kimchi

How to Make Homemade Kimchi

About a week ago, I got a box full of napa cabbages from my aunt’s farm and was thinking of ways to use them up. Many were given away to friends and family, but a good number of them, I decided to set aside and 5 of them and make some homemade kimchi. It’s actually much easier than I thought and doesn’t take too long either. Here’s the “recipe” that we used, based on Evelyn’s grandmother’s recipe.

  • 5 napa cabbages – halved
  • 2 cups Korean hot red pepper powder
  • 1 cup Korean fish sauce
  • 5 heads garlic
  • 2 bunches green onions
  • 1 large bunch chives
  • 1 lb ginger
  • 3/4 cups salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar

As a side note, these are all estimates as we just started chopping and mixing and tasting the mix as we went. You want a good balance of salty and spicy to go along with the flavours of the other ingredients. Think about kimchi that you eat at various Korean restaurants – what does it taste like? Do you prefer it saltier? Spicier? Use that as a general gauge of how the sauce tastes.

Process:

  1. Slice cabbages in half and soak in a large container/pot/bowl for several hours or overnight. The leaves will start to soften and wilt from the salt. The water should be salty, and mine was almost like sea water salty.
  2. Chop veggies and combine with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix to combine. A  few tips – cut veggies “diagonally”, so you get long thin slices of the green onions and chives. I used a food processor for the garlic and ginger.
  3. Using your hands (get gloves if you don’t want your hands to smell and turn red from the sauce), mix the ingredients together.
  4. Drain cabbage and carefully start rubbing the sauce all over the cabbage halves and in between each of the leaves. You want the sauce to try to coat all surfaces of the cabbage. Squeeze cabbage together and pack tightly in a jar. I used 2 large pickle jars for the cabbages.
  5. Place any leaves that fall off at the top of the jar once all the heads are packed tightly in the jar.
  6. Seal and leave the jar at room temperature overnight, then in a cool refrigerated area.
  7. I found local Ontario garlic at the Korean grocery store, and the napa cabbages were locally grown from my aunt’s farm just north of the city. I can also grow the chives and green onions and chili peppers for a more locally sourced dish – though the fish sauce, salt and sugar I’m not so sure about…..

Notes:

  1. I also threw in a few of my backyard grown and dried cayenne peppers.
  2. I think the Korean red pepper flakes use cayenne peppers judging from the picture on the packaging ,but I’m not sure. This, along with the fish sauce (the ingredients were listed as anchovies and salt) are the secret sauce that give kimchi and a lot of Korean food their distinctive flavour.
  3. Feel free to taste and eat the cabbage as you go to get a sense of how the sauce tastes.
  4. Go to a Korean grocery store for the ingredients – especially the red pepper flakes and fish sauce. I found a whole shelf devoted to fish sauce and soy sauce at mine.
  5. Enjoy – the kimchi should last for several months in the fridge or cool place – I plan on keeping mine in our unheated cold room
  6. When jamming the sauce in between each of the cabbage layers, start from the middle outward. It is much easier than working from the outside in.

And now for some pictures for your viewing pleasure:



mise-en-place (of the raw ingredients at least)


a food processor makes for a great time saver in the kitchen


diagonal cut chives and green onions


round one of the sauce (we ended up making it in 2 batches)


shoving the sauce into all parts of the leaves


hard at work in the kitchen


rubbing that oh-so-delicious kimchi sauce into the cabbage leaves


the final product – two large pickle jars worth with a clementine in the foreground for perspective

CFSClogo

My Review of the 14th Annual Community Food Security Coalition Conference (and New Orleans Food)

It’s been about a month since I arrived back from the CFSC conference down in New Orleans and I’ve finally had a chance to put together some of my notes and thoughts on the experience. Overall it was a fantastic experience and I’m really glad I had the opportunity to go. While it’s difficult to compress all the experiences, notes, thoughts, and impressions down into a short (ok, long) post, here goes:

CSFC Opening Plenary
The opening plenary featured 3 great speakers who I believe collected set the tone and the scene for the rest of the conference. The key points I noted from Brenda’s message is that this is a hopeful and inspirational community out there. Together, we are here to share our ideas, wisdom, knowledge and take it back to our respective communities to make it a better place. Lolis continued on with this theme, talking about food as culture, and sharing a story about the locals who felt most at home with their red beans and rice, even if they had migrated to another State or country. His message reminded me of one of the program’s The Stop put on by growing ethnic food from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Because, if we are to connect and engage all communities, the easiest (and maybe best) way, is to start by understanding their food, their culture, how it is shared, and how people are connected to it. Finally, Pam concluded the panel discussion talking about connecting to people through stories and how food can serve as a tapestry for these stories. Continuing on with this metaphor, she went on to say that the more interconnected and woven together we are, the stronger the bonds and the communities we work in.

One of the things that really resonated with me was this: food security is not about avoiding starvation. It is as much about security – a tangible feeling, a safe environment, or regular access to food – as it is about the actual food itself.

 

The Workshops:
There were so many interesting workshops, it was very difficult to choose. My rationale in choosing which workshop to attend was based on the following criteria and in trying to maximize the net benefit from each session (yes, that’s business school training/thinking at work here). For example, how much of this stuff do I already know or can learn easily through online research? What kinds of networking opportunities will be available with the presenters and other participants?

The first workshop I went to was about credit/capital as a business tool for farmers. The presenters were extremely knowledgeable, and shed insight on the credit system and how it relates to farmers. For example, loans are based on asset value and what the bank can get  in the case of foreclosure. They don’t really care about your cash flow, your reputation, or other issues. It’s about the cold, hard facts. Farming is also very different than your typical desk job. There are many initial production and pre-season costs, and the farmers are at the mercy of many factors such as weather, the global market, and their skill that it is impossible to predict the yields/finances of the farm at the end of the season. Despite that, farmers are critical to the functioning and well-being of our society. And those that are doing things differently (ex. CSA’s, new and emerging markets), are being failed by the current system. It is an extremely difficult industry to be starting out in, and many people are faced with a choice between the lesser of two evils – scale up or get out when it comes to surviving and making a living out on the farm. In this session, I really enjoyed they had a female fisherman come out and talk about the similar challenges facing the fishing industry. I think they have an even harder uphill battle as so many people view fishermen as rapers and pillagers of the sea. And as year-round demand for certain fish rises, we are starting to lose touch with the cycles of the ocean and catching/eating specific fish during different parts of the year. With the advancement of technology, we are no longer limited to how hard and how fast we can row, but rather by the supply and demand of the global market that don’t take into consideration There is so much more that can be discussed (this was the session I took the most amount of notes in), but in the interest of brevity (well my attempt at it anyway), I’ll leave it here for now.

Youth Food Policy Councils: Engaging Youth Within the Food Policy Framework Workshop:
This was the session that Tracy, Michelle, and I were facilitating. The workshop featured a short overview/presentation on food policy councils and the local scene in Toronto before breaking out into small group discussions using a format called Open Space Technology. You can read more about the workshop and participant notes here. We had a total of 32 participants and everyone gave us really positive feedback. In fact, one woman stood up towards the end of the workshop and said something to the extent of “until now, I thought all young people were lazy and not doing anything interesting, but you guys proved me wrong and this has been the best workshop of the conference so far”.

We gave a recap presentation to the TFPC, who helped fund us in going to the conference, and the thing that I mentioned that really resonated with me is that while we’re working away here in Toronto, this conference and this workshop focused on the bigger picture. That is, how can we help, empower, and motivate other young people to go into their communities to start their own youth food policy council, and how can we inspire, collaborate, and support other young people working across the country in other similar and worthwhile initiatives. Well, through this session, the networking, the website, and personal connections that were formed, I think we’re off to a great start so far.

Foraging for Funding: Is Social Enterprise Right for Your Non-Profit Workshop:
During this workshop time slot, I was debating between this session and one on creating healthy soils. I’m happy I ended up at this one because of the chance to experience a new way of group brainstorming and problem solving using the format of the World Cafe, but also in meeting some interesting people and getting some great resources on social enterprises.

Engaging Youth in Food Justice and Community Building Networking Session
This was the second workshop of the first day, and turned out to be quite similar to the session that we were going to be presenting on the third day of the conference. They used the same ice breaker activity (foodie bingo!) as we did, and also used small breakout group discussions to get people talking about different issues.

Emerging Technologies and a Just Food System
This could have been the most informative session of the conference as I knew very little about what is actually going on in the world of bio-tech, genetic engineering, cloning, and nanotechnology. While the presenters only scratched the surface of what is going on, it was a great primer and introductory session to start understanding the facts presented by people passionate about “traditional” food.

Here are some other interesting things I learned. Companies who promote and engage in the above practices do not view protein as living animals – they view it as amino acids, which can be constructed in a lab environment. They use terms like “we’re the FDA, you can trust us” and we have “the best science”, yet look the other way when communities are emptied out, economies suffer, and the environment, workers, and animals get treated like parts of a machine, rather than a dynamic, interconnected ecosystem.

One thing that really shocked me was learning about a new  genetically engineered salmon. The shocking thing is that not that it has genes from a deep sea eel, but the fact that it is labeled as an “animal drug”, which lowers the bar in terms of standards, and allowing the business to without tests/data about the product, and gives the public no input and not official public process to even begin to assess the potential risks/benefits of this new GE salmon.

Another interesting point was brought up about cloned animals (which the government has no way of knowing if it gets into our food system). One audience member suggested that these animals actually really are not “clones”, as they have many more health problems, a significantly shorter life span, and only 5% survive through the birth process. Doesn’t sound like a clone to me if the parent and offspring are so different.

Again, there’s lots more that could be written about these subjects, but we’ll leave it here for now.

Local Business Clusters
The last breakout session I went to was about local business clusters, which gave two case studies about cities rallying around, you guessed it, local business clusters. The argument that was made is that business clusters are like a multiplier, in terms of social connectivity, financial exchange, knowledge sharing, and so much more. In the example of Detroit, they formed the Detroit Market Development Project which has niche processing, innovative distribution, enhanced retailing, and a business incubator that turned a liability (old rundown building), into an asset (local business cluster). Just like the American craft brewery industry has proven a similar initiative to be a success, he hopes to spread this model to other communities.

General Conference Notes:
Overall, the conference featured lots of really cool people doing really interesting things. If there’s one regret that I have during the conference it was that I made just average use of the networking times and opportunities. It would have been nice to connect with more people and learn more about the cool things happening across the country. I gained insight into what makes a good presentation (tell good stores, use slides with lots of pictures and little text, and engage the audience as much as possible), being on both the presenting and listening side of the room. I realized that I got the most out of presentations that were contrary to my existing viewpoint, or on topics that I knew little about (so many of the presentations seemed like they were preaching to the converted).

Finally, while I believe we’re up to some great things in Toronto, I think we need to continue pushing local food initiatives, continue innovating, continue engaging people and getting them involved, and using tools like social media to push the agenda forward on a variety of food issues. It can be tough work sometimes, but it’s important and well worth the efforts.


Some notes on the food from both the conference and around the city
Being a conference about food and more specifically, food security, many people (myself included) went into the conference hoping for something more than your typical conference fare. I’m happy to report that they didn’t disappoint as the conference organizers worked very hard in collaborating with Sodexo such as allowing non-standard items (Ex. organic milk for the tea/coffee) for the event AND with local farmers who planted crops specifically for this event. Talk about dedication and good planning!

For the conference food, some highlights included the opening reception of roast goat and fresh, delicious produce, as well as the vegetable fritata for breakfast the first morning of the conference. And the thing that capped it all off was a party and gumbo competition where such delicious things like duck gumbo, seafood gumbo, and many other gumbos were served.

Outside the conference, New Orleans offers up lots of great food. We tried the obligatory oysters (raw and grilled) at Acme Oyster House, and beignets at Cafe du Monde, which did not disappoint. Po-boy sandwiches, blackened alligator and crab cakes also featured predominantly in our meals in the Big Easy. Other food highlights included fresh pecans/pralines (the freshest and tastiest I’ve ever had), local beer from Abita brewery, jambalaya, and of course more gumbo. I want to include a special mention for the website roadfood.com (with recommendations almost exclusively in the lower 48 States) as their recommendations were spot on. I’ve been meaning to go to a few of their suggestions (road trip to Buffalo anyone?), and have enjoyed their segments on a podcast I listen to called “The Splendid Table”

French cuisine and styles are a big influence on the food, and you can see it in the coffee shops, po-boy sandwiches (on French bread), and in all the butter and roux sauces they use in their dishes.

I could go on about more of the food and beverages of the city, but that’s probably a post for another time. Overall, I didn’t feel any hesitation eating the seafood in the city, especially after the oil spill, though that may be because some of it was not from the gulf area. For the rest of this post, I’ll just leave you with a visual treat of some of the food.


pulled pork po-boy sandwich


Mixed plate of jambalaya, red beans and rice, and an etoufee I believe


Deep fried softshell crab


Another mixed plate, with a salad, gumbo, and something else


Beignets at Cafe du monde


Char-grill oysters (and some raw ones too)


Fried turnip greens

New Orleans Initial Thoughts

I’ve been in New Orleans for almost 48 hours now and found a bit of time for this quick update. Overall, the city is a lively place with an almost palpable atmosphere I would describe as that warm fuzzy feeling you’re having a good time surrounded by people who know how to enjoy life. Maybe this is what people mean when they talk about Southern hospitality. People here are friendly and never seem to be in a rush (except maybe the tourists).

For some background information, the reason I’m in New Orleans is to attend the 14th Annual Community Food Security Conference. I’m helping to represent the Toronto Youth Food Policy Council in leading a workshop on Monday afternoon on “Engaging Youth Within the Food Policy Framework.” While much of the time so far has been taken up with the conference, I did have some time to explore the town after I got in Friday night and a bit on Saturday afternoon.

For the most part, food, beverage, and jazz have been the dominating themes of the past little while. In fact, as I’m writing this, there is a marching band walking down Canal St (one of the main streets in New Orleans).

Food

In regards to food, Southern food is full of rich, fried, morsels of tasty goodness. Some of the interesting things I’ve had while here is blackened alligator, gumbo, red beans and rice, crab cakes, Rockefeller oysters, cochon au lait , and biegnets. Things I have yet to try are jambalaya, crawfish, crabs and po boy sandwiches. Yes, eating and food is a passion of mine and I’m glad my metabolism still allows me to enjoy all of this without too many ill effects. Pictures, descriptions, and tasting notes coming soon. Food here seems to be more expensive than other cities (ex. a street dog cost around $5 or $6 from the French Quarter).

Drinking

In regards to drinking, Friday night was by far one of the wildest nights I’ve had in a while. We started off with a local beer Abita www.abita.com. I tried one of their “harvest” beers, a Sasuma Belgium Wit, which features local Louisiana ingredients. It was surprisingly tasty. An interesting side note is that it appears to be the case that open beverages are allowed and openly consumed while wandering the streets.

One of the more interesting things we tried to liven things up was a local cocktail named “The Hand Grenade”. It comes in a special plastic cup that the Lonely Planet describes as “a mix of melon liquer, grain alcohol, rum, vodka, and God knows what else. Suffice to say, two or more will destroy you”. It was a seriously strong drink. A few other things I want to try are the chicory coffee from Cafe du Mond, and some more local beers.

Jazz

For jazz, I’d had the most excellent fortune of being in the right place at the right time (though that never is too hard for a city known for its live music culture). On Saturday, I followed my nose to Lafayette Square where a Blues fest was rocking away. Two stages were set up, and locals and tourists came prepared with their lawn chairs for an afternoon of blues music. Another very cool venue I stumbled onto was at the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park. Free concerts happen on a regular basis, and I was lucky enough to catch the last one of the day and also the last one playing while I’m here in New Orleans and was treated to a concert by a brass jazz band. The musicians alternated between singing and playing their instruments and it was a great break from the extensive walking tour I took around the city that afternoon.

That’s about it for now. Pictures, better descriptions, and notes on the conference coming soon! Stay tuned.

The 2010 Picnic at the Brickworks

This afternoon, I had a chance to celebrate the harvest with Slow Food Toronto (http://slowfood.to/)  and Evergreen Canada (www.evergreen.ca/ ) at their 5th (?) annual picnic event. This year’s event / fundraiser was held at the newly renovated and revamped Brickworks near the heart of downtown Toronto and featured over 60 chefs / restaurants / producers from throughout Southern Ontario. This post is sort of like my review of the event and chance to put my thoughts in writing while all the delicious food memories are still fresh on my taste buds.

With 1000+ guests, 80+ volunteers, and 60+ exhibitors, it was an amazing celebration and coming together of people around local food in the province. I saw a number of familiar faces nestled amongst the various organizations / restaurants and for the most part went around enjoying and gorging myself on the variety of dishes being served.

 
(the lineup for the event stretched waaay back, doors opened at noon)

The way it works is that you’re given a glass at the beginning of the event (don’t lose it as it’s your ticket to enjoying all the tasty beverages on offer) and you go around to the different tables sampling as many dishes as your stomach can handle. Most people, myself included, had to take a couple of breaks from the food in order to 1) make space in your stomach for more, 2) give your taste buds a rest before another onslaught of deliciousness and 3) take in the festive atmosphere and live music of the event. You’re welcome to take as many as you want, though in practicality you wouldn’t want to as it would be almost impossible to try everything if you did go for multiple samples. The portions are quite small in size – some one bite samples, while others were a little larger with multiple opportunities to taste the delicious flavours.

Today’s event was a little on the chilly side and I’m very glad I dressed warm enough with several layers for the weather. Even though it wasn’t super cold, being outside for several hours or rather in unheated areas definitely can get to you. Everyone who came was in a joyful mood, being very patient and cordial in lining up and taking the time to really slow down and enjoy the food (it is a Slow Food event after all!)

The event was grouped by region, with the following regions being represented (see map below for details).

Muskoka, Peterborough / Kawarthas, Simcoe County, Grey / Bruce, Perth, Stratford, Guelph, Wellington, Hamilton, Norfolk County, Niagara, Toronto, Durham, Northumberland, and Prince Edward County.

So without further ado, here’s a visual feast for those of you who want to see what it was like of only some of the things I sampled at the picnic.

I don’t remember what it was, but it was one of the first things I tried and was super tasty. I believe it was from the Hamilton region.

This was from the cheese boutique in the West end of Toronto. The blue cheese they had on a thin triangular shaped cracker was mild, creamy, and delicious.

Belgium-style waffles. Yes, dessert dishes were interchanged with mostly savoury dishes.

I think this was pork with a apple cabbage slaw on top. It was one of the best dishes at the picnic.

Mini blueberry and raspberry crumbles.

Country style Berkshire pork and liver terrine on fennel flat bread. Garnished with Ontario peach chutney and pickled apples. As a side note, I noticed most of the food was presented on long thick slabs of wood – some quite fancy and intricate.

I realized that in order to remember some of the food, I needed to take a picture of the description of the food, and not just the food itself. This was also delicious. I could taste it was made with real butter and had excellent taste, texture, moisture content, and overall deliciousness.

Another dish that escapes my memory of what it was. This was created by the folks at the Culinarium

Red Fife graham cracker with Monteforte Dairy Sheep’s cheese with Bizjack Farm dansom plums. A beautiful showcase of local food in a bite-sized cracker. The balance of tastes, textures, and flavours all in this one cracker was stunning.

Milford Bay Trout with micro greens and I think a vinaigrette dressing. One of the best seafood dishes here, though the sturgeon caviar (not pictured) and sturgeon ceviche (also not pictured) was my favourite.

Squash and baby leek risotto with wild boar. Interesting meats were featured in a number of dishes at this event. I like how it was presented in  hollowed out mini squash.

Organic spelt pizza bites with tandoori chicken, organic mozzarella, and pear salsa.

I don’t remember what this was, only that it was delicious,

The description for this was Timbale of homeplate organics. Beef and carron forms, root vegetables, horseradish carrot slaw. The leaf that this dish was presented on was also edible and quite tasty. I’m going to email the chef and see if I can grow it for next year,

Peanut crusted belly of Tamworth pork with Niagara concord grape compote. Garnishedwith shaved french radish, calendula and seedlings.

These were the majority of the pictures that I took. Some other delicious things that I tasted that I remembered include:

-Oviinbyrd Inn / Moon Bay Shiitake: This place had a scrumptuous shiitake mushroom topped morsel as well as some tasty chocolate (separate from the shiitakes). This was one of the best shiitake dishes I’ve ever tasted.
-Chocosol fried blue corn tortilla filled with chocolate
-The Gladstone hotel’s chicken spring rolls. Tasty with just the right crispiness
-An interesting risotto with another interesting non-mainstream meat (forget what kind it was thouh))
-Fifth Town Artisan Cheese. Tasty, though I liked the sample plate they had better at the conscious food festival event
-Pork belly on a stick. Mmmmm, pork belly
-Hot chocolate from Soma.Very rich, thick, creamy, and was like drinking some of the best chocolate in the world

Other Beverages:
There were lots of wineries and breweries at the event, and unfortunately wasn’t able to try every one. Some of ones that I remember were:

-Pumpkin ale. Made with roasted pumpkin, cinnamon, clove, and allspice. The pumpkin taste was good, coming through in more of a mellow way towards the end of each sip
-Cranberry blueberry wine. A little sweet for my liking, but good nonetheless

2 hours of sampling later, and going around to almost every food table (I think there was only one or two that I missed), my stomach felt like it was about to explode. Ok, not literally, but full to the point where you just want to sit down for a couple hours and just let the food digest. Let’s just say I was one of the happiest people at the picnic at that point bursting with so much beautifully crafted and carefully prepared local food.

For someone who almost never skips a meal, I was too full to even think about eating diner, though I did have a small salad from one of my gardens for my dose of greens to help balance all the rich and delicious meats and proteins I had during the day. This was definitely a fantastic food experience and one that I hope to experience again next year.

rhpo

An Orchestra Update

rhpo

I think I mentioned this in an earlier post that I joined a community orchestra for this upcoming season. It’s a a new activity for the next year (Sep-June), and a decision I’m really happy I made to brush the dust off my cello and get playing again. How exactly I managed to skip the audition process is another story, but more relevantly, this week I went to my first orchestra practice. I didn’t really know what to expect or how it’d go, but I did manage to hack my way through most of the music and not play too badly out of tune!

This practice was a read through of the new music we’ll be playing for our first concert coming up at 3pm on Saturday October 30th (mark your calendars if you want to come!). It’s a Halloween themed concert, titled “Goblins and Fairies”. I didn’t really know what to expect of the music, but was pleasantly surprised by a relatively extensive and fun list of songs.

Here’s the repertoire for the performance and links to some youtube videos if you want a preview of what it will sounds like. Most of the music should be familiar to most people.

Edvard Grieg – Peer Gynt Suite #1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRpzxKsSEZg)
Paul Dukas – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98VVhvfadYw)
John Williams – Harry Potter Symphonic Suite (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaMqnYvzE2Q)
Antonin Dvorak – The Noon Witch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-NdI7kjbGk)
Stephen Schwartz – Highlights from WICKED (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON5ZX7VAoF0)
Sergei Prokofiev – Peter and the Wolf (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtns6R757i8)

More details on the orchestra can be found here: http://www.rhpo.ca/ 

Conscious Food Festival 2010

On Saturday, I had the chance to check out Conscious Food Festival  at historic Fort York in downtown Toronto. Thanks to Jonathan from Savouries.ca for hooking me up with a free ticket to the event. Overall I found it to be a well-organized event with lots of interesting vendors and a great theme to draw people together who are interested in local, sustainable food to the event.

Pretty much all of the vendors had samples – some were for a small fee ($1-2 typically), while others were giving away samples for free. Two of my favourite samples were the cheese plate from Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co which featured 3 different cheeses from 3 different animals (goat, sheep, and cow), and in 3 different styles and the poutine from another vendor (can’t remember off hand which one).

Other vendors and interesting things included local wineries/breweries, a gourmet tofu company, an iced kefir dessert (just like how you’d think it tastes), cooking demonstrations, a chip company from the West coast, live bluegrass music, and a taste test between “conscious” ice cream (with organic cream, real sugar) versus “modified milk ingredient” ice cream (with modified milk ingredients, artificial sweeteners).


-mmmm, conscious poutine

A Hidden Gem
My thoughts on the hidden gem of the event was visiting the community garden on site. Tucked in behind one of the stages and away from the main festival area, the garden featured a number of raised beds (at least a dozen and of various shapes and sizes) that are assigned to various community members. Tomatoes seemed to always be the popular thing to grow in almost all of the boxes and some of the surprising things were corn and winter squash being grown. Unfortunately, pretty much all of zucchinis and some of the cucumbers had powdery mildew (seems to be a common theme across the city this year) and it was interesting to see how other people set up their garden and the various stages of organization within the garden.

Some of the other things I learned from one of the gardeners there is that they have a shared herb box, and had funding from the Trillium Foundation a couple years ago to help them get the beds up and running.


-a shot of the community garden

More finding, less seeking

“When someone seeks, it can easily happen that his eyes only see the thing he is seeking and that he is incapable of finding anything, incapable of taking anything in, because he is always only thinking about what he is seeking, because he has an object, a goal, because he is possessed by this goal. Seeking means having a goal, but finding means being free, open, having no goal. Perhaps you, venerable one, are indeed a seeker, for in striving after your goal, there is much you fail to see that is right before your eyes.”

– except from Siddharta, by Hermann Hesse

I finished reading the classic novel Siddhartha recently and this was one of the passages in the book that really resonated with me. After I read this passage, I literally stopped, put the book, and started to reflect on this passage. I think that in many aspects of my life, I’m more of a seeker and not a finder. Yet when I think back to some of the most interesting memories I’ve had, the majority of them came from finding.

Maybe there’s a balance that needs to be struck between seeking and finding, or maybe certain things require more seeking rather than finding, or more finding rather than seeking, but whatever the case, I don’t want to miss what’s out there “right before your eyes.”

Vintage Seeds

I came across these old seeds while rummaging through my parent’s basement this weekend. Some of them are from my childhood days and others are older than I am! I hope you enjoy this way-back throwback as much as I did.

Seeds from when I was a kid. Luke the Cuke – definitely the winner amongst these seeds.

I have no idea when these seeds are from – but I’m going to guess they’re probably pushing 20 years (maybe more).


Bok Choy seeds – from the mid 80’s. These seeds are definitely over 25 years old.

Hairy melon seeds (the bottle reads Dik Ga for anyone interested).


Bitter Melon seeds from ’84 I think. I think all these Chinese veggie seeds were from my grandma’s garden.

For my home garden this summer, I’m going to experiment with some of these seeds as see how the germination rates are and how these actually end up growing. What a fun surprise!

Developing My Code of Ethics


Ethics is a hard subject for me to explore and write about, and this is my first attempt at outlining, codifying, and stating my code of ethics. This hasn’t been an easy process for me, and I’m definitely outside my comfort zone when it comes to writing and talking about this. For this artice, I’m drawing off of material in a book I read last year titled, “Ethics for the Real World” by Howard and Korver. I’ll be outlining some of the key ideas in this book, what some of my thoughts are, where I stand on some of these issues, and also provide you with some interesting food for thought in creating your own code of ethics.

Ethics vs. Morals:

To begin, I want to make the distinction between ethics and morals. While they are similar, morals
refer to what is considered right and wrong by society, while ethics is more narrowly defined by the behaviors and actions considered right and wrong by our own beliefs, no matter the culture. In this case, we’re talking about ethics, not morals.

Some questions to consider: Can our ethics and moral overlap? How does the society we live in shape
our ethics? What would our ethics be like if we grew up in another culture?

Ethical Transgressions: Deception, Stealing, and
Harming

Howard and Korver argue that ethical (not moral) transgressions fall into 3 distinct categories: deception, stealing, and harming. While these 3 categories have many different names -fib,  embroider, doctor, dupe, bend, cover up, misinform, stretch the truth, inflate, embellish, warp, spin, fake, con, perjure, dissemble, distort, theft, shoplifting, embezzlement, swindling, mooching,  sneaking, lifting, hustling, etc – we can break down all ethical transgressions into these 3 categories.

Some questions to consider: Why do we have some many words for these transgressions? Is there a difference between a “white lie” and a regular lie? Are there any other ethical transgressions? Are there any times when it is ok to lie, steal or to cause harm?

Drawing Distinctions: Ethical, Legal, Prudential

Where I tend to get into trouble and muddle up my thinking is in drawing distinctions between what I perceive to be ethical issues. When framing an issue, there are 3 perspectives to consider: ethical,  legal, and prudential. While these perspectives can and do overlap, it is best to view our actions through these 3 independent lenses to help you frame the issue. Legal issues pertain to actions within the law of society like speeding, assault, murder, etc. Our actions are considered right or wrong within the law, and our personal code of conduct is not taken into consideration. Prudential issues speak to our self interest. You can usually tell if an issue is prudential if you balance the pros and cons of the issue, however it does not separate right from wrong nor take into account if the action is legally right or wrong. Finally, ethical issues relate to the issues of deception, stealing, and
harming.

Some questions to consider: How can you frame the issue (ex. speeding) through the lenses of ethical, legal, and prudential? When can illegal acts be ethical? Why is there conflict between these lenses? Do you allow certain frames to override another if there is a conflict?

Action or Consequence Based Ethics:

This is the last issue that I’m going to touch on in this post. Action-based ethics is tied to the idea that our ethical responsibility is attached to our actions, regardless of the consequences.  Consequence-based ethics is tied to the idea that our ethical responsibility is attached to the consequences, and our actions have to be judged accordingly. It is similar to the idea of utilitarianism or the greatest good for the greatest number.

Here’s where it starts to get tricky for me. Using the example of lying, if you are following Action-based ethics, you would never lie. But would you lie to prevent murder? It is ethical?  Prudential? Legal? Under the Consequence-based ethics, the issue seems simpler. Under this philosophy, you would also never lie, however, if faced with the same issue of lying to prevent murder, you WOULD lie (or rather I would lie inthis case) as the consquences of lying is less than the
consequences of not lying.

As I’ve been wrestling with this issue, for me, ethics is more action based rather than consequence based. I believe we need to start off with the right intentions and therefore the right actions. Since I have the power to control my thoughts and actions, and our actions influence the consequences, Action-based ethics seem to fit in with my belief system. To expand, if certain actions lead to  consequences beyond my control, should I let that infuence my actions retrospectively? I agree that there are times when Consequence-based ethics may over-rule (I would lie if I knew it would prevent murder), for the most part, I subscribe to the Action-based philosophy.

Some questions to consider: Do the ends justify the means? What if it’s “for a good cause”? How do you define “a good cause”? Are we not responsible for our actions, and therefore the direct  consequences as a result of it? How does our reasoning or rationalization influence the decision making process?

Some key guiding principles for me:
Now that we’ve explored some issues relating to ethics (and there are still more to explore), I’m going to attempt to lay out some of the guiding principles for me in my code of ethics. As I continue to explore this issue, I suspect my views and opinions may change, but for the most part, these are principles I strive to live my life by.
#1. Apply the Golden Rule
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is one of my founding principles and something I take into consideration whenever I’m faced with a difficult issue.

#2. Deception
I choose to live with honesty and without deception. I will make the choice to choose the hard right instead of the easier wrong and never be content with a half truth when the whole can and should be done. I will act in a way that doesn’t deceive anyone or allow anyone to be deceived (i.e. not doing anything that could be considered “sneaky”). I will act in a way where I would be satisfied if I were on the receiving end of the outcome.

I may make an exception to this principle if it would prevent harm to others (ex. lying to prevent
murder) where the harm of lying (to me and society) would be low compared to the harm to society. I’m not sure if there are other exceptions I would make to the principle of living with honesty, but this is a start and where I stand at this time.

#3. Stealing
I believe stealing is wrong. Even if it is easy and I won’t get caught, stealing from “rich people” or “big corporations” or if “everyone else is doing it”, I will not steal. To me, this issue is pretty clear. However, there is one issue that I’m not sure of – that is the issue of downloading.

Fundamentally, I believe downloading without paying for content is wrong. Despite this belief, my issue is this: what is the difference if I acquire the content through a different, legal channel such as borrowing the material from friends, the library, or visiting a bookstore? And with today’s technological advances, and using an example relevant in my case, what is the difference between logging in to my public library’s online catalogue to download and listen to an audio-book vs. downloading it from an “unauthorized” site? What about enjoying a music video on tv or on demand from youtube vs. downloading it from an “unauthorized” site? The content is the same, my actions are the same (use the internet to acquire the content), my enjoyment is the same – and from my perspective as an end-user, there is no real difference other than the details of which channel I use to get the material. I’m not sure where or how to draw the line.

Praticaly speaking, and as a general rule, I do not download as I do utilize the pubic library (and it’s online catalogue), the local bookstore, youtube, tv, and friends to enjoy this content through acceptable legal methods rather than rely on downloading from unauthorized sources. But with that being said, should I feel like I’m stealing if I download from an unauthorized source? Maybe there is a difference in terms of the other transactions going on behind the scenes that I’m not aware of – but I’m not sure. How do my actions affect the underlying industry structure? Either case, with the  incessant march of technological advances, I can imagine the issue of downloading from  unauthorized sources will change and may not even be an issue 5, 10 years from now.

#4. Harm
I will aim to do no harm. However, one exceptions to my principle incluldes self defence, or  defending others when they cannot defend themselves. Expanding on this in another direction, why role should I play in supporting sustainable organizations, supporting organizations who do not have a perfect track record for environmental sustainabililty, human rights, or public health?

Conclusion

These issues are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fleshing out my thoughts on ethics. Other issues to explore (maybe in a later post) incude reasoning vs. rationalizing, framing issues, refining my code of ethics, going through the decision making process, and applying our ethics in a variety of aspects of life. This process has opened up another layer of questions and ideas to consider, and as I continue to work on developing my code of ethics. I recognize and understand that I’m not perfect, but hopefully through this process, I will become better skilled at making these distinctions and thereby better ethical choices in the future.

To conclude, I want to leave you with this story (paraphrased from the book) as food for thought in how you frame an issue in determining if an issue is ethical or unethical.

There were two monks who loved to smoke and pray. They were concerned that their smoking habit was a sin so they went to their superior for guidance. The first monk went to the master and asked “Is it ok to smoke during evening prayers?” The master replied and said no. The next day, the first monk found his friend smoking away when he arrived. He protested, “But the master told me it was a sin”. The other monk looked at him and asked, “what did you ask the master?” The first monk replied, “I asked if it was all right to smoke during evening prayers and he said no”. “Well,” replied the second monk, “I asked if it was ok to pray during our evening smoke and he said it was just fine.”

The Right Frame of Mind

Our brains our amazing objects. With just a bunch or neurons and electrons flowing around (and other stuff too, but you know what I mean), we have the ability to think critically, rationalize, debate, feel emotions, use our 5 senses, and do so much more. And while I’m not a scientist, I’m awed at the power that we all hold between our ears and our ability to create, think, and feel alive.

Despite our similarities in our brains, I’ve been discovering that many of us approach and frame the same issues in a radically different way. And how we approach these issues can fundamentally change our outlook and thoughts on life. While not every thought will change your life, we succeed or fail one thought at a time. As I’ve reflected on this, I’ve decided to write a bit about some of the frames we carry around.

1. Is the glass being half full vs. half empty?
This is one of the most common metaphors for optimism and pessimism, and if you believe in the ideas behind the Law of Attraction, you will naturally find yourself in better situations by having a positive outlook on life. One of my favourite stories about this is a Chinese fable about an old man and his horse. As life runs its course, a variety of things happen to him, yet his reaction is always the opposite of what you’d normally expect. It’s a great tale that will challenge your assumptions about interpreting events for better or for worse. http://www.ymaa.com/articles/stories-proverbs/blessing-in-disguise

2. Scarcity vs. Abundance?
Do you believe that we live in a world with finite and fixed resources, or do you believe that we live in an abundant world that can provide for all of our needs? Do you believe in freely giving and freely receiving? Can multiple people be successful in the same industry? Or if person A finds a new customer, does that mean person B loses a customer?

3. Growing the pie vs. Taking a bigger slice
This idea is similar to the ideaof scarcity vs. abundance and is a common business metaphor. Itasks if you believe there is a finite value of resources to be competed for, or if you there is a way to grow the pie so that everyone can win and have a bigger piece. One case study that I remember is of Swiffer, which not only revolutionized the home cleaning category and allowed P&G to gain greater market share, but expanded the industry at the same time. If you want to continue reading about interesting stories of growing the pie, check out the book, Blue Ocean Strategy.

4. Proactive vs. reactive?
When opportunity strikes, do you usually find yourself acting in a proactive or reactive manner? What would you rather be doing? Under what circumstances is it better to be reactive or proactive?

Conclusion
I hope this gives you some food for thought and maybe challenges you to look at your beliefs and how you approach life. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Life’s too short to let the pessimists, naysayers, or other toxic people pull you down. Focus on being the best you can be and Carpe Diem!