Digging into the farmer side of life
“F ood matters. Civilizations have risen and fallen in direct correlation with agriculture and food production,” says chef owner of Down town food Darren MacLean.
This is MacLean’s passionate response to the restaurant’s recent initiative to create a 2,000-square-foot garden and grow its own produce on the roof of its Stephen’s Avenue location, coined as the Urban Ag Project.
“We are a species of farmers and, as such, are dependent on the environment for our food. Understanding where our food comes from can help us maintain not only our personal health, but also the communities and planet, as well.
“Informed decisions are always the best ones, so why wouldn’t we be informed about what we choose to consume?”
The conversation around where our food comes from is one that has been gaining prevalence since genetically modified organizisms began invading the grocery stores. In this sense, we do have Monsanto to thank for one thing: the overwhelming trend of Calgary’s food and beverage purveyors stepping up to deliver the freshest and most hyper-local ingredients to our plates.
In many cases, restaurants such as Downtownfood, Catch and Market have spawned a new generation of culinary ownership, with chefs and restaurateurs getting creative with the space they have and planting their own gardens from which they create the freshest and most seasonally-driven menus YYC has ever seen.
Though the hyper-local sourcing movement has been getting a lot of attention over the last number of years, a couple of Calgary’s dining institutions, Rouge and River Café, have actually been growing their own ingredients since the mid-’90s, expanding their initiatives with every passing year.
“Our interest in growing food at River Café began with our search for local, seasonal, sustainable unique or indigenous ingredients. We reached out to local farms and growers and relationships began,” says Sal Howell, owner of River Café and Boxwood.
Along with Tony and Penny Marshall of Highwood Crossing Farm, Howell and the River Café team co-created the kitchen garden: an acre of land devoted to growing vegetables for the cafe.
“We funded staff to work at the garden and participate in all aspects of soil preparation, care and tending and harvesting,” she says. “The experience here rendered benefits on many levels, not only the obvious local seasonal ingredients, variety and freshness from farm to table, but the direct involvement in growing food brought awareness, respect, pride and passion to our staff and enthusiasm at the table.”
For REAP (Respect the Earth and all its People) Calgary, a notfor-profit association for locallyowned businesses that care about community and the planet, the growing awareness around farmto-table eating has been a major catalyst for growth.
This past September, REAP hosted its fourth annual Food for Thought festival, bringing together the offerings of more than 20 of the city’s most forwardthinking restaurants, shops and producers in a celebration of local sustainable food and farmers.
“When people simultaneously taste the difference, meet the people growing and preparing their food and get all of their questions answered about where to get these products, it empowers them to be an ongoing part of Calgary’s local food movement,” says REAP founder and president Stephanie Jackman, noting the festival has grown each year — a testament to the city’s increasing awareness and acceptance of a homegrown food culture.
“There are people converting their lawns into gardens and keeping backyard bees,” MacLean says. “As society continues to become more concerned with personal health, making informed food choices becomes more and more important. Caring about the environment while eating well is the ultimate win-win.”