City of Charlottetown adopts food council's charter

Charlottetown city council has voted to officially adopt the food charter established by the Charlottetown Food Council.

A food charter is a visionary guiding document that describes what a community wants its food system to look like. It is a non-binding reference document that provides guidance for developing food-related policy and projects within the community.

“The food charter is an extremely valuable tool that will be used to engage the community and incorporates the overall mission and goals of the Charlottetown Food Council,” said Coun. Terry MacLeod, chairman of the Environment and Sustainability Committee.

“Food security is an issue that has been raised by the community for years. The adoption of the food charter, which also aligns with the goals of our Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP), is an encouraging step forward.”

The Charlottetown Food Council was established in 2018 and is comprised of 13 members and two city employees. The members began developing the food charter during the group’s strategic planning sessions. It was created by reviewing various examples from other Canadian cities and considering regionally relevant goals and principles.

“The adoption of the Charlottetown food charter clearly establishes the City of Charlottetown as a leader in food policy in this province,” said Karen Murchison, chairwoman of the Charlottetown Food Council.

“Our goal as the Charlottetown Food Council is to use this as an opportunity to advance positive change in the food environment within the City.”

More than 60 other municipalities in Canada have recognized the value of making food a priority in their community and have taken on the challenge of improving the regional food system that they operate within through the establishment of a local Food Council and adoption of a Food Charter.

Clare Waight Keller triumphs at 2018 Fashion Awards

Clare Waight Keller, artistic director of Givenchy, has topped off what has already been an impressive year by winning the British designer of the year womenswear award at the 2018 Fashion Awards.

The designer, who in 2017 became the first woman to lead the house of Givenchy, was entrusted with creating the Duchess of Sussex's wedding dress in May. Meanwhile Givenchy recently opened a new flagship store on Old Bond Street.

The designer was presented with her award on Monday evening by the duchess, at a star-studded ceremony at London's Royal Albert Hall, hosted by model Alek Wek and comedian Jack Whitehall. Kate Moss, Edie Campbell, Riz Ahmed, Rita Ora and Brooke Shields were also in attendance.

Waight Keller had stiff competition for the award from Victoria Beckham, who celebrated 10 years since launching her eponymous label this year. Women were widely recognised for their contribution to the fashion industry at this year's awards, with Dame Vivienne Westwood, Miuccia Prada and Kaia Gerber all taking home Swarovski crystal trophies designed by the Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye.

Model Jerry Hall presented the Swarovski award for positive change to Westwood in recognition of her campaigning on humanitarian and environmental issues. Last year, the designer launched the Switch to Green campaign, asking for fashion brands and businesses to switch to a green energy supplier by 2020. She has also dedicated several of her shows to raising awareness of environmental initiatives, is an ambassador for Greenpeace and, in 2013, designed the official Save the Arctic logo.

Miuccia Prada, who has held the position of lead creative director of the Italian fashion brand Prada for 40 years, was the recipient of the outstanding achievement award, which was presented by actor Uma Thurman and director Steve McQueen.

The designer of the year award, for which Waight Keller had also been nominated, went to Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino, who regularly dresses A-list stars for the red carpet.

Fashion insiders will have been unsurprised to see Kim Jones, creative director at Dior Homme, honoured with the British Fashion Council's inaugural trailblazer award, presented by actor Robert Pattinson. Jones showed his first collection for Dior just six months ago, but he has already made a considerable impact on the fashion house and was last month responsible for Dior's first menswear foray outside of Paris with a show in Tokyo.

There’s more to curry night drinks than lager

Having attempted to persuade you of the virtues of drinking wine with curry on a number of occasions in the past, I'm going to give it a rest this time and stick to beer – and cider, an underrated partner for a takeaway. That doesn't just mean lager, though you'd be forgiven for thinking so, judging from the average curry house drinks list. But curry has moved on, and Indian restaurants have much more to offer these days than an eye-wateringly hot vindaloo.

Take a look at the list at Soho's Kricket, for example, which includes a lemongrass saison from Partizan Brewing and Wild Beer Co's Sourdough; or Dishoom, which lists Beavertown Gamma Ray pale ale and a Belgian wit. Hops work with spice, as do beers with a touch of fruity sweetness.

I wouldn't have picked it off the shelf, but I really loved Wild Card's Passionfruit Gose, a fruit-flavoured sour beer from brewer and TV presenter Jaega Wise and her team in Walthamstow, east London. The Danish brewery Mikkeller also has a refreshingly sharp-flavoured passionfruit Berliner weisse called Wood Will Fall Down (4.2%), which has been enterprisingly taken on by Marks & Spencer at £2.50 for a 330ml can and which would suit a mildish veggie curry. (If you're a Mikkeller fan, you may also like to know they've opened a bar – in Shoreditch, east London, of course.)

Although I'm not a big fan of fruit ciders, I have to admit that Peacock's Mango & Lime Cider, despite being bizarrely described as an Asian cider, is bang on the money. Given that it's made by Kingfisher, in collaboration with Aspall, you might even find it in your local Indian.

Hoppy pale ales, however, are my normal go-to with a curry (rather than IPAs, which are often too alcoholic). Mikkeller (again) delivers the goods with Stick a Finger in the Soil Pale Ale, which is stocked by Majestic as well as Marks & Sparks, as does Duration with its Turtles All the Way Down American Pale Ale (5.5%), brewed at Amundsen in Oslo. OK, it's not cheap (at £5.55 for 440ml from Hop, Burns & Black), but it's still brilliant value compared with most wines of that price.

Not that I'm averse to lager with a curry, but there's no more reason to drink a bog-standard one than there is to sip a flavourless pinot grigio. Just a word of warning, though: some pils I've been tasting recently are, in my opinion, too dry and bitter for Indian food and would be better with pickles than spice.

Yotam Ottolenghi’s Middle Eastern recipes

Put the steaks on a board and cover with a sheet of clingfilm. Using a mallet or the base of small, heavy saucepan, bash the steaks until they are about 1.5cm thick. Cut up the steaks, fat and all, into 1.5cm cubes and put in a bowl with the ground black lime, lemon zest and juice, cumin, garlic, two tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon and a half of salt and a good grind of pepper. Leave to marinate at room temperature for at least two hours (or refrigerated overnight).

For the sumac onions, mix the onion, sumac, vinegar and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, and leave to soften for at least 30 minutes.

Thread the beef on to the skewers, packing the cubes closely together. Generously grease a grill pan with sunflower oil and put on a high heat. Once smoking, lay in the skewers in batches and cook, turning as you go, for about three to four minutes in total, until charred all over but not over-cooked. Transfer to a tray and cover with foil to keep warm.

Warm the bread on a hot grill for about 30 seconds on each side.

To serve, put a flatbread on each plate and top with two beef skewers each, brushing them with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkling with the chilli. Toss the parsley and mint into the sumac onions, divide the mixture between the plates and serve.

Food insecurity and mental health 'interconnected'

As food insecurity persists in the London area, it’s becoming clear it affects more than hunger.

An article published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry points to a connection between food insecurity and the use of mental health services in Ontario.

About one in eight Canadians experience food insecurity. Those who experience severe food insecurity, missing meals or even going days without eating, were much more likely to receive mental health treatment compared to food-secure adults, the article states.

"Those people struggling with mental health issues are often the ones who are food insecure," said public health dietitian Ellen Lakusiak.

The article found 20 per cent of those who visited primary care doctors for mental health reasons were food insecure and about 27 per cent of those who visited a psychiatrist were food insecure.

However, the research article also pointed to food insecurity having consequences for the health care system, outside of mental health. Food insecure adults account for about 38 per cent of those admitted to hospital and about 35 per cent of those treated in emergency departments.

Lakusiak also is the co-ordinator of the Middlesex London Food Policy Council, which works to advocate, influence policy and make a difference to the local food system. The council assessed food insecurity in the city and Middlesex County in 2015 and 2016.

"Based on the data, we’re not any worse or better compared to other communities, but we definitely have food insecurity issues," she said.

Lakusiak said dietitians are dealing with mental health concerns more frequently.

"There is a push now to work more on mental health," she said. "It’s very much interconnected."

To end food insecurity, underlying community issues like poverty must be addressed first. Poverty creates food insecurity and mental health concerns, said LifeSpin executive director Jacqueline Thompson.

"It’s a downward spiral," she said.

Those living in poverty do not have access to proper shelter and nutrition, Thompson said.

"They have no money for food and they are not eating a nice diet," she said. "Food budgets are being used to pay for housing."

Income support programs like Ontario Works do not provide enough to cover food and rent, said London Food Bank co-director Glen Pearson.

"Food is one of the things they have to sacrifice to pay rent. That’s not the way it should be," he said. "People should be able to afford their own food, but people need an income to do that."

Lack of a healthful diet also can prevent those living with food insecurity from workplace opportunities, said Thompson.

"They are not able to sustain employment because they have no nutrition to get them through the day," she said.

Thompson said London is "miles" away from addressing these issues.

"London doesn’t have a whole lot of anything," she said.

While services such as Mission Services and the Salvation Army provide meals as a short-term solution, Pearson said the ultimate goal is to have food security.

"There is no need for someone in London to go hungry," he said.