For three years the ICC have held a festival on the meadows of the Lower Battery of Fort Rodd. On a gently sloping green with the fort's ramparts and the tip of the 125 year old Fisgard Lighthouse as a backdrop, amidst displayed museum-piece ack-ack guns and 13 pounder cannons, local food fighters set up tents to proclaim their cause. With all the panoply of a medieval joust, attendees battled cool and wet weather with festive spirits.
In Defence of Local Food
The ICC operate a local food market in Victoria's Bastion Square from June through September. The Collaborative has 45 members which include chefs from Victoria's hotels, golf courses, restaurants, pubs, and even a grocery store. In 2007, ICC and the market began a relationship with 35 local farmers supporting them with
- a sustainable produce pick-up system for the market,
- organizing local food markets for restaurants' menus,
- and providing a grant to two farms annually to improve on sustainable agriculture.
The market has earned more than $60,000 for farmers and over $2,500 in grants as well as provided Victorians with healthy and local produce. Also ICC volunteers have a chance to educate the public about their sustainable local backyard cornucopia.
Ken Nakano, the Fairmont Empress chef, is the current ICC president. He said in an interview (June 6/2010), "We think any cause or event that raises awareness to our food security issues is important and a fun family food event is even better. The tide is changing, people are becoming better informed about the choices that are out there. Events that showcase local produce are a great opportunity to educate those who are unaware of the bounty that is all around us. The more we buy local, the healthier our farming communities become, ultimately we will regain our food identity and regional seasonal cuisine. Everyone benefits."
Awarness is growing. For instance, Victoria's West Shore communities produced a guide that lists:
- seven farmers' markets
- 42 farms that sell everything from seeds, harvested seaweed, and jams to llama products
- 23 eateries that use locally grown produce
There is even a challenge to consumers to meet the "Fresh From The Islands Diet".
Victoria's Food Festivals
Maryanne Carmack (Eat, June 2010) wrote "the ICC event offered a perfect utopian food escape. From 12-4 pm, locals and restaurant industry professionals happily walked their way through mucky soil, discovering and sampling delights." Some of those delights enjoyed by approximately 1000 people included beverage samples from local beer microbreweries, cideries and wineries, pizza slices from a mobile outdoor oven, alternative energy and gardening ideas (such as deer avoiding plants), and toe-tapping music.
One integrated touch was a stall staffed by the Canadian Navy celebrating its 100th anniversary. With a sightline to where the 1910 HMCS Rainbow was docked at Esquimalt, naval personnel explained food from the World Wars including hardtack and tins of corned beef, displayed a 24-hour ration kit, and told of naval support troops who handled everything from "beans to kerosene" in Sicily.
Another stall was advertising the upcoming 2nd annual Taste: Victoria's Festival of Wine and Food being held on July 15-18. Keeping in the spirit of supporting and promoting local fare, this event highlights 100 British Columbia wines and local cuisine prepared by top Vancouver Island chefs. Not just a wine festival, Taste is a culinary tourism experience featuring sites in downtown Victoria.
So the fight to educate and promote food security on Vancouver Island continues. Perhaps their battles will bring to fruition James Douglas claim in 1843, etched on a rock in the park, about the possibilities of the area, namely "a perfect Eden in the midst of dreary wilderness."
James Ellsworth - Now I am a Feature Writer for Suite 101 where I have almsot 60 articles. Also I am contributing regularly to Senior Living magazine.
