Cool, just cool

Here’s looking at trash like the cup is half full.

Over 5000 diggs already…

More about food

Thought this talk was highly relevant for the post and comments about food, and it’s from my favourite website…TED of course.

In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what’s wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it’s putting the entire planet at risk.

He’s right… what we need is just GOOD FOOD!

And for me, that would start with some good ruisleipä (Finnish rye bread) with tomatoes and cukes…

Looking on the bright side isn’t always a good thing…

I complained in November about the ceaseless darkness… now, it’s the opposite.

Now, I go to bed late and wake up extra early… and it’s only going to get brighter for the next month!

Well, at least I’m practicing my Finnish a little more. Extra time in the morning means more time to watch Finnish cartoons:) Gotta love the Moomins!

Energy in Turkey

One of the reasons there was a long haul between posts was because I went on holiday in Turkey with a couple close friends.

It was great; sunny, cheap (for the most part) and of course, relaxing.

We went to Alanya, which is a very touristy place on the Mediterranean. Would have loved to go to Istanbul (what a history!), but I’ve promised myself that I’ll be back to do a real exploration trip in Turkey; this was just a relaxing holiday. A very Finnish place too… amazing how many Turkish people spoke some Finn; “Terve Terve!” followed us everywhere due to my friend’s blonde hair. Everyone spoke Turkish to me because apparently I have a very ‘Turkish’ look;) (Guess my Finnish/Scottish/Chinese background could be interpreted in so many ways….)

But keeping in tune with this blog, thought I’d share a few interesting points about the energy supply in Turkey.

We experienced several blackouts throughout the trip. In the hotel, in the restaurants, in the Turkish Hamam (wonderful experience- I highly recommend the Turkish baths to anyone!) etc.

I found this interesting, especially due to the fact that renewable energy and conservation practices seemed to be well implemented:

• hotel was powered by solar panels
• all bathrooms had motion sensor lights
• you could only get energy in the room if you put the key in a slot (see pic below)

This combined with power outages made me question the country’s energy supply.

As it turns out, Turkey is the “silk road of the 21^st century” with almost 4% of the world’s daily oil consumption shipped through the country; transporting Caspian oil and gas reserves to Western markets.

But, like most countries, they’re finding it hard to deal with the rising oil prices and a dependency on foreign energy supplies.

They’re expected to face more shortages in the near future.

It was great to visit a new country though. Lots of welcoming people … was offered plenty of apple tea! There’s me at one of the markets. Supposedly, you can get the price down to 1/3 of the offered price… wasn’t always the case, but should get at least half!

Some food for thought

Here’s my part 2 continued from the Chicken Little post. (Sorry, been away for a while… in Turkey (post coming soon) and was trying to figure out summer (another post on that i guess)).

So, a little late in the news… but, about the food shortage. (Late, but still so very pertinent)

For the short term Canada stands to gain. We’re an exporter of cereals, which means our terms of trade will rise. (Won’t go too economic-y on you but this could be seen as a benefit!)

But, this is a global problem and we’re not immune to it.

We’ve distanced ourselves (both geographically and mentally) from the food production that we’ve desensitized ourselves from the problems that happen in the industry –that is until we start seeing huge price changes. Think about it, what’s your personal view on farmers? Do you link the farmers with the salad that you eat at night? Probably not. We just usually buy our groceries at the supermarket and that’s that.

But that has to change at some point. The agricultural industry is not sustainable and it’s affects will hit us at some point if we don’t change… (That’s the meaning of unsustainable!)

So here’s my food for thought of what could/should happen for us in the western world:

• Buying local will pick up speed (already happening). Wouldn’t it be cool if city vegetable gardening became the norm? At the end of day at the office, go to the roof to pick up some potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes? (less transit, more convenient for the customer, better ventilation for building, more community aspect?)
• Waste less food – YEAH FOR DOGGY BAGS! A lot of Europeans are against the doggy bag, but if prices go up, food will become more prized, and therefore shouldn’t be wasted. Like Vancouver, bring your own containers to the restaurant (not so chic, but better than Styrofoam!)
  • New link: NYT - Americans generate roughly 30 million tons of food waste each year, which is about 12 percent of the total waste stream. All but about 2 percent of that food waste ends up in landfills; by comparison, 62 percent of yard waste is composted.
• Eat less meat -not asking everyone to become full vegetarians – but wouldn’t it be nice if people reflected on their own eating behaviour to address this issue?

What are your opinions on this? Is there something that we can be doing right now that would address this issue?

Remember, we have the ability to give a damn!