The Low Down on BPA – Health and Environmental Concerns

BPA Epoxy Resins Present In Surfboards,

BPA Epoxy Resins In Surfboards. Tofino, BC

The more and more I think and write about food, the more I put my pantry shelves to scrutiny. One food product that makes a regular appearance in my kitchen is canned tomatoes. They are an essential during the winter months when fresh tomatoes taste like cardboard and come with a hefty transportation induced carbon footprint. If you are not lucky enough to have jars of preserved tomatoes from your summer garden harvest, you could be subjecting yourself to BPA lined canned tomatoes. But what is BPA? Where else is it found? Are we being exposed without even knowing?

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Ginger Spiced Apple Sauce Recipe and Fruit Picking Victoria

Apple Picking and Ginger Spiced Apple Sauce

I have Lifecycles to thank for my first venture of apple picking in one of Victoria’s most beautiful orchards. Lifecycles is a not for profit organization dedicated to cultivating awareness and initiating action around food, health, and urban sustainability in the area. They have their hands in the right barrels so to speak, I only wish I had gotten onto them earlier in the fruit picking season.
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Hunter Gatherer Part II: Wild Blackberries and A Conscious Jam Recipe

Homemade Organic Blackberry Jam Recipe

This season was my first blackberry season. Growing up in the north we had salmonberries, blueberries and huckleberries… but nothing that grows as fervourvently as wild blackberries. After my fair share of thorns and bloody arms I had enough berries to make jam… but then comes the dilemma – what kind of sugar to use? Honey had taken main stage on my shelves but I was going for more of a traditional type jam. Normally I would just go for the cheapest no-name sugar, but I had an inkling that maybe I should be doing some more research. Was there environmental and ethical factors to consider when buying sugar?
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