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Farm Forward
THE FOOD CHAIN IN TRANSITION
» Thursday 11 September 2008 | 5 pm
» The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue
An informal afternoon hour showcasing people and ideas featured in Okanagan ARTS. Join us as we present three experts who have played key roles in energizing our local cuisine. Heidi Noble is a chef, co-owner of Joie Wines in Naramata and author of Menus from the Orchard Table. Donna Denison is the creator of Little Creek Dressings, and Dale Ziech is a board director with the North Okanagan Organic Association and co-owner of Little Creek Gardens.
» This is a free event. Refreshments will be available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
The Time is Ripe for an Okanagan Cuisine
Whether it was the advent of the 100-Mile Diet that started it, or the migration of "slow food" from Europe to North America, or even our growing frustration with the perils of processed food, something is cooking right here in the Okanagan.
Farmer's markets are rising in popularity, our wineries have emerged from a place of vineyards to homes of fine cuisine, and pressure is mounting on local stores to bring in local, and organic. Our food is in transition.
On Thursday September 11, 5 pm at the Bohemian Café the Okanagan Institute Express series of public eventsexamines these issues in Farm Forward: The Food Chain in Transition, featuring three experts who have played key roles in energizing our local cuisine. Heidi Noble is a chef, co-owner of Joie Wines in Naramata and author of Menus from the Orchard Table. Donna Denison is the creator of Little Creek Dressings, and Dale Ziech is a board director with the North Okanagan Organic Association and co-owner of Little Creek Gardens.
Ziech was among the first in the valley to "go organic" back in 1984 when traditional farmers scoffed at the idea. How times have changed.
"You could call it the 20 year overnight success story, and I'm quite happy. But even though it's very trendy and in the news, the conventional food industry has really still got a hold on what we do and eat and consume," he says. "There are more and more regulations coming down under the guise of protecting us and what's occurring is a fight between big business and small business."
Little Creek is one of those small businesses that has had to struggle with some big regulation - in particular the new label requirements and nutritional analysis. The original labelling regulations stretched from eight pages to 200 pages, and yet there are no requirements to reveal the use of radiated or genetically modified products.
Whether we realize it or not, all of these issues play a role in what lands on our table - all the more reason to cultivate a taste for local, argues Noble. Think local and seasonal, and what comes about naturally will be the creation of a distinctive and delicious local cuisine.
"The birth of a cuisine is a form of self-awareness," she writes in her breakthrough book.
 Dale Ziech and Donna Denison moved to Little Creek in 1984. Located on the west shores of Okanagan Lake, the property has been in the Denison family for more than 60 years. Over the years, the couple cleared the forest and created Little Creek Gardens, which has been Certified Organic since 1991. Dale grows a variety of gourmet mixed greens, tomatoes, baby vegetables and edible flowers. Little Creek Dressing was created by Donna in 1995 as a "value-added" product to complement the salad greens grown by Dale. The dressings are produced on site in their certified kitchen. Each recipe includes farm fresh ingredients and country vinegars made at Little Creek.
 Heidi Noble is a working winemaker, trained chef & sommelier and published author. She is co-owner of Joie Wines in Naramata, BC, where she and her husband Michael Dinn operate a five acre vineyard and winery.
Heidi's book, Menus from an Orchard Table (Whitecap Books, May 2007) chronicles the development of Joie's Farm Cooking School and the famous Orchard Dinners which she and Michael ran under the stars for four summer seasons 2003-2006. With commemorative menus, Okanagan food producer profiles, and Joie's collection of recipes, the book demonstrates the Okanagan's potential to develop its own identity within the spectrum of BC's regional cuisines.
Farm Forward: The Food Chain in Transition is a free event, and takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 57th event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007. Since that time, the series has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, architect Jim Meiklejohn, and others from a variety of creative fields.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
Where Enquiring Minds Gather. Okanagan Institute at the Bohemian Café A hearty feast of lectures, presentations, workshops and showcases celebrating our culture and community. Produced by the Okanagan Institute in association with Wheat King Publishing magazines: Okanagan Arts and Okanagan Home. Express is sponsored in part by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Wood Lake Publishing, UBCO-FCCS, and in support of Project Literacy Kelowna.
The Okanagan Institute is a group of creative professionals that have gathered around the goal of providing events, publications and services of interest to enquiring minds in the Okanagan. We partner with individuals, organizations, institutions and businesses to achieve optimal creative and social impact.
Our mission is to ignite cultural transformation, catalyze collaborative action, build networks and foster sustainable creative enterprises. We invite the participation by all members of the creative community.
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