In the old days, we said grace before dinner. Today, we pause to take photos of our food to post them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook so everyone knows what weve ordered. The Chinese Cultural Centre is inviting you to enter your photos up to three per person in a contest that celebrates cultural delicacies. The subject must be food related and can be of your favourite dish, your favourite dessert or the person making your favourite food. Theres no fee to enter and the deadline is Sept. 30. First prize is $500, second prize is $300 and third prize is $200. (That will pay for a lot of dinners in Vancouver restaurants!) An exhibition of the photos will run from Nov. 2 to Dec. 22. You can download a submission form at CCCVan.com or drop by 555 Columbia to pick one up.
O5 Rare Tea Bar is celebrating its first anniversary with free tea tastings and demonstrations all day August 24. Famous for its hand-picked selection of rare teas and support of small, independent tea farms, check out the samplings of matcha, kombucha, gluten-free galettes, handcrafted chocolate and more at their Kitsilano shop (2208 W 4th at Yew).
Mealshare believes that everyone has a right to eat. The non-profit organization is bringing its message to Vancouver. Starting on August 29, when you purchase a Mealshare branded item at Gurkha Himalayan Kitchen, Aphrodites Organic Cafe or Darbys Pub (with two more pending), the restaurant will provide a matching monetary donation. In Vancouver, for every two meals purchased, one will go to Mission Possible, an organization that provides employment, education support and meals to people in the DTES, and one will go to Childrens Hunger Fund, which does international disaster relief as well as short-term aid. Mealshare was started in Alberta by three friends Derek Juno and cousins Andrew Hall and Jeremy Bryant two of whom are moving to Vancouver.
Vancouver Community Colleges culinary college and cafeterias are helping the farmers who grow our food. Several times a week, leftover food scraps are trucked by Northwest Organics to a ranch near Lytton. The waste is processed into clean compost that is spread on surrounding farmland to help grow crops such as alfalfa, which is sold to dairy farms as cattle feed. In the first three months of the program, the college diverted more than 111 tonnes of organic waste, most of which comes from the downtown campus. VCC, which has been carbon neutral since 2010, is also exploring ways to grow organic food on campus.
The Hospitality Grind, Wine Barrel Race, Tug of War... If this sounds like your type of fun, then put together a team of six to eight friends to compete in Skills and Spills.
The day of challenges and games is hosted by the BC Hospitality Foundation as part of its Tip Out to Help campaign. It supports workers within the hospitality community who are coping with a financial crisis arising from a health or medical condition.
Teams must raise a minimum of $1,000. Its October 20 at the Hellenic Cultural Centre from noon to 5pm. Go to SkillsSpills.ca to register.
While there are concerns about sockeye salmon numbers this year, an estimated nine million pink salmon are expected to flood the Fraser River. To celebrate, The Pacific Salmon Foundation is hosting a festival on August 25 at Hadden Park next to the Maritime Museum.
There will be interactive educational displays, childrens activities, music and raffles from noon to 5pm and a donation gets you samplings of barbequed pink salmon prepared by sustainable food advocates Robbert Clark, Ronnie Shewchuk and Garrett Schack. Details at PSF.ca.
Off the Eaten Track is offering a three-hour walking tour that includes pitstops at two urban farms and three restaurants in Gastown and Chinatown on Sept. 14. The tour starts at Local Garden, a vertical farm, and then goes to the Juice Truck, Bestie, and Harvest Union before winding up with a honey tasting at an urban apiary, Mellifera Bees. The $65 cost includes all food; tickets must be purchased in advance at OffTheEatenTrackTours.ca.
Diners who bought a record 32,458 Pirate Paks at White Spot restaurants have the extra satisfaction of knowing they helped raise a record $65,916 so children and young adults with life-threatening illnesses and chronic disabilities can go to Zajac Ranch.
