.  I am glad many of you care about this issue; while aggregate is always needed for building projects, it is not acceptable to take Ontario's most fertile land and take it out of food production, especially when there is also a real risk of damaging so many important watersheds.

For more information on the fight against the mega-quarry and for the latest news and updates on the fight, visit the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce (NDACT) at www.ndact.com Those of you from Canada are also encouraged to contact your local members of federal and provincial parliament to make your views known. NDACT has petitions that can be signed and sent in (the government needs original signatures so an online petition is not available). There are also links to related media articles and you can also follow no mega quarry on facebook and twitter.