Preserves Become Ideology in a Jar
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.28.07
Good article by Leslie Scrivener about how canning your own food is becoming a political act.
"It is more than simply putting up food from the harvest, or the back garden. Preserving is an ideology, a political act, a hands-on vote in support of local farmers and their produce. It is a way of withholding, even in small measures, from the vast corporatization of our food. And in its subtle and serene way, it is a link to the past."
She quotes Wayne Roberts of the Toronto Food Policy Council: "The whole concept of the ideal life in which we do no labour has been proven erroneous. We're not burning all of the calories we consume, and we are not a happier species. It's resulted in mass obesity and mass dissatisfaction and under-utilization of the hormones that flow when we are working.
"Why is it when you know someone well, you move into the kitchen, not the living room?" he continues. "You involve them in doing some work. The reality of who we are as a species keeps bumping up against the commodity nature of food." ::The Star
Are there any resources on how to do this? I'm interested, but I have no idea where to start.
LA: We will see what we can do.
there are tons of pages on the internet about canning, and info through your local extension.
i do a lot of canning, specifically of stuff i get at the farmer's market in season. so when i want to make sauce or soup in the middle of winter i can still make it out of local ingredients.
in fact, i whipped up two big batches of stock, chicken and beef/lamb yesterday from all local stuff and am going to get on canning the stuff later today.
canning is a great way to preserve and enhance taste too
Canning is something I've been thinking about getting into also. My husband will probably think I'm nuts since he's only minimally green, but that's fine. We have a pretty decent garden and while giving away excess works, it would be nice to have my own use for it too.
Oh thanks for this! I love canning and making jams, etc. I've been doing this for a few years now and all I did was research online when I wanted to do something new. I'm 25 and never had any exposure to this type of thing before, but food just tastes so much better this way and it's become one of my favorite things to do.
"Balls Blue Book of Preserving" is a great resource, i just learned how to can this summer and plan on doing lots of it
I have a huge mango tree and just planted several other fruit trees. I never thought of canning or perserving. I freeze some stuff to make shakes but this open a new door.
It is no doubt a food war out there. We need a food sharing system that is effective.
I harvest 1800 gallons of rain water at a clip for my trees. Now that's green!
The Huffington post rules!! What a site. The winds of change are blowing hard. Peace everyone!!
it takes me 1 hour to make a serving of salsa for two (for spaguetti) and 3 hours to make 8 or 9 servings for two and cann them. So canning is also energy efficient and time efficient.