How to eat in the modern world

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In amongst all the bad news about food – the recent spate of food-borne illnesses; the rising rates of diabetes, fatty liver disease, food-related allergies, obesity, autoimmune disorders, and certain forms of cancer suspected to have food links; and an endless news feed about the dangers of additives in many common processed foods – one thing is still clear: we still need to eat.

So just how do we navigate the tricky and treacherous business of eating while still actually managing to enjoy healthy, tasty food?

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How to eat in the modern world Back to video

The new Canada Food Guide, to be released shortly, is expected to recommend that Canadians eat more vegetables, fruits and whole grains, and, in particular, focus on eating more plant-based proteins.

Moving to a more plant-based diet makes sense both for our own personal health and for the health of the planet. And despite our hard winters, Canada is well placed when it comes to the production of agricultural commodities – we live in one of the most agriculturally rich countries in the world. Canadian agriculture and the Canadian agri-food industry contributes over $110 billion annually to our GDP. To put the numbers in perspective, that’s more than the national GDP of more than two-thirds of the world’s nations. Canada is also the fifth largest agricultural exporter in the world. We produce an estimated three-quarters of the global maple syrup supply, and are the world’s largest exporters of flaxseed, canola, pulses, oats and durum wheat. We are also, by far and away, the world’s largest producer of lentils – a rich and incredibly inexpensive source of plant-based protein. (Statistics: Agriculture Canada and Agri-Food Canada website, www.agr.gc.ca.)

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As Berkeley journalism professor Michael Pollan says in his recent documentary, In Defence of Food, it comes down to seven words: “Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.” Pollan doesn’t shun meat and he wraps up his documentary with the Oscar Wilde line: “Everything in moderation, including moderation.” He advises against eating foods that our grandmothers would not have recognized. In other words: avoid contemporary, pre-packaged, ultra-processed, industrial food.

Eating more as our grandmothers and great-grandmothers did makes perfect sense. They lived, for the most part, in a world before massive supermarkets, before industrial food, before factory farming and monocultures, and before year-round supplies of groceries were shipped constantly all over the planet. Food was seasonal and, for the most part, local. Nothing was wasted. Nearly everybody had a garden, perhaps an apple tree, and a rhubarb patch. Many raised their own chickens for meat and eggs. Animals were left to graze and only fed during the harshest winter months. Wheat had not yet been hybridized to the same extent and was ground into flour using the whole kernel in local stone mills. The use of synthetic fertilizers and chemical pesticides was non-existent. Early Ontario food factories produced little more than Canadian cheddar and sugar from sugar beets.

Of course, there was a downside, too – there was the relentless work, the threat of starvation, and the danger of crops being lost to plagues and infestations. But somewhere between our great-grandmother’s world and our overly industrialized food supply there lies a new path forward.

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This dried apple cake (which can also be made from fresh apples) is a perfect example of pre-industrial cooking. Apples would have been harvested from late summer on. Those varieties that could be stored would have been barrelled. Others would have been made into cider, apple butter, chutney or applesauce, and still others would have been sliced and then threaded on string and hung from mantles and rafters to dry. And, of course, there would have been apple pies, too. Apples were a mainstay of the Ontario diet from the time the first orchards were planted right through until the mid 1900s. You can use the humble McIntosh apple to make this cake. The McIntosh was first discovered growing in 1811 on the farm of John and Hannah McIntosh – just east of Kingston in Matilda Township (later renamed South Dundas Township).

Dried Apple Cake

(from Out of Old Ontario Kitchens as adapted from the Canadian Farm Cook Book, 1911)

1 cup of dried apples (soaked overnight) or 2 cups fresh cooking apples, peeled and chopped

1 cup fancy molasses

1 egg, beaten

½ cup sugar

½ cup buttermilk or soured milk

¼ cup butter, softened

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp dried ginger

½ tsp allspice

Pinch salt

If using dried apples, soak overnight in water. Drain and chop lightly. Simmer in molasses for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool. If using fresh apples, warm the molasses in a saucepan and add the apples, stir over medium-high heat for about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

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In a separate bowl, beat the egg, sugar, buttermilk and butter. Stir well. Add the flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Stir in the apple mixture. Combine well. Pour into a well-greased ring cake pan or bundt cake pan. Bake at 325 F for about 45 minutes or until the cake springs back lightly when touched.

Allow to cool in pan before removing. Serve with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream.

To win a copy of OutofOldOntarioKitchens,send a photograph of your favourite old recipe and a line or two about where the recipe comes from to: mechefske@yahoo.ca. All replies will be entered into a draw and the winner, chosen at random, will be announced in February.

Lindy Mechefske is the award-winning author of Out of Old Ontario Kitchens (2018), Sir John’s Table, and A Taste of Wintergreen. Contact her at lindymechefske.com.