As pots bubble and sauces simmer in the kitchen of Cove Fine Foods in North Vancouver, chef Kyle Wainwright prepares the week's special of pickled garlic tops and kohlrabi remoulade with garlic prawns.
The brightly-coloured array of flavours and textures is unique not only because of the recipe, but because the majority of ingredients were purchased and grown in B.C. from Nathan Creek Organic Farm.
The Langley farm is a Community Supported Agriculture system, a booming trend that bonds food growers and food buyers in a symbiotic relationship providing customers with fresh, organic produce.
A CSA differs from a conventional organic food delivery system by allowing customers to visit and participate in the farm.
For Wainwright, supporting the CSA is the only logical option.
"For me it makes more sense to support local businesses because they're giving back to the community right away. It makes more sense to me to get something that's produced locally because we're going to have a smaller carbon footprint."
While buying food at a CSA may be more expensive than filling up a shopping cart at a supermarket, Wainwright encourages people to think about their health, and to think long-term.
"If we change the way we eat, change how we consume our food, our local farmers will be empowered to lower their price," he said. "I think that if a social consciousness is created to support these types of business that are locally available to us, we're empowering them to grow and develop and support our community more sustainably than if we're just to consume, consume, consume, get our roma tomatoes from Mexico in the middle of January."
Organic growing techniques tend to be emphasized at a CSA, and while the food may taste better, for Wainwright, knowing how it was grown makes all the difference.
"I think it's a conscientious thought that you know that something that's grown locally is going to taste better because it hasn't been ripening in the back of a truck for the last 5,000-plus kilometres."
As a chef at Cove Fine Foods, Wainwright said quality and freshness are his paramount concerns.
"My particular immediate draw is I'm trying to create a weekly fresh menu reflective on what I receive. If I receive something on Saturday next week, that's what my special's going to be. And if I run out of it, guess what? I run out of it. I have to move on to something new."
For more information about Nathan Creek Organic Farm and Community Supported Agriculture, visit nathancreek.ca. ?
SOMETHING THAT'S GROWN LOCALLY IS GOING TO TASTE BETTER BECAUSE IT HASN'T BEEN RIPENING IN THE BACK OF A TRUCK FOR THE LAST 5,000-PLUS KILOMETRES.
