Foodstuffs

This week, we learn what the elements that give beer flavour, just in time to cheers to the end of another season. Matt Park is the Operations manager at Toronto's Burdock Brewery and he loves yeast. We learn how yeast impacts the taste of beer and how to maintain flavour when brewing low alcohol beers. Yum!

This week we talk to the son of a farmer about his photographic homage to his upbringing, currently on display at Toronto's St Lawrence Market. Fittingly for one of Canada's oldest farmers' markets, Andrew McGill's work displays scenes from his hometown: farm life, county fairs and local characters. What happens when you book most of your work in the city, but draw some of your greatest inspiration from your rural farming town? How Andrew McGill reconciles his past and present, and tries to envision his future. To hear our chat with Andrew's father, Larry McGill, download "Ep 14: The Homegrown Dinner Project & A Farmer's Perspective."

Workplace safety is known as a basic right in our country, however political collective Justice for Migrant Workers is working hard to spread awareness of the realities of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program for some of Canada's migrant farmworker population. On this week's episode, we speak to one of the J4MW organizers, Tzazná Miranda Leal, about the range of efforts the group has taken to spread the issue of substandard working and living conditions for Canada's migrant worker population. J4MW's campaign ramped up last year, culminating as the Harvesting Freedom Caravan that crossed Southern Ontario. This work is currently on display in the form of three concurrent art exhibitions, 'Art and Tomatoes,' taking place as a part of the Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts in Toronto. For more information, please visit our website: foodstuffs.life

How access to food, water and the Internet shapes one northern community; the people of Attawapiskat First Nation cope with the high cost of living on reserve. We chat with Kathy and Stephen Stoney- a teacher and a minister- about the barriers that currently exist and what they hope to see for the future of eating in their subarctic First Nation.

When life handed Michaela Kutaj a diagnosis that kept her close to home, she prescribed herself backyard chickens. This week, Jess takes a trip to the Mississauga to visit a woman who is reaping more than just the obvious- albeit illegal- rewards (i.e. local food, healthy compost, active lifestyle) of backyard chicken farming.

What is the best way to get more people eating healthy food? We've seen a lot of work in this area, since the advent of the slow food movement, with community gardens popping up in urban settings everywhere. But what makes someone value locally grown and sourced goods? And how do we take healthy & local foods from being regarded as the exception to being treated as the norm? This and more with Fresh City Farms' CEO & Founder Ran Goel.

Discussions of safe space and equal treatment are popping up across an array of industries right now, but identification of the need for safe space is an easy place for the discussion to end. This week, we talk to a long-time Toronto service industry vet about growing up in restaurants during a rougher time and how this informs the way he runs his establishment today. *Plus* added bonus stories of kitchen stories from 80s & 90s Toronto restaurant life. Thanks to Giuseppe Anile of Midfield Wine Bar & Tavern for speaking with us.

This week, we talk to a former financial advisor about the decision he made to forget the money and pursue his dream to own his own restaurant. Normally, this would mean forfeiting time with family, but not for Bruce Le. We head to B's Banh Mi to learn how opening a sandwich shop in the suburbs allows him to express his heritage, his taste and his passion, all the while making it home to spend quality time with his family.

This week, we talk institutional food. In particular food in hospitals: what are the challenges with feeding people in this setting, how food is viewed by the medical community, how we can introduce healthier foods into this system and what the impact might be. Lulu Cohen-Farnell and David Farnell, owners of a "healthy catering company for child care centres", regularly speak out about the ways we can better feed vulnerable groups- from children to patients- and how their childcare catering company can inform a change in the way serve food to those who can't serve themselves.

In the last few months, it feels like a lot has changed, leaving some of us feeling pretty overwhelmed about the world around us. We kick off Season 4 by hearing why- and how- one Toronto bartender uses her off time to volunteer. Christina Veira is a long time food & beverage vet, known for making a killer cocktail and also just being really nice (something that is not always said about servers in Toronto). For the last year and a half, she's been working closely with a local shelter, but not in the way we view traditional "volunteering".

2017 marks the 150th Anniversary of Canada. It also happens to be the 75th anniversary of Bryan's grandparents being sent to work on the sugar beet farms of Alberta during the Japanese Internment camps during World War II. This week, we hear Bryan conversation with his grandparents, Gen & Gene Miki, recorded at their Hamilton home in August 2011. We're off for a little break, but will be back in February! T & I: @foodstuffslife F: facebook.com/foodstuffslife W: foodstuffs.life

In the last few years, the way we plan to dine out has changed drastically. While technology has improved visibility for restaurants and made connecting with them much easier, their are some negative side effects impacting small business owners who have chosen one of the riskiest businesses out there. This week we speak with restaurateur, Darcy MacDonell, about what he's doing to improve the situation for all parties involved. T & I: @foodstuffslife F: facebook.com/foodstuffslife W: foodstuffs.life

What goes in to making a cup of coffee? A lot more than the question begs. Lee Knuttila tells us why he loves coffee and gives us the flavour, history, science and politics inspiring the new era of coffee purveyors.

How is it that one of the most essential skills for life is so rarely discussed? This week, we chat with a lactation consultant about why first time moms rarely know what it takes to breastfeed their child. And then we get really philosophical about life and the human experience. T & I: @foodstuffslife F: facebook.com/foodstuffslife

This week, we get dispatches from the front lines of internet dating: once known as a partier, Dawn Ayre knew it was time to settle down and look for true love, so- naturally- she turned to Tinder. What's it like to start a new chapter, when you've got a reputation for answering late night calls? And how difficult is it to let go of old, often self-destructive, patterns? All that, plus dating advice for the modern era. Hint: It's better when you both go for the donair; then everyone has garlic breath! T & I: @foodstuffslife F: facebook.com/foodstuffslife

Joe Dorgan of Seacow Pond, Prince Edward Island, knew that his cows loved eating local seaweed, but he never thought about why. We talk to the farmer that inspired research that could help save the planet. T & I: @foodstuffslife F: facebook.com/foodstuffslife

The man at the helm of one of Toronto's most respected restaurant dynasties surprised everyone when he opened a diner in one of the city's low income neighbourhoods early this October. We chat with Grant van Gameren about the decision to buy Harry's Charbroiled in Parkdale and why it's proven to be one of the most difficult projects he's taken on to date. T & I: @foodstuffslife F: facebook.com/foodstuffslife

In collaboration with a lab at Trent University, one company is learning to harness DNA sequencing technology for the benefit of us all. Thanks to Geoff Lumby, President of Sterisense (http://www.sterisense.com/), for speaking with us. Please consider donating to the CIUT funding drive: http://www.ciut.fm/ They are a huge reason that we are able to do what we do. Show them some love and let them know we sent you! Like the show? Don't forget to tell your friends! Find us on Instagram & Twitter @foodstuffslife And on Facebook: facebook.com/foodstuffslife

This week, we speak with a fish farmer who has a lot to say about how the public views his industry. What do you do when your country chooses a stance on your livelihood and doesn't question it? Thanks to Gord Cole of Aquacage Fisheries in Parry Sound, ON for appearing on the show. Like the show? Don't forget to tell your friends! Find us on Instagram & Twitter @foodstuffslife And on Facebook: facebook.com/foodstuffslife

Foodstuffs is back for Season 3! This season, we're bringing you a brand new interview every week. We're excited, because this lets us be with you more often and go deeper on the topics we share with you. For our first interview of the season, we go to Royale's Luncheonette on Dundas West in Toronto to speak with a 20 year kitchen vet about why he left a life of late nights behind and what greater balance is worth in this industry. If you like what we do, don't forget to tell your friends! Follow us on Instagram & Twitter @foodstuffslife On Facebook: facebook.com/foodstuffslife