ALR on the Menu

As the pros at Environment Canada like to say..."When you look outside you see weather, not climate".

Politicians should pay more attention. A recent survey showed that 70% of Canadians agreed with the statement " I don't care whether the new Federal Government implements Kyoto or not, so long as they take real action to make our environment better".

Still, Stephan Dion hammers away at re-visiting Kyoto, a good idea that has failed. Meanwhile, the Conservatives have shuffled cabinet and the new Minister recently and boldly claimed that the devastation in Stanley Park could be attributed to "Global Warming", despite the fact that the World Meteorological Organization recently published a consensus statement that, among other things, stated that " no individual storm can be attributed to Climate Change".

Message? Beware of politicians using your angst to get votes. Truly "food for thought"

Locally, our most recent bout of "Global Warming" enabled some classic Canadiana to spontaneously break out on a few farmers fields this past week. This image as shown on the cover of the Vancouver Sun, in television news and in other publications presents a couple of interesting ironies....ironies that some people believe are related.

The first is, of course, the fact that kids in the lower mainland are playing outdoor hockey at all in the face of "Global Warming" and the second would be that hockey is probably a pretty good use of farmers fields considering there is no food being grown on them this time of year.

Some self proclaimed protectors of our ALR lands would have you believe that increased fuel prices might prevent fresh food from arriving from other markets. Or, even better, that a good green government would introduce regulations that would prevent burning fossil fuels in order to get food to market. That is a beauty!

If you are a Sierra Club pundit you will argue that rising sea levels will render coastal agricultural lands useless.

If that is not enough, some are suggesting that a lack of water will prevent produce from being grown in North America at all.

I can tell you one thing. In the event of some disaster, natural or otherwise, I am not going to spend my winter months eating lower mainland potatoes turnips, frozen blueberries and hot house tomatoes. I don't care how pretty you can make my plate look or how great you are at the stove, I'm going to get agonizingly bored of that menu, and fast.

I don't care if I have to pay eight bucks for a frozen Californian orange, I'm going to find it buy it and eat it. That is what happens in a free market. In this market three of every four dollars goes to buying imported produce. I like the "Grown in BC" flag and in season I always buy local..."Hammer and Sickle" flag?...not so much.

You've heard of the "Iron Chef". They should consider a new show on the food network. What about the "Irony" chef?. It is a show where victims of fear are forced to cook and eat endless combinations of five different ingredients despite the fact that hundreds of fresh items are a short trip to the supermarket away. Sadly, there is already an audience for this show.