The story of the youngster leaving the farm, abandoning a lifestyle that has been in their family for generations and moving to the city is not a new one. And it is still happening, now more than ever, on an increasingly alarming scale.

Did you know that within ten years, up to seventy five percent of farmers are expected to retire? How will this affect the food landscape? Are there enough young people going into farming to replace them? How will our food be grown and managed?

These and more questions are examined in the thought provoking documentary, To Make a Farm, screening at the Royal Theatre in Toronto on, June 21, perhaps fittingly, the first day of summer.

Named one of the most popular Canadian films at the Vancouver International Film Festival, To Make A Farm has also been screened to favourable reviews at the Big Sky Documentary Festival in Montana, the Santa Cruz Film Festival, and Available Light Film Festival in Whitehorse, Yukon.

The films examines the lives of five young people who are reversing the trend; despite having no background in this difficult profession, they have given up their lives in the city and have become small-scale farmers, facing challenges and set-backs on an almost daily basis, learning the ropes, adapting to the demands of this most important and demanding discipline.

One of the subjects of the Film, Tarrah Young  of Neustadt, Ontario will be at the Toronto screening. Tarrah and her husband Nathan were motivated by environmental concerns to  become small scale farmers, and have found the experience to be challenging, rewarding and deeply personal, requiring what Tarrah describes as an almost spiritual dedication to the land and animals. With fellow panelists, director producer Steve Suderman and Audrey Macdonald, a second generation farmer born in Jamaica and incubating at FarmStart’s McVean property, Tarrah will be part of a panel discussion after the show, discussing the film, answering questions and engaging the audience with their “getting started” stories and their hopes for the future.

Here are a few preview clips from this important and captivating documentary. Tickets for the evening are  $12.00 in advance and can be purchased online, $13.00 at the door. Doors open at 6:30 pm and the screening begins at 6:50.

Spring is here and that means it is time for Terroir! Taking place on April 23rd, Terroir will feature a roster of incredible guest speakers including Chef Ben Shewry from Attica in Melbourne, Australia, Ken Friedman from the Spotted Pig in New York City, author of “For Cod and Country” Ben Seaver, and more. There will also be a viewing of an exclusive documentary interview with NOMA’s Rene Redzepi. For ticket information, go here.

Also, coming up this month is the annual Brewer’s Plate, a fundraiser featuring local food and beer pairings presented by the city’s top chefs and breweries, among them are chefs Aaron Bear Robe, Lora Kirk, Chris MacDonald, Brad Long, Mark Cutrara and brews from Black Oak, Muskoka Brewery, Mill Street and more. This year’s charity is Green Thumbs, Growing Kids. For ticket information, go here.

The Green Toronto Awards is back and here is the list of chosen finalists. Winners will be announced at the 2012 Green Toronto Awards ceremony on Friday, April 13 at 7 p.m. on the Main Stage at the Green Living Show, Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place. Admission to the ceremony is free.

It’s back! Apron Strings is our super fun annual video series that takes you into the kitchens of real home cooks to learn how they make their favourite family recipes and it is back for another year. But this time we’re looking for dads, uncles, grandpas…We know they can do more than barbecue steaks or fry up some eggs. Check out the information below and fill in the contest form by clicking here and enter your dad today

Remember, you need to fill in the form to be officially entered to be a star! Now go ahead, and fill it in!

Friday, April 13^th will be a lucky day for residents of Toronto, as the Green Living Show will be held at the Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition place. This is North America’s largest Green consumer show, with over four hundred exhibitors demonstrating green, earth– friendly and sustainable solutions and ideas that affect all walks of life: energy, wellness, fashion and beauty, transportation and food and beverage are just a few of the areas that will be showcased.

This is an amazing event that shows the average consumer how easy it is to make small changes, choices that will have an immediate effect on one’s day to day life, and lasting changes that will have an impact on generations to come.

We know there are alternatives to gas guzzling cars; find out how feasible the idea of driving an electric car really is at the Electric Vehicle Show. Maybe an electric car is not in your budget now, but this show will offer alternatives to driving around in a Hummer, and put a bug in your ear. Maybe you think owning an electric car is just a pipe dream, or some far fetched vision, but this exhibit will show you just how real this technology is.

Walking around the vast grounds, you might work up an appetite, and some of the top chefs in the city will be present offering delicious goodies sourced locally. This will take on added significance as you join James Sun’s seminar offering sustainable solutions for alleviating world hunger, or an in-depth panel discussion on the proposed  Melancthon mega quarry just 90 min from Toronto. 

There are countless other exhibits as well that will be sure to inform, enlighten and entertain; exhibits highlighting our lakes and rivers, stewardship of our oceans, the role that forests and trees play as the lungs of the earth, and even several live bird demonstrations by Wild Ontario, featuring the American Kestrel, the Red Tail Hawk, Great Horned Owl and the Turkey Vulture.

American Kestrel

There are really so many things to see and do at this year’s exhibition, it would probably take you all three days, from April 13-15th, to see everything, so the best plan of attack would be to check out the Green Living Show’s website and see what’s going at what time. And if you’re not sure about the admission fee, don’t sweat it, just bring in an old piece of electronic waste and you’ll receive free admission. If you are one of those cynics that thinks these things are just preaching to the choir, prove yourself right. Join the choir, you might even start changing your tune.

March is usually a bright but cold month, this last frosty snap will soon give way to April showers and May flowers, we hope. This month means only one thing to students, teachers and parents though,

March Break!!!

Here are a few fun events to check out during the break:

Spring Fling, Canada’s largest indoor carnival returns to Rogers Centre for a seven day run through March Break, March 10–16. Expect midway rides, family entertainment and over 26 exotic animals in Reptilia!

The ROM is holding a Mayan-inspired festival during the break, learn how to make Maya jewelry or hang with a Mayan High Priest. What?!

There are camps taking place at TIFF, the AGO, Toronto Botanical Gardens. Your kids can learn about film, art, science, nature, cooking and more.

There’s nothing like fresh bread, this is your chance to train the kids to make it for you.

If you’d rather keep the little tykes at home there are plenty of ways to entertain them and enjoy the time off together. This is a great chance to get everyone in the kitchen working on fun food projects. You could enjoy a day of baking bread, teaching the kids how to knead dough, letting them discover how yeast works and giving them the ultimate joy of punching down the dough after the first rise. Other fun projects could be making your own yogurt, growing sprouts, making fresh buffalo mozzarella or ricotta, peeling apples for a big pot of applesauce or baking and decorating sugar cookies.

homemade ricotta is so easy a child could do it, so teach them how!

If everything you try turns into a disaster and the kids are fighting and making a mess, we have a great suggestion, there’s one more camp taking place this March break -

Kids getting too hyper? Send them on a winter hike with Outward Bound

You can send them off to an Outward Bound winter boot camp!