'Eat Alberta 2011'

Got April 30th open this year? Check out Eat Alberta, a conference that will highlight some of the talented people within Edmonton's food community. Throughout the day there will be coffee, wine and goat cheese tastings and pasta, pie and pizza dough making (amongst other sessions)... in short, be prepared to get your hands dirty! You can register and/or find full details on sessions, pricing and goals of the conference here.

 

I'll be volunteering for the day, so if you have a chance to make it out, please stop by and say 'Hi'!

Eat Local First Order #1

We received our first order from Eat Local First today just after 12pm. Since I'm at home studying today, the delivery to our apartment building worked out well. However, I'm not sure how it would be if we were both out for the day... the website says that if they can't get into your building, they will leave it in the entry way.

Everything was packed away nicely with two ice packs in the cooler. Next time we order, we can just swap out this cooler for the next one. Delivery was $8, plus a $40 deposit on this cooler that we will get back when it's picked up or returned.

Here's what we got:

Bacon ($9.38)

Ham (1.5-2lb; $15)

Mushrooms ($8.75 for 50g)... this one hurt the wallet a little

Beans ($4.38)

Fiddleheads ($12.5)

Since many of the items for order overlap with markets (Irvings pork, Ocean Odyssey Inland's fish) and even grocery stores (Bles-Wold yogurt, Prairie Mill Bread), I'm not sure how much we will be utilizing this service, especially during the summer with the City Market on Saturdays.

As far as I understand, this initial Eat Local First service is sort of separate from the Good Food Box part of things. The actual Good Food Box will start up mid June, with a weekly delivery to members of 10-12 local, seasonal items... I'm editing this because I received the Good Food Box newsletter today, which explained this further (I guess others were confused too). Last year they just did the Good Food Box with a 6-8 week delivery program of 10-12 local items per week. This year they have expanded to include both the original Good Food Box program, and the online grocery store portion.

They are also now offering pick up at their warehouse (5032 129 Ave) on Thursdays from 1-7pm, so you can still order if you are not in the postal code delivery zones yet. Orders for food delivery or pick up for the next week must be in by Saturday at noon.

*I referenced the Good Food Box and Eat Local First projects in my Anthro of Food paper, so more thoughts on this topic to come after exams!

A Spring Farmers' Market

I went to the Strathcona Farmers' Market for the first time in a couple months today... Charles has been going since I usually work on Saturdays. What a great day to head over - most of the vegetable and fruit vendors are back out, and there are flowers and herbs everywhere. Still, I can't wait until the City Market opens mid-May. It's my favourite.
                
We decided on these tulips today... I have them sitting on my desk to remind me of the warm weather outside as I study. I hope you are getting to soak up the sun today!
                                      

                                   
Also, we ordered some things from Eat Local First this past Thursday - bacon, a ham, fiddle heads, green beans and some dried, 'Alberta Blend' mushrooms. The delivery date for our area is Thursday, so pictures and a report to come!