Join the Cult
Ten mostly legal steps to virtuous eating By Chris Nuttall-Smith
Image credit: Maxximages.com
1. GROW YOUR OWN
Depending on the size of your back 40 (or balcony), you
can grow anything from heirloom tomatoes to corn to black mission figs. FoodShare provides tips at foodshare.net.
2. OR DON’T
Mulberries, hawthorn fruit and saskatoon berries grow
wild around the city, as do salad greens like lamb’s quarters
and purslane. You can also find such rarities as fiddleheads, wild leeks and the odd morel. They're rarities precisely because they're overpicked, so it's best to buy them from a reputable vendor at the market.
3. GIVE A CLUCK
The City of Toronto doesn’t allow backyard rearing of pigs
or chickens. But who’s going to notice a little hen or two? See backyardchickens.com. If you’re the law-abiding type, you can raise up to six rabbits in city limits.
4. CATCH A FISH
Eat fish from Lake Ontario? Absolutely. You can catch pike, pickerel, perch and even salmon here, and the lake is actually cleaner now than it’s been in the past 50 years (although you might want to stay clear of Ashbridge’s Bay). Fishontario.com
5. GET YOUR GUN
You don’t have to be a card-carrying NRA member to be a hunter. Ethically hunted wild duck, turkey, rabbit and deer—all available a few hours’ drive from downtown—are as local as any meat can get. Ofah.org provides guidelines.
6. LEARN TO PRESERVE
There’s nothing quite like opening a jar of peaches
in February (jars, unlike commercial cans, don’t impart a tinny taste, and they’re not lined with bisphenol A). Homecanning.ca
7. START A DISTILLERY
OK, so this is kind of illegal. Underground distilleries around town turn out applejack, eau-de-vie, vodka and some pretty fine absinthe, we’re told. True, poorly made moonshine can be bad for a person’s health. But at least you’ll go blind knowing the LCBO didn’t get its cut. Homedistiller.org
8. KEEP BEES
Beekeeping is perfectly legal in Toronto—so long as you keep your hives at least 30 metres away from other properties. Sign up for a workshop at foodshare.net/garden14.htm.
9. CARBONATE YOUR WATER
Nothing says “I have an enormous carbon footprint” like a bottle of San Pellegrino with dinner. Home Comfort Centre, based in Richmond Hill, offers a countertop carbonation machine for $109. Homecomfortcentre.com
10. GET POLITICAL
Pardon the public service announcement, but nothing will encourage local eating better than supporting groups that are dedicated to promoting all things locavore. Check out localfoodplus.ca, thestop.org and foodshare.net.
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