Love local food

Mr. Green about to enjoy his Libretto pizza

The other day, Mr. Green came home aghast at the distance the asparagus had traveled to land on the local grocery store shelf: “It was from Peru!” he exclaimed. Knowing the vitamin-packed and anti-oxidant-rich veggie is in season here in Ontario, I was shocked too.

Long before I met Mr. Green, I did what I could to support local farmers and bought fresh-from-the-farm produce and meats when possible. Now, knowing how damaging shipping strawberries from California is to the environment, I try even harder to buy local, in-season foods. I’ll be the first to admit, however; that sometimes I just want a strawberry in January and I will indulge.

So, when Mr. Green and I head out for dinner together (we’re still a take-out free couple), we try to eat at one of the many Toronto restaurants that serves local, in-season food. It is hard to find locally sourced ethnic food though …

Enter the best pizza place in town: Pizzeria Libretto.

Libretto is awesome for so many reasons. Nowhere else in the city will you find pizza this tasty or legit. They are the only restaurant in Toronto serving certified Vera Pizza Napoletana, using guidelines by the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association and enforced by the Italian Government and European Union. That means they are respecting the pizza-making culture and tradition established in 18^th century Naples. Now that’s serious and it means you’ll enjoy some seriously yummy pizza at the restaurant.

Mr. Green and I think Libretto is also awesome because they are doing many things to ensure they’re as “green” as possible, like sourcing ingredients locally. Taken from their website, here’s what else they’re up to:

1. We use locally grown ingredients, whenever possible, while still maintaining the integrity of the Neapolitan Pizza experience. All of our specials are based around local fresh ingredients in season.
2. We do not serve bottled water, in order to reduce the carbon foot print and other environmental ramifications of this trend. We instead serve purified Toronto water and carbonated filtered water.
3. We serve only fair trade organic espresso.
4. Our used kitchen grease is converted into biodiesel fuel.
5. We use green electricity, a mixture of emission-free wind power and low-impact water power provided by Bullfrog Power.

I’ve come to realize that as consumers we have a lot of influence. Each time we go to the check-out counter or to our local restaurant we’re effectively voting through the choices we’re making. Deciding where and how we spend our money is one of the most powerful things we can do to effect social change.

We can also talk to the owners of our favourite restaurants and encourage them to buy local, in-season ingredients. You can suggest they check out 100km Food Inc. It’s run by a Toronto duo who have partnered with some 40 area chefs to bring locally grown food direct from the farm to the restaurant table.

I know there are those who criticize the local food movement because of how it affects our trading partners to the south, but no matter how complex global trade is I have to wonder: when food is in season here in Ontario, does it make any sense to ship the same food 5,000 miles to reach our tables?