Tucked up against the foot of McIntyre Bluff in Oliver, 600-acre Covert Farms is the perfect spot to grow organic produce, including grapes. It's been doing that - and making the awardwinning organic wines that come from them - since 2005 under the label Dunham & Froese. This year the winery changes names to match the land it comes from, becoming Covert Farms Family Estate. Otherwise it remains the same: a terrific country market, u-pick berry destination and maker of crisp, naturally acidic organic wines, all from estate-grown grapes. Worth a visit if you're in the Oliver area this summer. -DL
covertfarms.ca
Called one of the scariest movies of 2009 by the New York Times, Food, Inc. is a chilling look at the big business of food production. It is not for the faint-of-heart. With unyielding (and often uncomfortable) focus, the doc examines the industrial production of meat - think over-engineered chickens and cattle not adequately resistant to E. coli. It takes on the patented soybeans of multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation Monsanto. Finally, it attempts to awaken apathetic consumers unaware of the health and environmental ramifications of our flawed food system. If you haven't yet seen it, do.-DL
Available on Netflix now.
It's seafood season. From halibut to spot prawns late spring and summer are when fish boats are out in force and shops are bursting with a cornucopia of succulent ocean critters. While it might seem like we have more than we can eat, remember: the world demand for seafood is growing. Your consumer choices can pressure fisheries and seafood farms around the world to change their unsustainable practices. Get your seafood fix at restaurants like Lower Lonsdale's Fishworks, where the menu is Ocean Wise, stacked with sustainable picks like Albacore tuna tataki and Wild Salmon Wellington.-DL
Fishworks, 91 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver. 778-340-3449 fishworks.ca
There is no food more local than the food you grow yourself. But where to start? In the book How to Grow Food, Richard Gianfrancesco provides a thorough guide on turning even the smallest patio space into a vibrant garden. He offers design suggestions, lists plants that go together, and includes advice on bed and crop rotation. You can't put a trowel wrong with detailed descriptions of plants - all divided into sections like Vegetable and salad crops, Seed and fruit crops, Herbs, Tree fruit and more. And when the growing's all done, the book even sets you up for storing and preserving. -Terry Peters
List price - $29.95
