What: Slow Food Cycle Sunday celebrations
When: Saturday, Aug. 18 to Sunday, Aug. 19
Where: Pemberton Valley
Info: slowfoodcyclesunday.com
Authors Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon, who planted the 100 Mile Diet seed with a book that challenges readers to consume food and drink produced within 100 miles of their home, list a dozen reasons at 100milediet.org as to why people should eat local.
The list encourages consumers to taste the difference a carrot makes when pulled from the ground only 24 hours earlier. Is that a test tube tomato you are chomping into? Meet your neighbours. Learn corn only exists in grocery stores, not on local farms in June. Discover new flavours with tayberries. Visit your local farm. Save the world by buying regionally to reduce green house gas emissions. Eat what is pulled from local ground. Know exactly where your money is going. Be healthy with daily doses of fresh food. Create memories picking, buying and preparing your foods. And lastly, the top 12 list encourages shoppers to remember, “Everything about food and cooking is a metaphor for sex.”
All of these insights pedal into action at the Slow Food Cycle Sunday celebrations taking place Saturday, Aug. 18 to Sunday, Aug. 19 in Pemberton.
Smith and MacKinnon will get everyone psyched about the pedal ahead on Sunday at 9 a.m. at the Pemberton Community Centre. The free talk on the 100 Mile Diet theory will motivate riders with discussions concerning family-farm crises and the questionable value of an organic apple shipped from more than 1,500 miles away.
“They will have a huge crowd for the reading,” speculates Trish Sturdy of North Arm Farm. “People are really beginning to understand that eating local is really important for the environment, their health and the local economy… The more we can get people out onto the farms and actually see where their food is grown, how it is harvested, how it gets to them and how they can taste how fresh it can be, the better it is for us and every farmer across this country.”
Fifteen local farms will reap the benefits as more than 2,000 cyclists set out to cover a portion, if not all, of a 50 kilometre loop winding through Pemberton Valley farmlands from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., starting at the Pemberton Community Centre. Farm gates will open the doorway to farmers, host artisans, chefs and musicians for this community farm fest. Pedal pit stops will fuel riders with Pemberton Valley Coffee Company’s brew, pumpkin donuts from Whistler’s Own Bake Shop, a Whistler Cooks! potato showcase, a spud celebration with Indian cook Nidi Raini and Araxi executive chef James Walt, Pemberton Meadows Natural Beef burgers, Big Smoke BBQ’s pulled pork sandwiches, Simply Delicious Baking cinnamon buns, Mount Currie aboriginal foods such as soapberry juice and bannock, and Sheese — a vegan cheese substitute.
The 100 per cent vegan and kosher product may be imported from Scotland, but Pemberton farmer and Sheese distributor Judi Krzyzanowski says the extent of petroleum product used to farm dairy cows for regular cheese far out weighs the carbon costs of overseas flights. The PhD candidate in forestry should know. The air quality specialist did the math herself.
The strict vegan will sell baked goods showcasing both Sheese and the 15 different varieties of vegetables pulled from the ground of her Pemberton Valley farm.
“We’ve been practicing different techniques for organic farming,” she said. “We intersperse marigolds in the field because it produces compounds from the roots to control worms on potatoes. You could call us a research farm.”
Riders will do a little research of their own, participating in garden walks with herbalist Evelyn Coggins at Helmers Organic Farms and sampling bubblegum honey fresh from Delores Los’s beehives.
“They are all family farms,” said event co-founder Lisa Richardson. “They are all GMO-free. Because they are so remote, they are very boutique. It would be hard to claw that back if they lost it. It’s important for us to say we are going to support it and protect it.”
Grocery buyers who only consider the price tag overlook the farmers and the effort that goes into producing a single carrot, including the planting and picking.
Not a single blueberry or purple potato will be overlooked at the Feast of Fields on Saturday, a gourmet roving picnic at North Arm Farm from 1 to 5 p.m.
“It’s an awesome atmosphere,” Sturdy said. “We did a really good job of the farm this year in terms of crops and how they look. People can have a nice stroll around the grounds and pick some things. Raspberries, strawberries and blueberries are out. People can dig up some carrots and pick some flowers. But the event is really about sampling chefs’ wares as well as (products from) food artisans, vintners and brewers.”
Proceeds from the white-cloth-napkin affair will benefit FarmFolk/CityFolk.
Chefs Rob Clark of C Restaurant, James Walt of Araxi and Slow Food Whistler chefs Grant Cousar and Rich Blake, of Whistler Cooks, will cook well into the evening for a Slow Food Cycle Sunday multi-course dinner rooted in local farm fare at Helmers Organic Farm, recently voted by the Chefs’ Table Society of B.C. as Top Producers.
Artists are also riding into this year’s celebration. From alpaca-wool knit socks and sweaters to screen-printed funky Ts and tea towels, farm fans will show alongside dirt diggers at the Slow Food Cycle Sunday event.
“People will sample produce and also take in beautiful pottery and handmade napkins; to me that is so exciting,” Richardson said noting the creative parallel between artist and farmer. “We as artists, like farmers, don’t know what we get. We don’t know how the creative outcome will be. We put in the effort with basic elements, pencil, paint, salt and air, and out comes something that is value added, nourishing and spiritually fulfilling.”
LU Print aprons, and art, as well as event Ts and totes, will be available from lemonade-stand type booths on the cycle route. The local outfit of Lisa Komuro and Ulla Clark will showcase their modern screenprint designs.
“I think it is fantastic that it has become a whole valley-wide event where it is showcasing so much about Pemberton with artists at different farms,” Komuro said. “It’s such a great chance for people to see where their food comes from.”
Selling bamboo-material Ts and hemp totes will keep Komuro waving at bicycles as opposed to riding them, but the spud valley gal will also be showing her canvas artwork Saturday, Aug. 18 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Pemberton Art Barn Show, at the art barn located on the corner of Prospect and Frontier Street.
“It’s a soft opening,” said Mike Tyler, chair of the Pemberton Arts Council. “It will be a casual night with artists in attendance.”
This home of local art is the first of its kind, showcasing authentic valley creations spanning everything from paintings to multi media and sculpture.
Along with Komuro and Tyler, a few names to look out for include Lynn Pocklington, Karen Love and Meg Gallop.
“It will have a community party feel,” Tyler said.
Community is at the root of this weekend celebration.
“Whether Rotary or Search and Rescue, there are so many different groups of people helping out, not just producers,” Richardson said. “The event is all about growing connections with growers and consumers, people with their food, neighbouring communities.”
