Canada
We Want It! – Toronto Recycling Video
September 2, 2010 by Katherine Hui
This is brilliant! It’s like the 118 guys and the ‘We buy any car crew’ all smacked into one ridiculous commercial about electronic waste recycling. What’s not to like?! It’s a silly and seemlingly effective campaign to get local residents in the Toronto area thinking about how to adequately dispose of ewaste.
To watch some of the other equally amusing videos, visit the City of Toronto’s website to see more (Yes, this is a city council funded film 
).
(Spotted on Unconsumption)
Apple Fair in Kelowna
September 1, 2010 by Susan McKee
Fall is the season for apple fests, Road Trips Foodies. One of ‘em takes place October 23, 2010, in Kelowna, British Columbia. It’s the 22nd year for the annual fest held by the British Columbia Orchard Industry’s Museum. Not surprisingly, it celebrates the apple harvest and gives visitors the chance to sample over two dozen locally-grown apple varieties.
The Apple Fair is traditionally held in the Laurel Packinghouse at 1304 Ellis Street, Kelowna. However, due to renovations at the Laurel Packinghouse, this year’s Apple Fair will be held at Orchard Park Shopping Centre, 2271 Harvey Avenue, Kelowna. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and admission is free.
What Do They Eat in Canada?
August 31, 2010 by Sasha Martin
Canada is so much more than igloos and icicles. We’re talking about the second largest country in the world, after all.
Canadian food reflects the tastes of a people living in a landscape as varied as it is massive. There are foggy fishing villages on the eastern shore, towering, razor sharp mountains to the west, and a breathtaking expanse of plains within the heart of this great country. Peppered with about two million lakes, there’s no end to the wildlife and fish available.
The country is experiencing a similar real food movement to the United States, celebrating local produce, farmers and manufacturers in an effort to support local economy. The effect on the food scene includes restaurants featuring many farmstand delights, such as local cheese, fruits and vegetables, like sweet blueberries, tart cranberries, and juicy summertime tomatoes.
Some prized locally grown products include wild rice and fiddlehead ferns. Canadian wild rice, black as night, and at least three times as long as regular rice, carries nutty, whole grain flavor. Bright green, tightly coiled fiddlehead ferns also make their way into many Canadian dishes, from stir-fries to soups. Once only a springtime delicacy, this tender green has become so…
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Kettle Valley Rail and Wine Trail
August 29, 2010 by Claire Rogers
The Kettle Valley Rail Trail isn’t all remote mountain views and trestles; we rode beside grapevines and past winery doors on a section from Penticton to cute little Naramata. I liked Naramata, lovely by the lake, but also because it reminded me of Australian names, many of which end with …ata, sometimes …atta. Homesick for Australian wine country again. 
We didn’t buy a lot of British Columbia wines, partly because we would have to pay for any in excess of two each, and because of the premium prices. In general the wines we tasted were not as complex as in other areas we’ve visited, but the good ones are really quite good. It’s a little disturbing to see that boutique wineries are turning to various gimmicks to get tasters in, and then sometimes charging exorbitant tasting fees.I fear the focus is more on theater than winemaking. So it’s best to pass on the flash and go to the wineries who show a focus on the grapes and the wines. We’re looking forward to getting back to the Willamette Valley in Oregon.
Stickybits: The Newest Addition to the Business Social Media Toolkit?
August 27, 2010 by Kayley Brooks
This year’s SXSWi-ers were the first user group to be introduced to the world of Stickybits, a new user-gen content-and-location app. It’s been making pretty big waves across social and news media so we decided it was time to have a go with it in the office.
Essentially, it is a barcode to which you can upload content with your smartphone and stick to real-life objects. You can attach any sort of content to it (pictures, images, copy, audio, etc…) including the location, if you want. Other people can then discover and scan the barcode to see what you’ve uploaded (the content that ‘owns’ the bar code) and can add content to it (a bit like commenting on a blog – so everyone who scans/views the code after you will be able to view the content you’ve added).
Try scanning the barcode above (you will have to download the app, but it’s free) to see how it works.
Official barcodes can be bought or downloaded from the Stickybits site but, in an interesting twist, you can apparently also ‘tag’ (add) your content to existing barcodes as well (yep, even the one on that…
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Top 10 Blueberry Destinations
August 23, 2010 by Susan McKee
Over at Gadling, travelwriter Andrew Evans has compiled his list of the top ten blueberry destinations in the world.
Your Road Trips Foodie doesn’t agree with all of them (she’d add both Indiana and Finland to the list), but, for what it’s worth, here are his choices:
*Maine
*Iceland
*Québec (especially in the the Saguenay-Lac St. Jean region of northern Québec)
*New Jersey (epicenter of commercial blueberry farming)
*Nova Scotia (Wild Blueberry Festival)
*East Texas
*Michigan (National Blueberry Festival)
*South Korea
*Poland
*Alaska
Canada’s Kettle Valley Rail Trail
August 23, 2010 by Claire Rogers
Claire on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail
In the summer of 1997 we did a Zippy (our tandem) tour of British Columbia and Alberta, 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles). Toward the end of our two months, we said goodbye to Steve Richards who’d been with us for three weeks in the mountains of Southern BC. Steve was later to finish his own trans-Canada tour. We got on the, still unfinished, Kettle Valley Railway (rail trail) bypassing Kelona and on to Penticton. The Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park is the most spectacular section of the trail, with 18 trestles and two tunnels in an 8.5 kilometer section. On this section, we met a couple who invited us to stay in their cabin near Penticon. They were obviously experts on riding the trail; they had us riding the unfinished trestles, with six-inch spaces between cross-beams; we had to keep up quite a bit of speed to keep from shaking the fillings from our teeth, but it was fun. Unfortunately I can’t remember their names, but they might be found in the Canadian Love Story, British Columbia/Alberta section on this site.
We were heartbroken to learn that the Okanagan fires of 2003 burned most…
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Neighborhood Nosh in British Columbia
August 22, 2010 by Susan McKee
Wandering British Columbia? There’s a great opportunity if you’re in the vicinity of the BC Wine Museum, 1304 Ellis Street, Kelowna, BC, between 4 and 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of any month.
The Neighborhood Nosh is a low-key chance to taste, learn about, and buy British Columbia wines. No need to make a reservation. Just drop in. The VQA Wine Shop staff will be pouring!
The VQA Wine Shop carries Vintners Quality Alliance wines from over 40 BC wineries.
Goodby Alaska, Hello Again Canada
August 19, 2010 by Claire Rogers
Photo from Turtle in Yukon Territory, Canada
We had to leave Alaska without getting to take the Top Of The World Highway out because a second storm caused a blowout of the road in Alaska. In Whitehorse, two days later, we discovered we could have taken it had we waited one more day. Unfortunately the Alaska highway department wasn’t giving out predictions, and the first closure forecast was for more than a week.
We did enjoy a great boondock on a lake in Yukon, with a beautiful bike ride the day after, on our way to Whitehorse.
Motorhomes traveling through smoke on the Stewart Cassiar Highway in Yukon Territory
We were unsure if we would be able to travel the Stewart Cassiar Highway into British Columbia because of ongoing forest fires. The road had been closed for a couple of weeks, but we heard rumors that they were caravaning vehicles through on some days. We were there early, among the first in line. It was an interesting 50 kilometers or so, with small flames visible along the road at times and…
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Nourishing the Planet and Slow Food in Vancouver Sun
August 17, 2010 by Danielle Nierenberg
Nourishing the Planet has had its first Canadian op-ed published in the Vancouver Sun! Co-authored by Slow Food International’s director of international development and Nourishing the Planet Advisory Group member Shayna Bailey and NtP’s co-project director Danielle Nierenberg, the article details how the value and popularity of eating local food is spreading to a global audience.
The op-ed describes the Developing Innovations in School Cultivation (DISC) project in Uganda and Mangeons Local in Senegal and their efforts to help school children learn about local agriculture and the culinary traditions of their countries. With support from organizations like Slow Food International, they are engaging the next generation of farmers.
For more about Nourishing the Planet’s work with Slow Food International and projects they support see: Reigniting an Interest in Local food, Meet the Nourishing the Planet Advisory Group: Shayna Bailey, How to Keep Kids ”Down on the Farm”, and Innovation of the Week: Agriculture Education in School.
