A new cookbook celebrates food grown by Canadians
Celebrate the food produced by Canadians for Canadians with new cookbook
My mom and dad had a huge vegetable garden in our back yard when I was growing up in East Vancouver.
They grew tomatoes, lettuce, beets, green beans, carrots, raspberries, cucumbers and corn.
One year my dad even dabbled in Brussels sprouts and we ate them that Thanksgiving. We each got three teeny-tiny sprouts the size of a small green pea. But what they lacked in size they made up in flavour.
One-hundred years ago, more than half of all Canadians were farmers.
Today that number has dwindled to just two per cent of the population.
Homegrown, the new cookbook I wrote with recipes from members of the Ontario Home Economics Association, celebrates those producers: the dairy farmers, beef producers, chicken farmers, yogurt and cheese makers, produce growers, maple and birch syrup tappers, the fishermen and many more. If we grow it in Canada it’s in this cookbook.
Homegrown offers 160 easy-tomake recipes — from breakfast to treats — and a plethora of information, including nutrient breakdowns, the carbohydrate choices for people living with diabetes and professional home economist tips.
From eating fresh back-yard produce to embracing everything we grow here in Canada wasn’t such a huge leap — more a natural progression from appreciating the work my parents put into their garden to appreciating the intense work our Canadian farmers put into what they grow, raise or produce. Local tastes better. It supports our Canadian farmers, our economy and, in the long run, it will save you money at your local grocery store.
Mairlyn Smith is the only professional home economist who is also an alumnus of the Second City Comedy Troupe.