Flavourful Saskatoon, March 9, 2020


Local Happenings 
Say goodbye to winter from 8-11 pm, Mar. 21, at an evening of great food, fair trade wine, and music by Vesti and Friends at The Refinery Arts and Spirit Centre. There’s a $20 suggested donation to Fair Trade Saskatoon.

Chef de Partie Catering held its grand opening on Saturday, March 7, and I was intrigued by all the different (mostly local) vendors who attended and provided samples of their products. I wish I could have attended. Two of the vendors caught my eye. Given Chef de Partie's endorsement of these products, I’m curious to sample and find out more about Steven Smith Tea (Portland, Oregon) and Délice Baked Goods (Saskatoon).

Well, the outdoor square at the old location of the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market Co-operative will have a new tenant this summer as the City of Saskatoon has given Street Stall Saturdays permission to expand into the space. I used to visit the SFMC at their old location almost every Saturday, but I happily gave the Street Stall vendors a miss as they had nothing of interest to me. I can’t see myself visiting this site again any time soon. They may get a few farmers to participate, but the real action is happening at the SFMC’s new site.

The Edmonton-based Italian Centre Shop hopes to open a store in Saskatoon.


Planning for Spring 
A free garden planner app includes personalized planting dates, companion planting guide, health benefits, organic pest treatments, beneficial insects, and recipes.

Food for Thought 
I’ve been enjoying Bob’s Red Mill products for more years than I care to count. The company was founded by Bob Moore and his wife Charlee in 1978, way before organic or vegetarian food became popular. To celebrate his 81st birthday, he gave the company with its 400 different offerings to his employees.

About 20,000 Dutch people starved to death in a few months in the Hunger Winter during World War II. The Netherlands’ post-war motto, “hunger – never again” – still resonates and it consistently ranks among the world’s top food exporting countries despite its small size. At Wageningen University, two different options for the future of the world’s food are being explored: “Multinational companies and energetic startups are pouring money into the university; the collective brainpower of 8,000 international food scientists is part of the machinery that will determine how humans of the future will eat. The other option – championed by a small but spirited group of Wageningen students – is rather more drastic. . . . The young Wageningeners believe that profit-seeking industrial farming has driven the planet to the edge of crisis. . . . The students believe the rational response to ecological crisis is to produce and consume less, even if it causes an economic backslide.”

Flavourful Saskatoon is a weekly Monday feature. I also post articles about food that is good, clean and fair; travel; and books. You may also enjoy EcoFriendly Sask profiling Saskatchewan nature/environmental initiatives and events. 

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