The Great Divide Bison Ranch, Saskatchewan

Apples to Oysters: A Food Lover’s Tour of Canadian Farms

by Margaret Webb

It was a humble carrot, still covered in dirt. And yet, the taste was electric, so unlike the dry woody offerings in grocery stores. That wondrous bite on an Annapolis Valley farm prompted Margaret Webb to do two things. The first was to finish eating the carrot. The second was to set off on a passionate, cross-Canada odyssey to discover a new wave of farmers who are putting taste and nutrition back into the foods we eat.

In this engaging and entertaining book, Margaret Webb introduces us to 11 quintessential Canadian foods and outstanding farmers who produce them -- or, as she calls them, chefs of the soil and the sea, tractor-seat philosophers, poet biologists, thingamajig inventors, and zealous educators.

This quest to connect with our groceries takes food writing into exciting new terrain: the author joins organic cowboys on a roundup, harvests scallops from an ocean farm and picks potatoes for back-breaking hours under the Yukon sun. But the journey also leads the author home, to moving reflections about her father and the fate of the farm she grew up on.

 Her stories about farmers fighting to do what’s right, for food and the environment, are inspiring, poignant, gritty. They will make you hungry. They will make you laugh. They will make you run to your nearest farmers’ market to hug a farmer.

 

Advance Praise for Apples to Oysters:

Apples to Oysters is the work of a sensual adventurer feasting her way across an edible landscape, with stops to contemplate such matters as the personality quirks of scallops, the fleeting magnificence of flax in bloom, and, ultimately, the emerging renaissance in Canadian regional cuisine. Margaret Webb goes beyond simplistic organic-versus-conventional labels and gets her boots muddy on the farms that feed us, whether on land or—more controversially—at sea.

– J.B. MacKinnon, co-author of The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating

 

Webb takes us with her on 11 extraordinary adventures that explore the diversity of Canada’s foodscape and the dedication of our artisanal farmers. Her writing makes the mouth water for a Colville Bay oyster or a real Ambrosia apple, but her subject encompasses more than ingredients. Woven into the narrative are both poignant personal memoir and a compelling argument to rethink our attitudes to food and farming.

– James Chatto, Acclaimed Food Writer, Author of Greek for Love

 

This insightful book is a must read for anyone who appreciates the best of Canada’s flavours and has earned its rightful place on my shelf reserved for inspiring food writing!

– Chef Michael Smith, Food Network Host, author and part time gardener

 

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