The North Vancouver-raised musician packed her car with fellow musician Shera Kelly and documentary filmmaker Jessica Gates in early July with a website and a plan: to document sustainable farms and local food practices across the country, eat some tasty meals and play music wherever they went.
But while they were excited to see the work that went into producing the food on their plate, they were surprised to learn just how much Canadian farmers were dying to share their story. "We went completely on faith. We had three possible shows, one show was booked for sure and other than that nothing," said Spitale after arriving back home in early October. "It had momentum, it had magic, and pretty soon we started contacting a few people in Alberta and once we did that people in Alberta contacted farms in Manitoba and they started calling us to come to the farms."
For nearly two months, Spitale and Kelly treaded across farm after farm practising sustainable, organic and locally based agriculture, touring the farm, interviewing farmers and asking questions, in what they have dubbed the Wheely Slow Cooking Tour.
For a slow-food tour, it was awfully speedy, covering more than 600 kilometres in one day at points.
At each stop, they asked for a favourite recipe to share - in Winnipeg, it was a traditional Newfoundland Jiggs dinner, while at the next stop in rural Manitoba they ate homemade Asian dumplings. And at each stop they played some music, ?
? hosting a free concert that invited the neighbours and friends.
The tour was inspired by a short musical tour earlier in the summer, in which they stayed with a farm family and found themselves completely blown away. They knew then they needed to do more, said Spitale, and so the two of them put their jobs on hold and fl ung themselves into the documentary with less than two weeks to plan the entire trip.
In the end, the two made it as far as Halifax, Nova Scotia and back, doing interviews along the way, including with CBC Radio.
Spitale said she hoped the tour would raise awareness about what farmers have to offer and inspire the city folk - which includes Spitale and Kelly - to reach out to farmers.
"Coming back into the city I fi nd how hard it is to get the food I was eating on farms. It is really a challenge, especially in the winter when farmers markets aren't prevalent," said Spitale, but quickly added that the networks and infrastructure are there for people to use.
She listed CSA - Community Supported Agriculture - programs where homes invest in a farm at the beginning of the season and receive a portion of the produce at harvest time.
"There's a couple in North Van, and that way it supports the farmers who work really, really hard and try to make a living off of it and you get this great food right off the farm," she said. And while she recognizes that not everyone can do a cross-country tour, many B.C. farmers do open their farms for visitors in the summer, something that can easily be made in a day trip with the kids in the back seat.
She said those farmer-buyer connections are one of the most important parts of a growing movement to eat local. For her, it took something she was already doing - trying her best to eat local or organic whenever possible - and gave her the reasons why it's important. "I was born and raised in Vancouver in the city and I did not know what it takes to grow something, so when you sit down and hear from a farmer what it took to grow that carrot and you eat that carrot, you value it," she said.
Slowly but surely, Spitale and Kelly are updating a blog with videos, recipes and stories from the trip, and the two are looking for funding to turn the videos into a full documentary, possibly with the help of a sponsor or speaking engagements to raise funds.
Spitale has no intention of leaving behind her newfound knowledge, either. As a personal cook, she founded her company Cottage Cooking, where she sources local ingredients and cooks personal meals for people who are too busy with work to do that themselves, something she began shortly before leaving on the trip.
Tessa Holloway [email protected]
It's hard to believe Vancouverites have been digging the sizzle at Thai House restaurants for 25 years, but the local restaurant group celebrated its silver anniversary in September.
What started as a single restaurant on Robson Street in 1986 has grown to encompass nine restaurants run by father-son team Patrick and Desmond Chen, including the Thai House Restaurant at 116 W. Esplanade North Vancouver. In honour of their birthday, the duo submitted this tasty curry recipe using that fall favourite: apples.
Find Thai House sauces at Save-on-Foods, Safeway, SuperValu and at the Thai House.
