Alternative Solutions For Eating Well

This article was originally written for The New West

When the average North American sits down to eat, each ingredient has typically travelled at least 1,500 miles to get to the table. Canadians are paying a premium for transportation on out-of-season foods, often filled with pesticides.

Like many others, I want to eat well, but can’t always afford the extra dollars to buy organic food. My curiosity and concern led me to a discovery that there are things out there called food-buying co-operatives.

A food-buying co-op is a group of members finding opportunities to buy organic, locally-sourced foods, cooperatively, in bulk. Valerie Stephenson was looking for better buying opportunities when she got involved with her Calgary-based natural foods buying cooperative two years ago. Cindy Bablitz, a more recent member, initially got involved to save a few dollars feeding her family of five.

Bablitz and Stephenson’s co-op has been capped at thirty families, which equates to more than $100,000 per year spent on food. This does not include their produce, though Stephenson and her group are currently exploring other opportunities to bulk buy fresh produce from B.C. They also order grains from Lethbridge, nuts and coffee.

So how does it work? Each member is given a deadline to order food from the catalogue of their distributor. Stephenson then gathers all of the information on a spreadsheet and places one order with Horizon Distributors , also the wholesalers for Planet Organic Market . All orders are case-lots, which means the co-op pays a significantly discounted price. The shipping costs are divided equally among its members. Every other month, their shipment arrives and the participants come together with a blank cheque to divide and sort all of their food. Once the distribution is complete, the blank cheques are filled out and the amount for each family is posted online.

Anyone can start their own co-op, but if you do, both Bablitz and Stephenson suggest that you have clear guidelines in place before you begin:

1. Start Small. “Only do what you can manage,” says Stephenson. “Starting with a membership of six to eight families is a prudent choice. You still have enough buying power and are able to split cases, but may not experience some of the challenges involved with managing a larger group. You can grow from there if you are able and if you want to.”

2. Establish Clear Rules. Make sure members are aware of the expectations regarding participation, shipping, sorting and particularly payment. You will need to set up a bank account for the co-operative and arrange clear guidelines regarding payment. Members should also know that they are expected to participate with the distribution.

3. Location. It is important to have an area where you can comfortably sort your purchases. Stephenson and her group are fortunate enough to have a member with access to a community hall for $5.00 a day. For smaller groups, you can always start where any great enterprise in North America finds its roots—in your garage!

4. Have Members with Different Skill Sets. Stephenson has experience with spread-sheets and an accountant, for example, is a huge asset to a fledgling organization such as this.

5. Accept Members by Referral Only. Start with your friends and family. You need be able to trust the people you are dealing with.

6. Be Patient. Most co-ops encourage controlled growth. The logistics for a large versus a small group can be huge, and you can avoid the growing pains by remembering the old adage that slow and steady wins the race.

Does this sound like too much work? Well, it can’t be any worse than braving the aisles of Superstore on a Saturday. Bablitz says that belonging to a food-buying co-op has really opened her eyes. She explains that it is about understanding that there is a global cost to our consumerism, and that it is our choice—and even our privilege—to be concerned with food-buying ethics:

“I think what we're doing here, this grass roots collective cooperating on sourcing good food for our families at the best buying price afforded us is the kind of advocacy that can change the world. I really believe this.”“I first joined this cooperative to save a few bucks on my grocery bill ... but my reasons for staying are growing with each passing order we place.”

A Shot of Life

This article originally appeared in The New West

Nam On is a 300-year-old farming village in south-central China. In October of 2007, Steve Speer found himself there in the role of documentarian for the Eco Village of Hope Society , a NGO working in China to build a child care centre and introduce the villagers to environmentally sustainable practices.

So what does this have to do with Calgary? Steve is one of the photographers showing at the Gallery of Photographic Arts until April 1st. The global exhibition, 3 Photographers 3 Countries , also features Bill Peters’ work from Paris and Jan Boydol’s from Portugal.

The Gallery of Photographic Arts (formerly Four by Five Gallery) is a cooperative with a mission to “advance photography as an art form and foster understanding and support for those who create, enjoy, and collect photography.” The artists represented by the gallery are a diverse cross-section of the “photographic pool of talent” which exists in Calgary, all of whom have been working for many years refining their craft. Boydol, also the Gallery Manager, explains there was previously no other gallery in western Canada which showcased only photography.

Speer, a self-described landscape photographer, discovered that China fostered a newfound love and appreciation for the portrait in him. With language being a huge barrier, showing his subjects the picture he had just taken of them was a powerful and unforgettable experience. He describes the impact a digital image can have on a personal connection:
“China is an amazingly diverse country and the rural areas still exhibit a sense of timelessness. The homes are rudimentary and the lifestyles are frugal, but the people are warm and welcoming and they exude a sense of dignity and grace.”

If you’re anything like me, in the grip of a terrible Spring Fever but can’t afford to hop on a plane, this exhibition will undoubtedly transport you to exotic and decidedly warmer climes.

For example, Bill Peters’ pictures transport you immediately to the romance of sidewalk cafés and kisses stolen by the Seine. In an invigorating contrast to the pristine solitude of Boyle’s photos, Peters’ convey the intricacies of life in one of the greatest cities on Earth. One of the patrons described the work as “containing different layers to more than one story.” Just whose story Peters is trying to tell, though, is not always immediately evident. The images, sharp and clear, make you want to jump in, sip some café and start up a conversation.

For all three artists, one can’t help but make up stories. Who are these people? What are they thinking and what has changed since these pictures were taken? How are we different, and ultimately, how are we all the same?

All shows at the Gallery run for a month with an opening reception on the first Thursday of every month. Fifty percent of the proceeds from sales of this exhibit will be donated to the Eco Village of Hope Society

Getting Drenched at The Drowning Girls

Written for The New West

The pool lining on the stage of The Big Secret Theatre is getting a workout. Signs in the front row issue a warning to playgoers that if they didn’t bring their raincoats, they should be prepared to get a little wet. Three brokenhearted and buoyant brides are coming up for air, and they are inundating the audience with their story.

The Drowning Girls, the last of five Playrites Festival plays, premiered on Saturday night to a sold-out crowd.

The playwrights Beth Graham, Daniela Vlaskalic and Charlie Tomlinson, say “this is [a play] about love: what we do for it; how it makes us feel; how it can deceive and destroy us; and ultimately, how we continue on afterwards.”

Beth Graham wanted to do a play which explored the idea of drowning. “We started with a bathtub and an idea. When we came across the Scotland Yard stories of George Joseph Smith, we were overjoyed.” In the early 1900s he met, married and murdered three women in less than three years. “His technique was crude, his manner unsophisticated, his story transparent. It’s easy to think that we know more about love now, “ say the playwrights, “But ultimately, love is as blind today as it was then.”

So the play forces us to ask the question: What have we really learned? Choices for women were limited in the 1900s. Proper decorum and etiquette dictated many of our choices. There were more rules about what we couldn’t do than what we could. So Margaret, Alice and Bessie can’t exactly be faulted for caving into the pressure of the day, where if you weren’t married by the time you were thirty, you were on the fast track to Spinsterhood. The desperation is palpable. You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from the women in the audience. Thank God it isn’t like that any more.

So the misled maidens get bamboozled by a professional con artist who takes them for everything they are worth financially, emotionally and ultimately physically. But The Drowning Girls is not a story of victimization; and in my eyes, not even necessarily a story about love; rather it is about solidarity and feminism. It is about an awakening, a reckoning. It is clever, witty and beguiling. These mermaids are no longer choking on their words.

In Greek mythology, drowning is a symbol of transition. More potently, water plays an interesting role in this play. Symbolically, water in literature represents life, cleansing, and rebirth. It is a strong life force, and is often depicted as a living, reasoning energy. This is most definitely the case with The Drowning Girls, who use water almost as a fourth character in the play. Here it is being used as confetti, as a cup of tea; here to cleanse, to calm, to play; here to stifle…

So their voices, until now muffled and suffocated by the man who “took their breath away” are being heard for the first time. The transition from life to death and from victim to hero is fascinating. Open up the floodgates; the drought is over.

Get Hed at the Pumphouse Theatre

Written for The New West

John Cameron Mitchell’s high-voltage tale “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” has gained accolades and a cult following in the ten years since it premiered off-Broadway. Now glam-rocker Hedwig and her mighty band, The Angry Inch, have come to tear up Calgary in a campy performance you will never forget. Hedwig regales you with the story of her life, from humble beginnings as Hansel, a young boy born on the wrong side of the Wall, to her reincarnation as an internationally ignored songstress.

Let it be said that I am not the biggest fan of musicals in the world. There is something so unnatural about breaking out into song in the middle of a dramatic moment which has never really quite done it for me. Every once in a while though—when they are done well—musicals can be fun, entertaining and hilarious. Using music as a form of expression to narrate the story of one’s life is nothing new, but Hedwig delivers her story with so much flair and energy that it somehow makes it seem less contrived.

Who doesn’t already have the soundtrack to his or her own life mapped out in their heads? What would the opening track to your life be? Although I’m guessing that ‘Wig in a Box’ or ‘Sugar Daddy’ might not make it into your Top Ten Songs of My Life, I would Hedge a bet that there is something for everyone in this play, mostly because it addresses some universal themes about love, identity and the quest for fulfillment. And the music, which hearkens the likes of David Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, is played adeptly by Calgarian musicians Brendan McGuigan, Tom Gunvordahl, Trevor Rueger and Joel Oliver. It is bound to draw you in and make you want to get up and dance.

Mention has to be made of the phenomenal and heady performance by Geoffrey Ewert who plays Hedwig. He really lets it all hang out and evokes the transsexual punk rock goddess in us all. He also wears the hell out of a chain belt and delivers his sharp one-liners with an over-the-top performance that you can’t help but enjoy. And Jamie Konchak, who plays Yitzhak is quietly and remarkably hostile in her role as Drag-King, once again playing with the fluidity of gender.

But the question remains, can one search for meaning in a musical? At the risk of sounding entirely too staid, don’t we all wear masks in our lives to disguise our true selves? Isn’t there some part of us that we are covering up? So why not do so with a wig and some high heels? The play’s true heart lays in Hedwig’s search for her better half. You may think you have nothing in common with a glam-rock transvestite from East Berlin, but you can’t help but get pulled in by her energy and relate to her plight.

Laurel Lepine, one of the audience members said “I love the idea that we are all searching for our other halves. None of us are completely female or completely male. That’s all part of being human, and of being whole.”

Cameron Falkenhagen, the play’s program designer said if he were to sum the play up in one word, it would be “Identity.” “I feel it is strange how the play spoke to me.” So even if you have nothing in common with Hedwig, you can relate. You will have fun, you will laugh at her sharp dialogue and punny repartee and you may even envy her those fishnet stockings and all that glitter eye shadow.