Photo: Jeanne Jenner, Sue Clinton and Sandy Singers in Sharbot Lake.

The Lanark Frontenac Lennox and Addington NDP Riding Association held a timely forum on food banks in Sharbot Lake on December 5. Participants from Perth and Kingston were in attendance, as were Sue Clinton from the Loughborough Christmas and Emergency Relief Committee and Brenda Piat from the North Frontenac Food Bank.

The divergent experiences of the operators brought a lot of different issues into play

Sandy Singers from the Partners in Mission food Bank in Kingston brought a more urban perspective since his agency is a full-time operation that distributes almost $1 million each year in food donations. The Partners in Mission also deal with unique issues, such as the impact on the food bank of family members of people incarcerated in Kingston's numerous prisons.

Jeanne Jenner is currently affiliated with the Salvation Army in Perth, which provides hot meal and Chrismas hamper programs, and was formerly with the Perth and District Food Bank. “We often face the opinion, when it comes to poverty and homelessness issues in Perth, that the solution is to ‘buy them a bus ticket’ to Ottawa. This kind of denial of the problems that the working poor face in our own community extends to Perth City Council, I’m afraid,” she said.

Sydenham-based Sue Clinton from the Loughborough Christmas and Emergency Relief Committee, which prepares Christmas hampers for about 60 families and provides emergency food to 37 families throughout the year, talked about some of the issues that plague impoverished people in rural areas. A nutritionist herself, Clinton also talked about the need to teach people how to prepare and eat healthy meals. “Food has everything to do with health. If you teach people how to eat healthier you empower them. We see children of food bank recipients becoming recipients themselves, and we need to work to end this cycle. One thing we are doing is putting recipes in the food box, and encouraging people to use the Good Food Box as well as our services. Jamie Oliver, the famous chef, won an award for trying to help the Americans improve their health. Every child before they leave school should be able prepare 10 meals to save their life. Those are the kinds of solutions we need to foster,” Clinton said.

Brenda Piat, who introduced the panel on behalf of the North Frontenac Food Bank, which handles about 275 food requests annually, said that a major portion of the clientele who are served by the food bank are recipients of disability pensions, but she has been unable to convince the workers who administer the disability payments to refer their clients to the food bank. “To me those workers are in the social services and they should concern themselves with the food and other needs of their clients,” she said.

“In Kingston the Ontario Works and Disability supports program workers just send their clients over to us, which is another kind of problem. We are a charitable organisation, and receive no government funding, but the government is effectively asking us to subsidise their support programs,” said Sandy Singers of Partners in Mission.

All of the panellists confirmed that the Christmas season is their best time of year for fundraising. In some ways the smaller rural services expressed the most optimism about their ability to raise funds. “Over the years people have become more and more aware of our need,” said Brenda Piat. “Most community events accept food donations for admission; people ask for donations to the food bank when their loved ones pass away, and we have even received bequests.”

“We send a letter to our donors in the fall, and that is one of our best ways to raise cash, along with the food boxes in the local food stores, and fundraising events like Vision Soup and others” said Sue Clinton.

“We are dependent on the kindness of strangers” said Sandy Singers “and our budget is definitely made in November and December. But our donors don’t want to be overburdened by us. What I find is that people don’t want us to badger them.”

All of the participants realise that what they offer is a limited solution, at best. “All of the good work done by hot meal programs, soup kitchen and food banks is just a band aid, not the answer and certainly not even a solution at all,” said Sandy Singers. He also said that food banks and food programs are not really in a position to get overly political because of the rules for charitable organizations and the fact that they receive donations from people of all political stripes, but collecting information and providing statistics is something they can do.

“The Ontario Association of Food Banks calculated the cost of poverty in Ontario at billions of dollars a year,” Singers said.

From inter-generational poverty, lack of budgeting skills, social and employment problems, mental health issues and drug problems, the reasons that food banks remain busy are diverse and complicated. The panel members agreed that it would take political action to transform community concerns about food and poverty into a policy priority. Until then they all said they will muddle through as best they can.

The North Frontenac Food Bank can be reached through Northern Frontenac Community Services at 613-279-3151 and the Loughborough Christmas and Emergency Relief Committee can be reached through voicemail at 613-572-6004.

Photo: (l-r) Auxiliary Constable Sylvain Belisle, Auxiliary Constable Brent Reynolds, and Auxiliary Staff Sergeant Bill Anderson in Verona

Auxiliary staff from the OPP were out in full force in Sydenham and Verona on December 4 in support of two local food banks and other community relief services to help fill the gap for those in need over the holiday season. Cash and food donations were split between the Southern Frontenac Community Services Food Bank and the Loughborough Christmas and Emergency Relief Fund.

The two-stop fundraising event was the brainchild of Constable Jeremy Saunders, who organized the drive, which took place for the first time this year in South Frontenac. Every auxiliary unit across the entire province, in celebration of the auxiliary staff’s 50th anniversary, organized and held community fundraising events as a means of benefiting their local communities. Auxiliary Staff Sergeant Bill Anderson said that this particular area fundraiser will become a regular annual event in the future. Many thanks to Logan Saunders and the other students at Perth Road Public School and Prince Charles Public School who created the posters for the event.

Photo Left: detail of the Presepio (the Nativity), at the Palace of Caserta in Napoloi.

Italian Christmas traditions are tied to the vibrant Italian culture, and to its central role in the development of the Catholic faith.

The language itself adds an extra dimension to some of the most basic of Christmas terms, from the baby Jesus, (Gesu Bambino) to Father Christmas (Babbo Natale).

La Befana is a figure that is unique to Italy. Historically, she was the one who brought Christmas presents to Italian children, on the Epiphany, January 6, which tradition says is the day the Magi brought their gifts to Gesu Bambino.

La Befana is a figure that seems more likely to be seen at Halloween than Christmas. She is an old woman, covered in soot, with a broom stick. But, historically, she was the Italian Santa Clause, filling stockings by the fireplace on the Epiphany.

There are a number of accounts about who La Befana is. The following two are told by Francesca di Megli, an American of Sicilian descent:

“Legend has it that she was an old Italian grandma-type happily cleaning her house, when three men showed up at her door. No fool, she was sceptical. She shooed them away when they said they were searching for Baby Jesus, the newborn king. After a little while, she had second thoughts. Perhaps, the men were honest and telling the truth. If so, she missed her chance to help them reach the king. She decided she should try to catch up with them. But they were long gone. So, she handed out gifts to all of the children in the neighbourhood in the hopes that one of them was Jesus. Every year she goes to look for the three wise men - and most importantly Baby Jesus. When she does, she leaves little surprises for the little Italian girls and boys.

Some say she didn't go with the wise men because she had chores to do. Others believe she promised to find them after she finished the housework. Still others have an entirely different version of the story.

I've also heard that La Befana was a mother to a son who lived in King Herod's day. Herod reportedly decreed that each male child born was to be killed because one of them could be the new king. La Befana was so traumatized when her son was murdered that she didn't believe he was really killed. She set out in search of him, carrying all of his belongings in a sack.

She quickly aged from worry - her face became wrinkled, her hair turned gray and she grew to look like an old, haggard lady. She finally found a male baby in a manger and she laid out her son's belongings at the baby's feet. The baby was Jesus Christ. And He blessed the lady as “Befana,” the giver of gifts. After that, every year on Jan. 5, the eve of the Epiphany, she would be mother to all of the world's children and would care for them by bringing them treats.”

The Presepio is the Italian representation of the Nativity scene, and it is similar to the crèche that is common elsewhere in Europe and in North America, however it is more elaborate, and includes a much larger number of figures.

Anthony Parente has written about the Presepio in Italiansrus.com.

“One thing we know for certain is that the popularity of the Nativity scene did not occur until after St. Francis re-enacted what many believe was the first living Nativity. St. Francis asked for and got permission from Pope Honorius III to hold a special celebration during Christmas. With the help of Giovanni Velita they prepared for this special celebration, which would take place on Christmas Eve in 1223 at the monastery at Greccio. On that night a child was placed in a crib as an ox and donkey stood nearby. Those who came to watch got to witness for themselves the miracle that occurred 1,223 years ago in the small town of Bethlehem.”

In the City of Napoli the tradition of the Presepio over the last few hundred years has become a regional art form and industry.

“The life-size figures in many of the churches and monasteries were made of wood and were beautifully crafted. In addition to wood, hemp wrapped in wire was used to create the body that would be covered in garments. The remaining parts of the body that were unclothed were made with terracotta. However they were made, they were done with exquisite craftsmanship and beauty. Some of the most impressive scenes can be seen inside the Royal Palace of Caserta and the Museo Nazionale di San Martino,” - Anthony Parente

Not to be outdone, there are parallel Presepio traditions in Sicily and Rome, which feature local materials and the local landscape.

Feasting on Fish

Italian cuisine has, if anything gained more attention in recent years as people start to think about local food and slow food. In Italy, as the result of the local culture, the soil, the sun and the sea, slow food is as normal as McDonalds is in North America.

Christmas time is no exception, of course.

Historically, Christmas Eve was a fast day in Italy, but the Italian definition of fasting seems to be different from that of other peoples.

As the food writer Mario Batali said of Christmas Eve dinner, which takes all evening to eat, leading up to midnight Mass: “It's what Italians do when they are fasting; they eat course after course of luxurious seafood dishes, often as many as 7, 10, or even 13. I'm not quite sure about the significance of the number. Some families do 7 for the sacraments. Some do 10 for the Stations of the Cross. And some even do 13 for the apostles plus Jesus.”

There are, of course, regional variations to the Feast of the 7 Fishes, but the format is more or less constant, an antipasto course, follow by a pasta course, then the secondi, normally the meat course, but in the Feast of the Fishes it would often include salt cod and baked eel. Meal is finished off with the only fish-free course, dolci or dessert.

I called Rosemarie Bowick, who happens to be our landlord here at the News. Rosemarie is a Canadian of Italian and Ukrainian descent. When she was growing up on Preston Street in Ottawa, Christmas Eve dinner was meatless. If there were visitors coming the meal started with a simple antipasto – melon, bread and olives and cheese. Afterwards the tradition was to have pasta with a tomato sauce and cod (or halibut if it was available), smelts with green beans and salad, rice and lentil soup, perhaps followed by a savoury Ricotta Pie. Dessert was deep-fried pastry and very thin anise flavoured biscuits. Another dessert option is spumoni ice cream topped with Spumante (sparkling wine). Unlike what I found in my research there is no seafood in Rosemarie Bowick’s traditions, but there is a reason for that - she is allergic to shellfish.

Rosemarie said that when she was a child Christmas Eve dinner was served early, at around 6 o’clock, and then the children were put to bed, only to be woken up at about 11:15 or 11:30 to get dressed and to church for midnight Mass. Afterwards they would start their Christmas partying by opening presents, and maybe having a little bite to eat before finally going to bed at 2:00 or 2:30 in the morning.

Recipes

We have included a couple of recipes that Rosemarie Bowick wouldn’t use, but are options for a feast of the seven fishes meal for seafoood lovers.

SEAFOOD ANTIPASTO 

There are as many recipes for this as there are kitchens. This dish can either be prepared in advance, in which case it is a marinated antipasto, or served fresh to the table.

Below is recipe for fresh antipasto, from Mario Batali, who has a pretty strong web presence.

Ingredients

6 medium shrimp, cleaned and peeled 6 small mussels, bearded and scrubbed 6 large clams, bearded and scrubbed 6 small razor clams, bearded and scrubbed 6 large mussels, bearded and scrubbed 6 small calamari, cleaned and gutted 1 small (1 pound) lobster 1 pound crab meat 1 cup extra virgin olive oil Juice and zest of 4 lemons 1 tablespoon hot chili flakes 2 bunches Italian parsley, finely chopped to yield 1/2 cup

Directions:

Bring 6 quarts water to boil and set up an ice bath.

Cook shrimp for 1 1/2 minutes and plunge into ice bath. Cook calamari 1 minute and do the same. Cook lobster for 8 minutes and then cool in ice bath.

In a large saute pan, place mussels and clams with 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Cover and steam, removing each shellfish as it opens until they are all done. Discard those shellfish which do not open. Keeping each open shellfish separate, dress each individually with 1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, a touch of lemon juice, a pinch of chilies and 1 to 2 tablespoons parsley. Do the same with the crab meat. Arrange all the seafood on a big platter. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve.

You can omit just about any of the ingredients in this dish and will still taste delicious (note the number of lemons that are required)

ZUPPA DI PESCE

I'm including a recipe for fish soup or stew, partly because I want to make it myself, but also because the instructions are simple and the ingredients variable. Literally, any fish will do. The recipe stresses fresh fish, but in our area that is not always possible, but there is frozen seafood in just about every store, and if using frozen, the key is to run it under cold water until it is fully defrosted

Cacciucco is a fish stew made in the Tuscan port of Livorno, from whatever the fishmonger has that's fresh and inexpensive. It should have a healthy jolt of red pepper, and will sell you on fish if you don't like fish already. To serve 4:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds of mixed fish (see list below) A half a medium onion, minced 2 cloves garlic A bunch of parsley, minced 2 tablespoons olive oil 3/4 pound sliced fresh or canned plum tomatoes (if they're fresh, blanch and peel them) 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar diluted in 3/4 cup of water Salt and crumbled or minced hot red pepper to taste Toasted Italian bread rubbed with garlic

Preparation:

The Fish:

Whatever is in season (it needn't be expensive), for example, sole, mullet, catfish, dogfish, goby, squid, octopus, fresh shellfish (see The Joy of Cooking for treatment instructions), and shrimp. Chop the large fish, but leave the small ones whole.

Procedure:

Sauté the onion, parsley, and garlic in the oil in a deep-bottomed pot. Once the onion has turned translucent, stir in the chopped tomatoes and season the mixture to taste. This is one of the few hot North Italian dishes, so don't feel you must be sparing with the red pepper. When the tomatoes are done, stir in the water and vinegar. Simmer them for a few more minutes and remove the garlic. Blend the sauce and return it to the fire with the fish, and, if you wish, sprinkle another tablespoon or two of olive oil into the pot. Simmer the cacciucco until the fish is done, 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, toast several slices of bread and rub them with a crushed clove of garlic.

Once the fish is done, line the bottoms of your bowls with the toasted bread, ladle the cacciucco over them, and serve.

A final point about Italian Christmas. We don't have space to talk about desserts, but some Italian traditions included variations on quick fried sweet dough dipped in spiced sugar and nuts.

One Italian food that needs to be mentioned is Pannetone, which is to Italy what Stollen is to Germany or Fruitcake to the British Isles. The easiest way to make Pannetone is not to. In many grocery stores, including Canadian stores, piles of colourful boxes with string handles on top appear at this time of year, They contain Pannetone, a light, yeasted cake with nuts or dried fruits inside.

All you have to do is buy one of these, and eat it on Christmas morning with tea or coffee.

Pannetone is not that difficult to make either, no more so than bread, but is even easier to buy.

Final, final point: Prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine, is another Christmas Day tradition that is worth considering for a proper Christmas celebration.

Photo: students from HPS, l-r, Adam Nash, Jennifer Wheeler, Bella Greastrom, Maggie Gordon, Jordyn Holley and Tristin Horton with HPS Principal Valerie Arsenault and Revell's marketing manager Rob Fenwick

A small group of students, staff and parents gathered in the showroom of Revell Ford Lincoln in Verona on December 11, where they delivered a considerable shipment of donated food items that the students of Harrowsmith Public School (HPS) had collected from the community in their annual Jingle Bell Run Food Drive, which was held at the school on December 7. Students on that day were asked to bring to school one non-perishable food item for which they received a jingle bell that they were invited to wear and ring around the school. Parents and community members also joined in for the event.

HPS principal Valerie Arsenault explained that for a number of years students and the HPS parent council have partnered together with Revell's of Verona as a way to collect a sizable holiday food donation for local residents in need. Grade 4 student Jordyn Holley from Miss Thayer's class said that her class was in charge of sorting out the food and putting it into boxes. “It is nice to be able to give food to people in the area who might not have enough to eat at this time of the year," Jordyn said.

Grade 8 student Tristin Horton, who is also the school's ambassador, said that he was pleased with the donations this year and proud to be able to help out others in the community. “People were very generous and this donation can really help families who do not have enough money to buy food because of the economy nowadays,” he said.

Rob Fenwick of Revell's was equally pleased. “The Revell family have been doing this for years and they are very happy to be able to help out the community in this way.” The donations will be handed over to the Harrowsmith Free Methodist Church, who will be distributing the food to members of the community in need.

Both Revell's, the Harrowsmith Parent Council, and The Boy's and Girl's Club will also be partnering together to present the upcoming Festival of Trees at Harrowsmith Public School on Tuesday December 18 at 6:30 PM (or in case of school closure, on December 19). Revell's will be donating the two special adult and child gift trees that will be raffled off at the event. The evening will include a visit from Santa, crafts for children of all ages and cookie decorating. Harrowsmith Public School is located at 4121 Colebrooke Road. Thanks also to the moms who helped out with transportation of the food donations - Frankie Horton and Jennifer Greastrex

Outdoors in the Land O'Lakes - December 6, 2012

By Steve Blight

In our area there are two tree species that are generally known as cedars – Eastern White-cedar, and Eastern Redcedar. These two members of the Cypress Family have one interesting thing in common – neither of them are actually cedars! True cedars, like the well-known cedars of Lebanon, are members of the Pine family and none are native to North America. Our “cedars” likely picked up their names from Europeans who often named unfamiliar plants and animals after similar species from their home countries.

Eastern White-cedar (Thuja occidentalis) goes by several other less commonly used names – northern white-cedar, arborvitae, or eastern thuja. The name arborvitae is interesting – it means "tree of life" and dates from the 16th century when the French explorer Jacques Cartier learned from aboriginal people how to brew a tea from the tree's foliage to treat scurvy, a serious disease caused by a vitamin C deficiency.

Eastern White-cedars have so many uses. The rot-resistant sapwood is used for fences, posts, shakes and shingles, outdoor projects and cedar strip canoes. However, the heartwood of living trees is subject to heart-rot; consequently many large diameter cedars have hollow trunks – great for wildlife, but not so great for making 2 by 4s! They are valuable landscape trees and make excellent hedges. The foliage is a favourite food for deer and winter deer “yards” are often found near groves of cedars.

Eastern White-cedars are slow growing, medium sized trees that can live several hundred years. Small stunted cedars have been found growing on limestone cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment that are over 700 years old; even older stunted trees have been found in northern Quebec. In our region Eastern White-cedars generally grow best on limestone-derived soils that are neutral or slightly alkaline and moist but well drained. Nevertheless, they are found in many different environments – swampy areas and sphagnum bogs, even in very shallow dry soils over bedrock.

Eastern Redcedar is actually a juniper – its Latin name is Juniperus virginiana. This species is often found in abundance in pastures and abandoned fields. It is particularly plentiful in the Napanee area and Prince Edward County where it seems quite happy growing in thin soils over limestone bedrock. However it is also found here and there throughout our area, becoming increasingly scarce the further north one goes. It is one of the few trees that can survive the harsh conditions of south facing rock outcrops with scattered pockets of thin soil. Foley Mountain overlooking Westport is one place to find them growing in profusion.

The wood of junipers is strongly aromatic and resistant to decay. The heartwood is bright purplish red and the sapwood nearly white. Juniper wood is favoured for lining chests and wardrobe closets because its odour is pleasant and reputed to repel moths. Juniper wood is also used in the manufacturing of pencils.

Redcedars are conifers; hence their seeds are borne in cones. However, the cones are unique – when mature, they become fleshy and berry-like. Most people would hardly recognize them as being cones at all. They are dark blue with a powdery coating and a strong fragrance. Juniper “berries” are used to flavour gin and are a good supply of winter food for birds. Stands of redcedars are excellent places to look for flocks of waxwings, especially in winter – both Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings seem to relish the berries and these birds play a key role in spreading their seeds.

They may not be true cedars – but the Eastern White-cedar and Eastern Redcedar are certainly welcome components of our local forests and fields. I think I’ll take a pass on cedar tea though.

Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or Steve Blight at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

St. Paul's United Church Sunday School in Harrowsmith is no stranger to outreach projects. The past several years have seen the children raising funds through bike-a-thons and craft sales to purchase livestock, school and medical supplies for under-privileged countries and special projects in Haiti. This year the children are learning of Canadians who live in poverty and who need the generosity of others to survive and feed their children. This year our Sunday school is asking for community support during the Harrowsmith Santa Claus parade on December 1 at 10 a.m. Volunteers from the church will be collecting non-perishable food and monetary donations to help assist the Southern Frontenac Community Services Corporation (SFCSC) food bank and Christmas hamper project. Last year St. Paul's and their sister church, Trinity United in Verona, packed 34 Christmas hampers. As well, the Sunday school is selling Christmas earrings handcrafted and generously donated by Helen Lamb to help raise funds. You can purchase these earrings for $5 by contacting our church office at 613-372-2525.

Jennifer Linton, SFCSC food bank coordinator, spoke with the children and congregation on Nov. 18. All were shocked by the statistics and information presented. Since 2008, food bank usage in Canada has increased by 31%. Last year the SFCSC food bank provided 423 families, which included 783 adults and 551 children, with food hampers. The food bank reached this number by the end of the first week in October this year! Why the increase? Jennifer explains, “There are many reasons people turn to the food bank: wages not keeping pace with inflation, job loss, sudden unexpected expenses like car repairs, increased hydro bills, illness or accident. The first reason is huge and one that Food Banks Canada is focusing attention on.”

Katharine Schmidt, Executive Director of Food Banks Canada stated recently, “It is shocking that, in a country as prosperous as Canada, hundreds of thousands of children rely on food banks to have enough to eat each month. Though food banks do what they can to fill the need, too many kids are still going to school on empty stomachs.”

It is completely unacceptable for any child or any human being to go hungry in Canada...in Frontenac County...in Harrowsmith. So please, this year support our food bank either by bringing your donations to the parade, dropping them in the bin at Trousdale’s Foodland in Sydenham, or dropping donations off directly to the SFCSC office on George Street in Sydenham, Monday to Friday 8:30 to 4:30.

Rev. Patsy Henry of the Harrowsmith-Verona Pastoral Charge summed things up by saying, “After having made contributions to help those in need in our community to get through the weeks ahead, let us resolve to call upon our leaders in this country to take action to alleviate poverty and hardship and much lessen the need for food banks at all. Let’s make this a merry Christmas for everyone and make it our mandate in 2013 to continue to support those who need our help the most.”

Photo: Susan Brown, Rosemary Kotze, Dean

Long before Walmart started selling organic produce; before there were Loblaws Organics products; before wheat-free, gluten-free and low cholesterol products were even contemplated; before the 100-Mile Diet and the Local Food movement, Alan and Susan Brown left their friends at Plenty Canada near McDonalds Corners and moved to Toronto to start a food business.

The Browns had lived at The Farm in Tennessee, a vegetarian communal project that is still going strong today, and it was there that they learned about tempeh, a product made of fermented soybeans, which was originally invented in Indonesia at least 400 years ago.

Although tempeh is now a specialty product in North America, it was not known at all back in 1975 when it was being incorporated into the diet of people at The Farm. The Browns were a young couple when they learned how to make tempeh. They learned that it is a highly effective protein source, which was much in demand for a vegetarian community. They came to Canada and became involved with Plenty, which at the time was a small community on the model of the Farm.

The Browns, Alan in particular, had an entrepreneurial bent, and when they started developing a small-scale manufacturing process to make tempeh for sale, the idea of doing it at Plenty was the first plan, but in the end it turned out not to be a good fit. So the couple headed off to the big smoke - Kensington Market to be precise - and started up their business.

A few years later they were drawn back to eastern Ontario. “We spent one weekend looking at dozens of places, and then we found this property and snapped it up,” Alan recalled last week from the little factory behind their home on the Elphin Maberly Road, just south-west of Elphin.

So, over 25 years ago, Noble Bean, which is what they called their company, moved to Elphin, and the Browns have built their business, and their lives, ever since, in the process becoming a living example of how a small-scale local food business should be run, with hands-on owners who are completely committed to the product they make.

At first they made tempeh in a small, converted trailer, which is still part of the 1,500 square foot hybrid building where the tempeh is made today.

Noble Bean is a certified organic, kosher product, and so the process through which the tempeh is made is subject to the scrutiny not only of Canadian and Ontario health and safety inspectors, but also a rabbi from Ottawa and organic regulators as well.

Both Susan and Alan work in the shop, and Susan supervises most of the production and the work of two other workers, currently Rosie Kotze from Elphin and Dean from Playfairville.

In what is a smooth-running operation, dried soybeans are transformed into 350 pounds of tempeh each day, five times a week. A year’s supply of organic soybeans sits in a tractor trailer at the far end of the property, waiting to be brought into a room where they are poured into a wood and mesh box. A fan and a dehumidifier are employed to further dry out the beans until the moisture content is down to 10%. At that point the beans are hulled, and the casings are sucked out by vacuum tube (the casings help to feed the pigs at a neighbouring farm in exchange for eggs).

The beans are put in porous sacks and boiled. They then go into a machine that resembles a commercial drier for the surface moisture to be spun out of them.

Finally the cooked beans are ready to be turned into tempeh.

At this point the beans are full of protein, but the human body can't get at all that protein. Something needs to be done to alter their chemical state.

Hundreds of years ago in Indonesia, they would be left exposed to the air, and naturally occurring bacteria would form a white mold over them in a matter of days.

Modern tempeh making, just like modern production of beer and wine, requires that for both health and taste reasons, the fermentation must be a controlled reaction. The culture that is used at Noble Bean is Rhizopus oligoporus, which is imported from The Farm in Tennessee or from other sources. The culture is mixed into the cooked soybeans, which are put into plastic that has been punctured with dozens of tiny holes. Then bags are flattened and placed on metal trays that you might see in a hospital cafeteria. The trays are placed in incubators, which maintain a temperature of over 30 degrees centigrade for 24 hours to incubate the culture.

After 24 hours, the beige soybeans have a white coating (technically it is fibrous mycelium) that is infused throughout the Tempeh cakes. Not only does the mycelium hold the cakes together, it has altered the chemistry of the soybeans, breaking them down so they can be readily digested.

“It also reverses the anti-nutrients in soy,” said Susan Brown, particularly the trypsin inhibitor that prevents digestion of protein, and phytic acid, which impedes the absorption of certain minerals including zinc, calcium and iron.”

Once the incubation is complete, the Noble Tempeh is flash frozen, and sold in stores as a frozen product.

Along with regular Soy Tempeh, Noble Bean makes Sea Veggie Tempeh, Quinoa Tempeh, and Three Grain Tempeh by adding ingredients before the tempeh is incubated. In addition, Noble Bean also sells tempeh burgers, in which the tempeh cakes are sliced and marinated before being frozen.

Over the years, the Browns have continually fine tuned their manufacturing process, all the while building up a market for tempeh in health food stores in Perth, Kingston, Ottawa and Montreal in addition to their original sales base in Toronto and through the Ontario Natural Food Co-op

But in the past few years, the market for tempeh has been exploding. The increased interest in healthy protein and gluten-free products has only made the market even stronger, and even though they invested $40,000 a few years ago in upgrades to their production facility to be able to produce as much as they do now, the market is now demanding more and more.

“Our sales were steady through the ’90s, but they are now going up every year,” said Alan Brown, “and in 2011 they are up about 13%.”

The Browns are not planning to expand their business again, however. After 30 years they are planning to retire and have put Noble Bean up for sale, even though it is more profitable today than it has ever been. It will be the new owner who will have the opportunity to build up the production to meet what looks like a limitless market.

The Browns don’t only produce tempeh; they have also become adept at cooking with it.

Like tofu, its more famous cousin, tempeh is a food that has a more neutral flavour than other sources of protein. What that means as far as cuisine is concerned, is that it provides the texture and allows other ingredients and spices the opportunity to shine. Ginger and garlic, mushrooms and almonds are all very well suited to cooking with tempeh.

In Indonesia, dishes such as Tempeh Sambal Goreng are part of the national cuisine, and a number of websites and cookbooks have sprung up with recipes that use tempeh in other Asian dishes such as Tempeh with Shiitake mushrooms and garlic sauce, and Sweet and Sour Tempeh. It is also used as a meat substitute in Italian and Mexican dishes.

Tempeh burgers are available at the Elf Inn Express locally, and Noble Bean Tempeh is sold at Local Family Farms in Verona, Tara Natural Foods in Kingston and Foodsmiths in Perth.

For further information, check out Noblebean.ca

Photo: Wilf Heggart shows off his completed snowflake.

On November 28, students from the Grade 11/12 Art class traveled to The Glass House in Kingston to learn how to make stained glass sun-catchers.  Profits from the November 16 “Northern Highlights” Art class booth subsidized the trip. Students had made glass jewellery, candle holders and coaster to sell at the art show.  

At The Glass House, students learned about the origins of stained glass, and were then guided through the process of making their sun-catcher.  Usually, a beginner’s class lasts 6 hours, but due to time constraints, the time was cut in half because the staff of the Glass House had pre-cut the glass. The sun-catcher was in the shape of a snowflake, with different colours of blue glass, iridescent glass and glass beads.  

Students were still required to grind the glass pieces, and then foil them with copper foil.  After this, they painted flux on the copper foil and soldered their pieces together. It was a very labour-intensive process, and students only stopped for about 20 minutes to eat lunch before continuing their creative process. All the students had completed their project by the time the bus arrived to take them home.  

Students really enjoyed this trip, and it seems likely that this will be an annual occurrence for Grade 11/12 students.

Empty Bowls Project a Big Success Submitted by NAEC

NAEC will delivering a cheque to the food bank this week.  The Empty Bowls Project at “Northern Highlights” netted a total of over $250 for the local food bank, along with two bags of non-perishable food items.  NAEC’s Grade 11/12 Art class produced bowls, which were sold for a minimum donation of $5 and filled with chili made by the Grade 9 girls Physical Education class or soup made by the Grade 9 Academic French class.  These delicious meals were accompanied by wonderful bread made by the School to Community class.  The materials for the bowls were donated by the Arts and Humanities Department, so the only cost associated with the project was the cost of the food.

People were delighted by the various choices of bowls, which came in all shapes and sizes, and a variety of glazes.  Students produced nearly 60 bowls, and only a few were left by the end of the night.  

Staff, vendors and visitors also enjoyed the food that went into the bowls, and the bread that accompanied it.  It was a hearty meal. The chili ran out, and the leftover soup was donated to the NAEC Lunch Club program

NAEC has been very active in supporting the Food Bank over the last few months, and will continue to support this very important community service.  Principal Angela Salmond remarked, “It is so good to see so many classes working together for a common good.  This shows how our “Whole School” community is unique and serves our community at large.” 

At the Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference group of farmers, local food processors, and local food promoters met at the Agricultural College in Kemptville last Thursday (December 1).

The theme of the conference, which was sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs (OMAFA) was “scaling up our regional food system”.

Among the participants and panellists in the main morning session of the event, were representatives from groups and businesses from all across the region who have been slowing building up the variety and availability of small scale locally grown food over a number of years.

The next step is to determine how to increase production and distribution of local food to meet an ever-increasing demand.

Business oriented concerns about he logistics of warehousing and bringing food to market were front and centre at the conference, which stands in marked contrasts to gatherings in the past, including a large food summit in Kingston that took place a few years ago. At that time, discussions about fod sovereignty and the health and economic risks that come from mono-cultural agribusinesses were the main concerns expressed by presenters and participants alike.

While all of these concerns have not gone away, this conference, sponsored as it was by OMAFRA, had more of a focus on the near and mid-term future of Eastern Ontario and how it is that local food will be able to get onto more and more tables, and how it is that more people will be able to make a living producing food for the Eastern Ontario market.

The keynote speaker at the conference was Tom Stearns, the owner of High Mowing ‘organic Seeds of Hardwick Vermont.

He talked about the prevalence of locally produced, organic food in his pat of Vermont and in the State of Vermont in general. Co-operative ventures by small sample agri-businesses have brought local food into the main stream in Vermont, and have brought the formerly dying town of Hardwick into a state of growth and prosperity.

Other features of the Vermont local food scene are a preponderance of cheese producers, and local brewers and wine producers. In stark contrast to Ontario, not only are raw milk and raw milk cheeses legal in Vermont, but farmers markets are able to sell locally produced beer and wine to take home or consume on the spot.

“It makes for a more lively farmer’s market,” Stearns said.

Other features that Stearns stressed are a spirit of co-operation between food producers and the resulting ability not only to raise large amounts of money through grants, but to raise private capital for business expansion.

After Stearns address, a a five member panel took on some of the issues related to bringing local food to exponential growth in Ontario over the next few years. Panelists included Trissa McAllister, who works for the County of Northumberland. She was involved in the promotion of farmers market and farm gate sales in Northumberland and Hastings Counties, and is now completing a Business Retention and Expansion Study of local food producers in those two counties as well as Lennox and Addington, Frontenac and Lanark Counties.

Tom Manley from Cornwall is the principle of Homesead Organics, a grain producer. He is currently working on a project called Organic Central in 200,000 square foot building in on Sault Ontario. The project will include a new home for Homestead Organics, perhaps an Eastern Ontario warehouse for the Ontario Natural Food Co-op, and will have space for a number of other companies that would like to share in resources such as office and communications support, research kitchens, and perhaps a cheese-making centre.

“What we need to do in Ontario is tighten the supply chain between producers and consumers, share the cost of infrastructure and make a real difference in the price and quality of food that is available to people,” he said.

When an audience member asked what kinds of changes in provincial policy needed not change to foster local food, Manly did not talk about raw milk or restrictions on egg producers. Instead, he said changes to securities regulations to encourage small scale investment was the key to bringing his business plan to fruition.

Moe Richardson works in the not-for profit sector in Ottawa, with a community based organisation called Just Food. Just Food, which started out as a local food advocacy group in the Sandy Hill district of Ottawa, is now engaged in building what an “Agricultural Hub” on a piece of proerpty inrural Ottawa. It shares some of the goals, as a not-for-profit venture, with Tom Manley’s Organic Central.

Harris Ivens from Kingston/Frontenac based National Farmer Union Local 316 Path to Grow Research project, and Carole Lavigne from Eastern Ontario Agri-Food network, which is working to bring local meat to Eastern Ontario grocery stores, rounded out the panel.

The thrust of the panel discussion was that regional and provincial barriers need to be bridged to bring the local food industry in Eastern Ontario to a new level of sales and employment.

The fact that the conference was supported by OMAFRA, and 4 banks and 2 farm credit organisation were listed as sponsors as well, is in itself a demonstration that the local food, a concept that was looked at as he domain of young idealists and aging hippies, is now a vital and growing business sector in the region.

St. Paul's United Church Sunday School in Harrowsmith is no stranger to outreach projects. The past several years have seen the children raising funds through bike-a-thons and craft sales to purchase livestock, school and medical supplies for under-privileged countries and special projects in Haiti. This year the children are learning of Canadians who live in poverty and who need the generosity of others to survive and feed their children. This year our Sunday school is asking for community support during the Harrowsmith Santa Claus parade on December 1 at 10 a.m. Volunteers from the church will be collecting non-perishable food and monetary donations to help assist the Southern Frontenac Community Services Corporation (SFCSC) food bank and Christmas hamper project. Last year St. Paul's and their sister church, Trinity United in Verona, packed 34 Christmas hampers. As well, the Sunday school is selling Christmas earrings handcrafted and generously donated by Helen Lamb to help raise funds. You can purchase these earrings for $5 by contacting our church office at 613-372-2525.

Jennifer Linton, SFCSC food bank coordinator, spoke with the children and congregation on Nov. 18. All were shocked by the statistics and information presented. Since 2008, food bank usage in Canada has increased by 31%. Last year the SFCSC food bank provided 423 families, which included 783 adults and 551 children, with food hampers. The food bank reached this number by the end of the first week in October this year! Why the increase? Jennifer explains, “There are many reasons people turn to the food bank: wages not keeping pace with inflation, job loss, sudden unexpected expenses like car repairs, increased hydro bills, illness or accident. The first reason is huge and one that Food Banks Canada is focusing attention on.”

Katharine Schmidt, Executive Director of Food Banks Canada stated recently, “It is shocking that, in a country as prosperous as Canada, hundreds of thousands of children rely on food banks to have enough to eat each month. Though food banks do what they can to fill the need, too many kids are still going to school on empty stomachs.”

It is completely unacceptable for any child or any human being to go hungry in Canada...in Frontenac County...in Harrowsmith. So please, this year support our food bank either by bringing your donations to the parade, dropping them in the bin at Trousdale’s Foodland in Sydenham, or dropping donations off directly to the SFCSC office on George Street in Sydenham, Monday to Friday 8:30 to 4:30.

Rev. Patsy Henry of the Harrowsmith-Verona Pastoral Charge summed things up by saying, “After having made contributions to help those in need in our community to get through the weeks ahead, let us resolve to call upon our leaders in this country to take action to alleviate poverty and hardship and much lessen the need for food banks at all. Let’s make this a merry Christmas for everyone and make it our mandate in 2013 to continue to support those who need our help the most.”