Since the Local Grain Revoltuion series first aired in March 2008, a lot has transpired as a result of that broadcast. The Nelson-Creston grain community supported agriculture (CSA) project has been mentioned in the House of Commons; it was a feature in a May issue of The Globe an Mail; and people from across North America have become inspired to seek out locally grown grain. On this exciting part II of the series, Host Jon Steinman travels along with the first CSA tour, where members and farmer...
Sep 13, 2008•59 min
Many forms of urban agriculture have existed for thousands of years. As practical and environmentally responsible as growing food within a city can be, the art of gardening has seemingly disappeared in many urban settings. As current farming practices are proving to be unsustainable in the long-term, urban agriculture is looked upon by many as being a critical shift that needs to take place if we are to ensure a level of food security in the near and distant future. Since March 2008, The Farming...
Sep 01, 2008•1 hr
Launching this episode, we travel to Cuba - a country that has over the past 10 years become of increasing interest to those around the world interested in more ecological models of producing food. Contrary to the more voluntary means through which some North Americans have adopted and supported more energy efficient and ecological food choices, in 1989, Cubans had little choice. As a result of the Soviet collapse, Cubans were plunged into a situation whereby conventional models of farming had t...
Aug 23, 2008•58 min
Fred Eaglesmith Deconstructing Dinner has long incorporated music into many of our episodes. From Phil Vernon's tunes about Percy Schmeiser, Biotechnology and Terminator Seeds, to Terry Winchell's Pesticide Song and Todd Butler's Farmer Dan, there is clearly no shortage of tunes out there that help add to our weekly content. In the second half of this episode, we meet with one musician who has long been writing pieces about farming and rural life in Southern Ontario and that is well-known bluegr...
Aug 16, 2008•58 min
The Livestock Lost series examines the farming and business of meat, dairy and egg production. It explores the known and unknown dangers of meat production and what people can do to source alternatives to what many would refer to as a cultural staple of the North American diet. Part III - Local Meat? "Not in My Backyard? II" In this third installment of the series, we continue with our examination of how one community is responding to more restrictive slaughterhouse regulations in the face of in...
Aug 02, 2008•57 min
The Livestock Lost series examines the farming and business of meat, dairy and egg production. It will explore the known and unknown dangers of meat production and what people can do to source alternatives to what many would refer to as a cultural staple of the North American diet. Part II - Local Meat? "Not in My Backyard?" In this second installment of the series, we examine how one community is responding to more restrictive slaughterhouse regulations in the face of increasing demand for safe...
Jul 25, 20080
Co-operatives: Alternatives to Industrial Food IV (Community Farms Program) It's been a topic of discussion throughout many broadcasts of Deconstructing Dinner: While there is clearly a widespread interest in supporting more localized food systems, the bigger picture of how such systems can be physically, economically and politically sustained is a far more complicated and serious matter. So long as our food and farming continues to be built upon the same market-based systems of economics that g...
Jul 14, 2008•1 hr
The Livestock Lost series will examine the farming and business of meat, dairy and egg production in far more depth than has already been done here on the show. It will examine the known and unknown dangers of meat production and what people can do to source alternatives to what many would refer to as a cultural staple of the North American diet. Part I - Slaughterhouses and the Culture of Meat On this Part I of the series we hear from Toronto author Susan Bourette. After going undercover at the...
Jul 05, 2008•59 min
Many forms of urban agriculture have existed for thousands of years. As practical and environmentally responsible as growing food within a city can be, the art of gardening has seemingly disappeared in many urban settings. As current farming practices are proving to be unsustainable in the long-term, urban agriculture is looked upon by many as being a critical shift that needs to take place if we are to ensure a level of food security in the near and distant future. Since March 2008, The Farming...
Jun 27, 2008•59 min
Since January 2006, Deconstructing Dinner has been reaching listeners around the world through dozens of radio stations and via the show's web site and weekly podcast. Now at its 100th episode, this broadcast marks the fourth in a series that has been capturing highlights of past broadcasts alongside musical accompaniments. Through a careful handpicking of highlights, this 100th episode acts as a collage of broadcasts aired between early May 2007 and late August 2007. The segments have been mixe...
Jun 21, 2008•1 hr
On May 7, 2008, Darrick Hahn and Sinisa Grgic departed Victoria from the 0-Mile mark of the Trans-Canada Highway and embarked on a cross-Canada journey to raise awareness of Deconstructing Dinner. The pair are travelling by recumbent tricycles (or trikes). On May 15 we aired a segment featuring their departure from Victoria alongside a phone interview while they stopped over in Grand Forks, BC. This second installment of the Cross-Canada Trike tour begins in the home of Deconstructing Dinner - N...
Jun 14, 2008•58 min
On April 10, Deconstructing Dinner aired a segment on Bill C-517 - a bill introduced by Bloc Québécois Member of Parliament Gilles-A. Perron. The bill was calling for the mandatory labelling of genetically engineered foods. Canadians have long been demanding that foods containing genetically-engineered ingredients be labelled. Over 40 countries around the world have successfully implemented such requirements. On April 3, 2008, C-517 was debated in the House by members of all parties. Deconstruct...
May 22, 2008•59 min
President Bush on Food Security On May 1, 2008, President Bush addressed the latest global food crisis in a press conference from the White House. We'll listen in on this speech and the US foreign policy definition of 'food security'. While global efforts to respond to the food crisis may indeed be providing much-needed aid, it is this very aid and its accompanying policies that is suggested will only further push this food crisis to even more damaging proportions. In the end, the food aid effor...
May 16, 2008•57 min
The diversity in the varieties of crops being grown in Canada has dwindled significantly. Virtually all of the fruits, vegetables, grains, livestock and pretty much every ingredient found on grocery store shelves, is of a variety that has purely been bred for profit. At no time has the importance of maintaining diversity or flavour and nutrition ever been a concern for the powerful industrial food system that has taken hold of the North American diet. This series will explore what risks accompan...
May 03, 2008•58 min
Omega-3s are indeed a hot topic, although it appears that all we North Americans really know, is that Omega-3 eggs, fish and fish oils, and flax products, are all good sources. Consuming these products as we've been told, reduces the risk of heart disease. Of course the responsible thing to do is to remain skeptical and question any new diet craze that hits our culinarily confused culture. As for Omega-3s, it appears some critical information has evaded the radar of North American media and henc...
Apr 25, 2008•58 min
The beer industry is always a fascinating one to take a look at, as beer was one of the first industrialized food and beverage products. The focus for the first segment of this episode will be on the recent global shortage of hops - the key flavouring component of most beers. At the March 2008 Certified Organic Associations of BC conference, Host Jon Steinman sat down with brewer and farmer Rebecca Kneen of Sorrento, BC's, Crannòg Ales . Crannòg is Canada's only Certified Organic farmhouse micro...
Apr 18, 2008•58 min
On March 20, 2008, Deconstructing Dinner shared the history and outcomes of the most recent battle between farmer Percy Schmeiser and global seed giant Monsanto. Raised during that broadcast was the very basis for the battle; a product release form issued by Monsanto to farmers who wish to have unwanted genetically-engineered plants removed from their fields by the company. Schmeiser took exception to this form, and on this broadcast we probe further into the controversies and possible hidden ag...
Apr 12, 2008•58 min
In March 2008, BC NDP Opposition Critic of Agriculture and Lands' Corky Evans, toured throughout the Province to hear from farmers. Deconstructing Dinner recorded his stop in Nelson, when he delivered a passionate and highly-informative primer on the failures of the BC government in recent decades to allocate financial support to food production within the province. Of greatest interest was his reference to BC maintaining the lowest level of support for food production of any Province. He presen...
Apr 04, 2008•1 hr
A special Podcast and Internet-only feature on Deconstructing Dinner. On February 29, 2008, Bloc Quebecois Member of Parliament Gilles Andre Perron tabled Bill C-517 in the House of Commons; calling for the mandatory labelling of genetically modified foods. On April 3, the 2nd reading debate took place involving Members of Parliament from all four political parties. The following is an unedited recording of that debate.
Apr 04, 2008•1 hr
Many forms of urban agriculture have existed for thousands of years. As practical and environmentally responsible as growing food within a city can be, the art of gardening has seemingly disappeared in many urban settings. As current farming practices are proving to be unsustainable in the long-term, urban agriculture is looked upon by many as being a critical shift that needs to take place if we are to ensure a level of food security in the near and distant future. The Farming in the City serie...
Mar 28, 2008•59 min
It is an honour to coincidentally feature two of Canada’s finest on this broadcast. Both are recipients of The Right Livelihood Award (the “Alternative Nobel”) . Water, The Blood of the Earth Water has long been taken for granted throughout the Global North. We use it in seemingly ever-increasing ways without thinking much about where it comes from, where it goes, and how much water was used to produce the many products/services we use daily. The food system is just one of these significant user...
Mar 20, 2008•58 min
The Local Grain Revolution I For most Canadians wishing to adopt a more local diet, the overwhelming rise in demand in just the past year has left a large question mark hovering over the heads of many; where is all this local food so many are demanding? The state of farming and food production in North America has clearly evolved into such a poor state of affairs, little infrastructure and incentive remain to respond to this current demand for local product. While fruits and vegetables may be th...
Mar 14, 2008•59 min
When taking a closer look at the demographics of the Canadian workforce and dividing it up among trades, farmers represent the oldest demographic in the country at a median age of 52 years. Within agriculturally dense provinces such as Saskatchewan, in 2007, the average farmer was 56 years of age and only 12.3% of all farmers there were under the age of 35. As skills and knowledge are replaced by fossil fuel dependent systems and technologies, this aging demographic represents a significant thre...
Mar 07, 2008•58 min
Our most recent Part I of the multi-part series "A Primer on Pesticide Propaganda" has assisted in inspiring the collection of individuals lending their voices to this show. Of greatest relevance in tying the Pesticide series to today, is reintroducing the very ideology that drives the conventional food system of which we are all mostly a part, and that is one founded upon science. Farmer and Poet Wendell Berry has some important thoughts on this scientific relationship with nature and food. Als...
Feb 29, 2008•1 hr
This series has long been in the works since Host Jon Steinman attended the CropLife Canada conference back in September 2007. Since the recent streak of municipal pesticide bans were put into place across Canada, the pesticide industry has been on the defense. Represented by trade association CropLife Canada, the public relations strategies being used by the industry were front and centre at the Saskatoon conference. But what about in the media? On this multi-part series, Deconstructing Dinner ...
Feb 22, 2008•59 min
Future of Food III In November 2007, Deconstructing Dinner attended one of the first regional food security conferences ever held in Canada. With a population of less than 10,000 people, the City of Nelson, British Columbia, hosted over 250 people for the first evening of keynote speakers. With an equally impressive 170 in attendance on the second day of keynote speakers and workshops, the conference acts as an example for other Canadian communities wishing to begin organizing themselves to take...
Feb 07, 2008•1 hr
In October 2007, Host Jon Steinman paid a visit to the community of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. With a population of 80,000, it came as a surprise to discover that the city does not maintain a functioning farmers' market where food is the focus. Recognizing how the absence of one threatened the already vulnerable state of Vancouver Island agriculture, the Food Sustainability Sub-Committee of the Mid-Island Co-op organized a one-day Farmers' Showcase. The event acted as a trial farmers' market t...
Jan 31, 2008•59 min
The patenting of our food supply through biotechnology could be suggested as one of the greatest systems of control ever devised. As the executive branches of North American governments alongside corporate interests push forward the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), it must be noted that reference to ‘biotechnology’ is littered throughout SPP literature. While Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP) has taken on the legitimacy of the SPP as a major campaign, it became clear following last w...
Jan 17, 2008•1 hr
This broadcast explores the english print media coverage in Canada throughout 2007 on the controversies surrounding genetically engineered foods. Why has Canada become such a willing host to GE foods whereas throughout most of the world, bans, moratoriums and watchful eyes keep genetically modified organisms off grocery store shelves? Host Jon Steinman looks to provide one answer by deconstructing some of the confusing language that the Canadian public is receiving from some of the most vocal an...
Jan 13, 2008•59 min
If you were told, that organic farmers are giving up growing organic crops, would you be concerned? Organic standards prohibit the presence of genetically engineered organisms within a harvest, but since outcrossing between plants is unavoidable in nature, genetically engineered canola is so easily crossing with non-GE varieties being grown organically, that these crops are unable to be certified as organic. Monsanto has long been at the forefront of controversy around genetically engineered pla...
Jan 04, 2008•1 hr
