This Summer has been a busy one for FedUp Windsor gardening collective. One highlight was last weekend, when we held three very successful events: our first annual Garden Bike Tour & Summer Harvest Party on Saturday, August 16th, and a film screening of Food Matters (with an open discussion about food security) on Sunday, August 17th. In case you’re wondering, ‘first annual’ does mean that we’ll make it a yearly tradition, so if you missed it this time, don’t worry, there’s more to come! View our photos of the events.
There were 31 of us on the Bike Tour, including one person who met us at each site by car. I hope to organize a shuttle in future years, so that folks who can’t bike can still experience the tour in the company of others. We began our journey at Ottawa and Kildare, where the Citizens Environment Alliance held an open house and provided much needed sustenance to the riders (also thanks to Taloolah’s for donating treats to eat). From there we continued, visiting 4 beautiful gardens along the way, chatting with each other while we rode and getting inspired by our garden hosts. Arriving at Wyandotte and Askin for our Summer Harvest Party, we were ready to rest, eat, drink and be merry.
The Summer Harvest Party was awesome, as in awe-inspiring! The large back garden of our friends, Ron and Ayesha (and their kids, Maya and Serena), provided the perfect place for kids and musicians to play, for stomachs to be satisfied and minds to be enlivened, for food and ideas to be shared, and for all our senses to be caressed into wonder with the world. Thanks to all those who had a hand in making that happen.
On Sunday, we awoke to a new day and another fun event. Food Matters was screened at the Gourmet Emporium at Wyandotte and Chilver. The film was definitely interesting, and provided some good insight into what “you are what you eat” really means, and the open discussion that occurred after filled in some of the gaps. Several issues arose, including: the necessity for examining what ‘organic’ really means and the different standards in different places; how the proximity of food production to its consumption affects its quality and nutritional value, as well as the communities that make/eat it; and issues of ‘scientific’ versus ‘anecdotal’ evidence. The discussion moderators (and event planners) Joanna from FedUp and Pina from Windsor Eats did a great job of making sure it was left on a positive and constructive note.
This review is only from one perspective. Please add comments to our blog so we can know what others think about FedUp and related issues, or about the experience you had at one of these, or other FedUp, events.
