Insights from UofG Profs.

The Health Benefits of eating locally grown Ethno-Cultural Vegetables

Dr. Gopi Paliyath, a professor in the department of plant agriculture at the University of Guelph, with research interests on issues such as post-harvest handling of fruits and vegetables was interviewed recently.  Interviewing him reveals his strong position on the consumption of locally produced vegetables. He says that consuming locally grown vegetables does not only lessen the effects of global warming but could also have positive effects on the body. Eating a diet rich in vegetables reduces chances of getting any of the lifespan reducing diseases such as cancers and other diseases derived from our noxious lifestyles.

It can be difficult to obtain locally produced vegetables of high quality because crop production is largely a prisoner to the winter months in Canada. However, even in non-winter months we still find a good sum of vegetables that are imported. Paliyath says that those vegetables that have traveled long distances are lower in quality. A large percentage of these vegetables are Ethno-Cultural Vegetables (ECVs) that can be grown locally. Often these ECVs experience the highest degradation in terms of quality based on distance covered. The fall in quality of the ECV transforms what was a naturally good vegetable into something nutritionally and also tastefully less desirable consequently reducing the curative benefits of eating vegetables.

Parts of the interview of Prof. Paliyath are presented in the video below

Food Hubs and Ethno Cultural Vegetables

Professor Karen Landman teaches at the school of Environmental Design and Rural Development. She is interested in local food systems both in rural and urban spheres. More recently her research has taken her into the realm of Community Food Hubs. She says that food hubs are important and can foster community relations and ties. A common theme in culture is often food, and although the cuisine may change with every culture, crop varieties are often similar. The activities within Food Hubs create positive social externalities that are difficult to measure monetarily, where friendships, life skills and even nutrition are propagated to members of a Community at Food Hubs.

She speaks to highlight the benefits of Community Food Hubs in the Greater Toronto Area as rays of hope that are giving way to an array of social benefits echoing the cosmopolitan nature of Toronto. Ethno-cultural vegetables are taking centre stage in this drama helping people from different cultures to understand and respect each others cultures.

Steven Kangethe

ECVOntario