Half-Baked Granola

“Excuse me.” I heard the all-too familiar voice of my 7-year old Frogurt as he made his way to the middle of the crowd of around 100 people, “One of your chickens is out of its cage.” Ron Hamilton, owner and chief chickeneer (my word) looked at him and smiled, “Actually we don’t call them cages. They are shelters.”

This was actually our last stop on the tour of Sunworks Farm. Ever since I started my quest earlier this year to eat more locally and sustainably, I have been waiting excitedly to visit Sunworks.

I loved every minute of it - the outdoor chicken and turkey shelters, the amazing clean chicken barns (after all, this is Alberta - these birds do need a warm place for winter!), even the stinky compost barn. All the things that I have been learning about - management intensive farming (where your animals are moved daily), the synergistic relationship of the animals to the land, the importance of the feed, and giving animals enough space to live as they were meant to - I saw in action. Pigs were able to root, turkeys had room to move without stepping on each other, chickens actually got to see the light of day.

A few things to note about “traditional” meat production (that is, factory farming practiced by all-but-a-few alternative farmers like Sunworks):

1. Egg-laying chickens live in cages - actual cages. They are given a total of less than half a square foot of space. They end up pecking each other, unable to move, stressed out, sitting in their own feces. At Sunworks, each bird has about 1 1/2 square feet of space - over 3 times the space!

2. “Free range” in Canada is an extremely loose term. It has no standard definition. The majority of free range birds are housed in barns, given the same amount of space - half a square foot (the number of birds that are crammed into these barns is unfathomable). Because they have no space, the barns cannot be cleaned. If a person tried to move in there, the birds would all flock to one side of the barn, suffocating many of them. So the stench is unbearable and the conditions atrocious!

3. The chicken we eat today is a re-engineered bird. It is designed to grow big breasts because that is where the demand is. However, because of the speed of development of chickens now, their skeletal structure cannot keep up. Most chickens are unable to walk more than a couple of steps and as a result end up either sitting down or laying in their own feces.

4. The mortality rate in most “traditional” chicken houses is 6%. By comparison, the outdoor birds raised at Sunworks have a mortality rate of 1-1.5%.

5. There are no windows in “traditional” chicken houses. Those birds never see the light of day and do not get to live instinctually.

I could go on for days just about chickens. I highly encourage you to watch the documentary Food Inc and to check out Michael Pollan’s books as a starting point.

But I also encourage you to look at the real cost of your food. Do we pay more for our meat now? I argue that we do not. Although the sticker price on the chicken at the farmers market is higher than the one at the grocery store, the long-term price is lower.

By eating factory meat, we ingest the pesticides, the hormones and antibiotics, the stress and disease that make up these animals. There is a connection, people - eat sick animals and you get sick. The rise of western diseases has much to do with how our food is raised.

And, I must point out that it just tastes so much better! It tastes fresh and wholesome and wonderful!

Start with eggs. If you feel you can’t afford to switch all your meat to organic - or you’re just not ready to make that step - switch to organic free range eggs purchased from a farmer. They are becoming more and more readily available and with a little research in your area, you will be able to find them. Egg-laying hens are treated the worst of all birds so if you want to ease into it, just switch your eggs.

The face of the Canadian landscape is changing. For many years across our towns and cities, you could see the very large green Superstore buildings. Now, every where you look you can now see a large white and blue building. But hey, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right?

Well, I like what’s on the inside. Drumroll please - Superstore now has a natural foods section!! FINALLY!! It seems like our local Sherwood Park store was the last on the list to get done so it is still in the works, but every time I go in there, I see more and more selection of natural and organic foods. 

Now I will always choose local when I can. But I am still happy to see this change for several reasons:

1. They finally get it. I’ve seen quite an image change over the last couple of years with Superstore and am glad to see they are trying to me more conscious. After all, weren’t they one of the first stores to encourage us to reuse our bags by charging us for them?

2. I am a realist and know that not everyone is going to go to the markets on the weekend. I like that there are options. A very large portion of people do their shopping here and to have organic and sustainable options under that same roof makes it easier for people to choose them.

3. I live in Alberta. Not everything is available locally and I do buy some of my weekly groceries from the store. In the past, I’ve had to hit about 3 or 4 stores to get all the things I need for the week. This will reduce that and I appreciate the saved time.

So, Superstore, here’s a pat on the back from me. I am glad to see my favorite organic brands filling your shelves. Glad to have you on board!

I don’t think anyone would argue that there is nothing to compare to a fresh picked, home grown tomato. That beautiful ruby orb full of just the right sweetness, bursting with flavour, ripened on the vine by the sun calling out to be plucked….

Tomatoes were one of the things I grabbed on my first trip to the farmers market - that and carrots were the two things that got me hooked to keep coming back. Now I have a monstrous crop of tomatoes in my back yard ripening and getting ready for the harvest.

There are several reasons why store-bought tomatoes just don’t compare. As many of us know, the majority of them are not grown any where near us. They are picked when they are green and ripened, often with ethylene gas. Also, because this tender fruit has a long, bumpy road ahead of it, the breeds grown are chosen based on long shelf life and durability rather than flavor. 

Now I know that not everyone has an urban garden in their back yard. However, the rise of farmers markets across the country are making local fresh produce grown without pesticides more easily accessible for all.

And of course, the benefits of buying local reach farther that the product. Every time you support a local grower, 5 times more money stays in the community. Also, you decrease your carbon footprint. The amount of energy it takes to grow a tomato 3000 miles away and get it to Edmonton in the dead of winter is astounding. 

If there is one thing I’ve learned, there are always choices. Yes, it is more effort. I get up every Saturday morning to get to the farmers market. But I have to tell you it is so worth it! It is not a drudgery but a wonderful experience, mingling around, trying samples (Costco’s got nothing on this place!), meeting the people who produce the food I eat and that I serve to my family.

Give it a try - find a market near you and check it out this weekend. Grab a tomato and see if you aren’t forever changed!