Books

An entertaining, informative, thought provoking book by a couple of Canadian writers about the trials and tribulations of their quest to eat only foods grown within 100 miles of their Vancouver home for a year. They share their experiences, motivations and challenges backed up by facts and statistics, but keeping it accessible and humorous.

Locavore by Sarah Elton is a blueprint for Canada's local "good food" revolution, it describes how foodies, urbanites, famers, gardeners and chefs across Canada are creating a new local food order that is sustainable and can feed us all.

In 'Pasture Perfect; the far-reaching benefits of choosing meat, eggs and dairy products from grass-fed animals' Jo Robinson is championing a more natural way to raise livestock, by presenting compelling evidence that pasture raised is not only better for the animals, but also for the farmers, the planet and you!

Michael Pollan, author of 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' and 'In Defence of Food', has distilled the research and advice of both previous books into 64 short rules to help us eat better for ourselves and for the planet.

With a full title of "The Compassionate Carnivore or, how to keep animals happy, save old MacDonald's farm, reduce your hoofprint, and still eat meat" this book from it's front cover let's you know it's purpose. And I feel it more than follows through in a light, positive manner that offers hope to those of us that do not want to give up meat, but have moral, ethical or health concerns about eating meat.

An accessible, thoughtful look at our industrial food system and the alternatives. Joel Salatin is an optimistic clean farmer who hopes to bring other clean food farmers and their local communities together, to work together towards a food system that is good for the environment, the farmers and the consumer. He hopes to educate and empower consumers to vote with their dollars to pursue a healthier, sustainable alternative to the industrial food system.

Fat by Jennifer McLagan is an award winning book that deserves a place on your shelves as not only a cookbook, but also an invaluable reference book and a generally entertaining read. With a common sense approach it sets out to enlighten us to the importance of fat for taste and health reasons, along the way sharing historical facts, anecdotes, quotations, and of course recipes.

'Bones: Recipes, History & Lore' by Jennifer McLagan is a reminder to us that meat and fish cooked on the bone is tastier and better for us. Alongside the recipes, she provides facts, anecdotes, and history, that all serve to inspire the reader to try different cuts and make the most of our most valuable resource - food.

Fresh by John Bishop and Dennis Green, is a collection of more than ninety award-winning seasonal recipes made with local foods. The focus is on fresh, seasonal ingredients, with stories scattered through the book letting us know where the ingredients came from, who nurtured them and how they were harvested. Fresh is truly an homage to local, sustainable food and the people who bring it to the table.

Fresh Canadian Bistro is a collection of recipes from top Canadian chefs assembled by Nova Scotia chef Craig Flinn. It seeks to answer the question 'what is Canadian cooking?' It is a celebration of fresh, local, seasonal foods, and less familiar ingredients; and encourages the 'let nothing go to waste' mentality. With amazing photography throughout this is a truly delicious look at Canadian fare that is bound to have your mouth watering and you planning a trip either to your kitchen or to one of the amazing restaurants mentioned.

The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail eating by Fergus Henderson with an introduction by extreme chef Anthony Bourdain, is more than a cookbook, it is a certified 'foodie' classic. In Henderson's words it is "a celebration of cuts of meat, innards, and extremities that are more often forgotten or discarded in today's kitchen" he feels it would be "disingenuous to the animal not to make the most of the whole beast" as there are "a set of delights, textural and flavoursome, which lie beyond the fillet."