Lucky Dip – Monday, November 28th, 2011

Oh, hippies… Occupy Toronto protesters have taken over the basement of St. Patrick’s Market, a building owned by the city but leased out to various food shops, and the soon-to-be home of The Grove food emporium. The hippies occupiers swear to run a food strike and then a hunger strike unless they can become legitimate tenants of the space. [Toronto Star] [Globe and Mail]

Let it be noted that we are the architects of our own demise. Canada and Mexico are arguing that the US’s super-awesome Country of Origin Labelling laws violate the free trade agreement our countries have all been roped into. Which means that, besides forcing the US to stop labelling the food it sells so that consumers can know where it comes from, the chance of getting similar laws here in Canada (which local food advocates have requesting for years) is pretty much screwed. [Food Safety News]

Poor weather in the US south means that peanut butter is now too expensive to stock at food banks. [Village Voice: Fork in the Road]

You know how it just takes some people a while to figure out where they’re supposed to be and what they’re supposed to be doing? Writer Sarah B. Hood finally found her “thing”, cooking in the historic kitchen at Fort York. [Toronto Tasting Notes]

Yet again, this holiday season, Brits are in the aisles of Waitrose fighting over the last Heston Blumenthal Christmas pudding. [Independent]

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Lucky Dip – Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Only in Toronto would we stop food getting to the poor because of wads and wads of red tape. Seriously, some 13 years after amalgamation, why do we still have 4 or 5 sets of bylaws on the books? Shouldn’t this have been one of the first things that was actually amalgamated? Meanwhile, poor people living in food deserts don’t get to enjoy the services of a mobile grocery truck because we can’t figure out which set of goddamned rules applies. WTF, people. [Toronto Star]

In the future, breadfruit will be the new potatoes. [Wall Street Journal]

If food bank usage can be considered a bellwether for the shape of the economy, we’re still not doing as well as we’d like. [Globe and Mail]

It’s fairly common knowledge that the UK has higher rates of alcoholism than North America, but who knew that kids were drinking more than the weekly consumption recommendations for adults – on a regular basis? [Telegraph]

Cozy, comforting and good for your diet. Soup has it all. [National Post]

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Lucky Dip – Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

The more warts, the better the flavour. Why you should be considering funky-looking heirloom pumpkins for your Thanksgiving cooking. [Toronto Star]

The two flavours of hogtown – might meaty and virtuously vegan. [NOW]

Could you eat for just $30  a week? That’s the equivalent that an American on food stamps is working with. [KETV Omaha]

How sweet it is. Mostly from amounts hidden in processed foods, Canadians consume 26 teaspoons of sugar every day. [Globe & Mail]

Foods that should be aphrodisiacs, but aren’t. [Funny or Die]

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Lucky Dip – Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

You know all that food you throw out every week because you buy ingredients to cook like the chefs on TV but end up eating take-out instead? Yeah, it adds up. [Today: Bites]

The US food media seems out of joint about Alton Brown’s “fanifesto” for his upcoming book tour, but go and read it. Not one word of it is even marginally unreasonable. [Eater]

Stock up while you can – there’s a pumpkin shortage down south, which could mean fistfights in the grocery aisle over the last cans of pumpkin pie filling, like we saw a couple of years back. [CBS Boston]

That joke about university students living on cheap ramen and beer is kind of true. Food bank usage on university campuses is way up. [Toronto Star]

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