ETHICAL GOURMET / Remind me to Tell You About the Time I Looked in the Heart of an Artichoke

BY BRYAN LAVERY For the most part, Ontarians are complacent about the origins of their food and oblivious to the challenges farmers face just to stay on their land. Paul Spence is the archetype of the intrepid, modern Ontario farmer advocating for change to our food system. His family has been working land in Chatham-Kent since 1852, when his ancestors settled in this biologically diverse Carolinian zone of southern Ontario. Spence and my paths intersect at events supporting local food and agricultural initiatives, culinary events and tourism conferences. We often discuss the fact that an obvious lack of commitment to locally procured food takes away from the integrity of many of these events. A fifth-generation farmer, Spence can debate the economic impacts of food policy with agility and is equally knowledgeable about the urban farmers’ market culture and the practicalities of traditional farming methods as he is on the subject of green­washing. His fierce ch

        By BRYAN LAVERY Travel the back roads and country trails and familiarize yourself with the proud Quaker settlements, Amish farmgates, rural hamlets and a variety of trails where you can see, touch and savour first-hand the many unique regional tastes distinctive to Oxford County. The small, historic town of Woodstock, population 38,000, is home to sixthirtynine, which is emerging as the embodiment of one of Ontario’s best destination farm-to-table restaurants. By definition, a destination restaurant is usually one that has a compelling appeal to entice diners from beyond its region. Interestingly, the earliest concept of a destination restaurant originates in France with the Michelin Guide, which rates restaurants as to whether they merit a special visit or detour by motorists. Newly refurbished to a higher standard of comfort, sixthirtynine is a tasteful 30-seat room offering menus that are tied to the rhythms of the growing season in Oxford County. A

The term greenwashing has been around long before expressions like “locally-sourced,” “farm fresh,” “artisanal,” “organic,” “small-batch” and “heirloom” conferred unwarranted credibility on menus of some restaurants that are less than forthright about their food purchasing practices. Many restaurant professionals of my acquaintance joke that the rule of thumb is that the number of adjectives in a restaurant’s menu is inversely relative to the quality of food. There is also the issue of “farmwashing” and the hypocrisy of calling your cuisine locally-sourced or farm-to-table when using out-of-province produce or ingredients. “Farm-to-table cuisine” is a term now so common that it has inspired its own irritating abbreviation, F2T,” states veteran food journalist, Corby Kummer, in a recent Vanity Fair article called, “Is it Time to Table Farm-to-Table?” One of the most frequent oversights that businesses make, even unintentionally, is greenwashing — making an ambiguous statement