Before the Plate, kudos to Canadian farmers
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In September, our community had the opportunity to view a free screening of the Canadian documentary, Before the Plate. The film was introduced at our local movie theatre and sponsored by town accounting firm, the Bossy Nagy Group.
Mike Bossy has seen the movie several times and was eager to share it with others. His passion for agriculture stems from being born and raised on a farm. Although his family roots differed from his career, Bossy continues his dedication and affection to farmers by providing accounting services, guest-speaking and teaching opportunities, related to the agriculture businesses.
Most of us have roots in farming somewhere in our lineage since that is how we used to eat. Historically, everyone grew or raised their own food. My mother shares stories of being a child on her grandparent’s farms and squirting each other while milking the cows. And while times have changed and we now heavily rely on others to farm for us, a source of food grown local and fresh is still the best option.
As co-author of a book called “On Her Plate” (a conscious look at food, body, mind and environment), I was grateful to have had the pleasure to have attend this community screening of a film of one chef’s journey and the stories of the farmers he visited.
“Before The Plate” is a passion project and genuine documentary that encourages everyone to be more engaged, aware and appreciative with the source of their food. Director, Sagi Kahane-Rapport and writer, Dylan Sher embrace and nurture the idea and importance of understanding more about our food system while celebrating the often unsung heroes, the farmers.
Food is such a massive sustainability in our lives. Most of us are fortunate enough to have three square meals a day. But have you ever taken the time to wonder how the food you eat, got to your plate? Have you contemplated the process to which it was grown, farmed and treated? This movie closes the gap from these queries with real life answers.
“Consciously choosing nutrient dense fare and cooking with ingredients that are food and not unpronounceable chemical forms of additives, directly affects our health. Eat closest to Source. Choosing to consume food that can be easily traced to its Earth’s origins with minimal processing and limited handling between the time it is harvested to the moment it arrives on your plate, can eliminate the yucky-goop (a highly technical term) and return us to natural whole food.” – Kelly Spencer, quote from book, On Her Plate.
One of the general ideas of mindful eating is understanding the ingredients in our food, where they came from and to eat closest to source with as few hands and processes in between its original form and your plate. The less processed, the better. Modern consumers are increasingly interested in where and how their food gets to them, but accurate information is hard to come by and often feels out of reach.
Before the Plate, follows John Horne, one of Canada’s most renowned chefs, as he traces the ingredients from a single plate of food from his celebrated upscale Toronto restaurant “Canoe”, while visiting farms that grow the food. At each farm, he learns about the effort and care that goes into growing each of his ingredients.
Horne puts a personal face to each agricultural operation by having genuine conversation with the farmers that grow and produce his ingredients while getting to know more about the techniques used and understanding the work that our farmers do.
The various farms visited include three local farms, Godellie Family Farm, Otterville, Jason Persall, Waterford and VG Meats in Simcoe. Each contribute an ingredient to a mouth-watering menu dish which displayed a beautiful plate of deliciously enticing beef tenderloin, charred onions, honey-roasted carrots, tater tots, green-tomato chutney, and a bread sauce.
Ultimately, this is how food should be consumed. Perhaps we can’t artistically prepare as this chef does but fresh, local, and with ingredients that include food, not chemicals are key.
This is the kind of documentary that those of us that have never worked on farm, should see. It was enlightening and interesting and made me even more conscious about the food we consume and the appreciation we should be feeling and expressing to those that give us our sustainability.
The documentary shows the various ways and regulations that Canadian farmers implement from big farming to small, to using genetically modified farming techniques (GMO), traditional or organic, crop or livestock, while offering information that might not otherwise have been known and understood.
While I do have some questions about GMO, I will leave that for another column, as I wish for this one to be only acknowledgement and recognition for our farmers.
This film offers us opportunity for contemplation, education and discussion. Our farmers feed the world. If you know a farmer, then you know the dedication they offer. They are up before dawn and work until after sunset. They face any number of challenges they can’t control, from too much rain to not enough, from disease to insect infestations. Their hearts are big and so are their stresses.
In fact, reported in 2016 by a study led by University of Guelph professor Andria Jones-Bitton, it was revealed that stress, anxiety, depression, emotional exhaustion and burnout are all higher among farmers than among other populations.
Mindfully and conscious eating to fuel ourselves, with “real” food creates a condition of balance within and even reduces and/or eliminate disease. Sourcing our farm fresh items locally not only supports our local community farmers but reduces impact on the environmental blueprint.
As owner of Indigo Lounge Eatery, we gratefully and proudly source from local farmers such as Y U Ranch, Hidden Root Farms, Fenwood Farms, and many others.
Isn’t it about time that we all start to inquire more about our food, before it hits the plate?
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