by Trish Kelly
Eat In
All bets are on this month being a warm, sunny one. While you’re laying out your picnic blanket at Kits Beach, imagine it as our reward for toughing out a dreary winter and dig out some sunscreen and a bottle of Earth Water. The Edmonton-based company donates 100 per cent of net profits to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). So far, the company has raised approximately $38,000 for the UN to use in projects related to acquisition and distribution of fresh, clean water, focusing on both emergency provision and developing sustainable water sources for people living in developing countries. Complete the deposit in your good karma piggybank by dropping your empty bottle in a blue bin. Earth Water is available at Whole Foods, Capers, and Choices Markets. Info: earthwater.ca.
Eat Out
The grill is calling, and the Fraser River salmon should be arriving. Make a trip to West Vancouver’s Salmon House on the Hill to enjoy the view and some alder-smoked wild B.C. salmon. Or try their new B.C.-focused dinner menu: a colour-coded system that lets you choose your three-course meal with ingredients sourced from the province’s six growing regions. Scallops from the Northern Coast, greens from the Fraser Valley, and venison from Merritt are just a few options; there’s plenty of careful thought and enough variety to impress out-of-towners and 100-mile-diet purists, too. Suggested wine pairings also stay within the province. Check the full menu at salmonhouse.com.
Get Out
If you’re more deadline-driven, regardless of the salmon or sunny weather, the Summer Solstice on June 22 makes the season official. Head to the atrium of the Vancouver
Public Library’s Central Branch for Seedy Solstice, a celebration of food, sustainability,
and summer, courtesy of the Necessary Voices Society. The two-day event is their first venture out of the VPL’s basement. We’re sure food-savvy organizer Thomas Hicks will do a great job of pulling together a host of free public lectures, films, and info tables on food, sustainability, and gardening. But festivals are a lot of work; if you’d like to volunteer a few hours over the weekend, contact necessaryvoices.org.
Trish Kelly lives and eats in Vancouver. She likes dark chocolate, spaghetti squash, and anything done robata. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s freelance fee to a local food-focused non-profit organization. This month’s recipient is Quest Food Exchange, whose zero-waste policy redistributes donated food to 60,000 people a month (questoutreach.org).
