My weekly roundup of articles, websites or videos that caught my recent attention:
Warning: Measure Your Salt. Who knew that different kinds of salt measured differently? Apparently not many of us. I certainly didn’t. No worries, Edward Schneider at the New York Times sorts it all out for us.
Quebec decision advances the rights of migrant workers. This was big news in Quebec last week. The province’s labour relations board has ruled that migrant workers have the right to unionize. Many farms, big and small, rely in migrant workers under Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. Parts of the program have been heavily criticized by human rights advocates because wages are often low and workers don’t qualify for unemployment insurance or disability despite paying into these programs.
‘Tis the season for fiddleheads . Some great-looking spring recipes from Lucy Waverman at the Globe and Mail, including Fiddlehead Soup with Spiced Pecans, Flattened Chicken with Morels (another seasonal favourite) and Warm Roasted-Potato Salad.
Cookbook Roundup at Christie’s Corner. Here are four fabulous-looking cookbooks, including one devoted entirely to pressure cooking that I sorely need and another devoted to spicy cocktails that’s just in time for summer.
Michael Ignatieff pushes Eat Canadian plan. The Liberal party announced its food policy last week that pledges “millions of dollars to support farmers and help Canadians eat healthier, home-grown food,” according to The Toronto Star. The culinary professionals’ blog Cuisine Canada Scene has weighed in with its opinion. What’s yours?
Photo credit: Traditional salt mine in open air by Miguel Lima
Per your comment in the other blog, I’m not sure I can agree that any talk in Ottawa about food is necessarily good talk. Because of the vast gulf between talk and action. For example, Canadians will claim they believe in helping other human beings, but they still vote Conservative, don’t they? Empty talk helps Canadians (and indeed all humans) *believe* they’re noble while they act shamefully. Also, people tend to be remarkably unaware of the real reasons for their actions, which doesn’t help.
So I don’t know. I like the attention paid to the issue. But cui bono?
Here’s a thought: We have sin taxes on things that are bad for our health. So why not a sin tax on junk food? Put that money toward sustainable farming and food education.
Never happen, of course. Can you *imagine* if the Liberals proposed a tax increase that included donuts? The party’s prospects for re-election would explode overnight! Good old Tim Horton’s – devoted to ruining Canadian health since 1964.
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Thanks for the link to the salt article – great stuff.