A very interesting play is debuting in Toronto this month. From February 18 to March 20, 2012 Crow’s Theatre company is presenting  a documentary play about the 4-year legal battle between Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser and the biotech giant Monsanto Inc.. Based on court trial transcripts, Seeds includes interviews with Schmeiser, Monsanto representatives, and with farmers, academics, lawyers and scientists from all across Canada.

Seeds is arresting documentary theatre chronicling the 4‐year legal battle between Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser and biotech giant Monsanto Inc. Based on court trial transcripts and interviews with all the players, including, Schmeiser, Monsanto representatives, farmers, academics, lawyers and scientists from across Canada, Seeds takes us behind the scenes of the battle for the future of food. In 2004 Annabel Soutar began to research the case of Monsanto Inc. versus Percy Schmeiser. Monsanto accused Schmeiser of growing their genetically patented Round‐up Ready canola seeds on his property without paying the licensing fee they require.

By taking us through a suspenseful labyrinth of legal conflicts regarding patent rights, scientific showdowns about GM food, and property clashes between farmers and the biotechnology industry – Seeds asks an essential question – can you patent a living thing? Or as Percy famously asked, “who owns life?”.

This landmark trial not only brought this question before the Supreme Court, but also garnered Schmeiser attention from around the world.

Chris Abraham says, “I’m thrilled to be introducing Toronto audiences to playwright Annabel Soutar and her remarkable piece Seeds. When I read it for the first time, I couldn’t put it down. Her dogged pursuit of the truth in the case of Monsanto vs. Percy Schmeiser is entirely gripping, as are her observations of the social and political implications of the paradigm shift in genetics happening under our feet. I can’t wait for the conversation and debate that will be sparked by this show.”

Seeds will have its Toronto premiere at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts from February 18, 2012 to March 10, 2012.

Based on the hit Food Network show of the same name, Lynn Crawford dedicates her first book to the farmers, growers, fishermen and ranchers she met during “the road trip of a lifetime”. This lovely, heartfelt collection of over one hundred recipes documents the adventures Chef Lynn experienced and the dinners she prepared for her hosts. It is a great read for anyone who is interested in establishing connections with their food and understanding the relationships between its provenance and its preparation.

“Whether you are trying to connect to a person, place, thing or idea, you have to experience it directly,” Chef Lynn writes in her introduction. “You have to ‘walk a mile in their shoes’.”

For those of us unwilling to don the hip-waders and venture into frigid oceans, or prefer our turkeys succulent to truculent, opening this book is the next best thing to actually pitchin’ in.

Full-page colour photographs document the journey from sea, ranch or farm to the dinner table, and seldom has the journey been recorded with such grace and empathy. From Freeport, Nova Scotia to Siler City, North Carolina, Chef Lynn journeys across North America looking for the best ingredients she can find. And the recipes themselves, from the simplicity of avocado frites to Mac’N” Cheese with Wild Boar– are as intriguing as they are delicious.

“I also want to connect with people, whether its friends and family or guests at my restaurant,” continues Chef Lynn. “To my mind, nothing is as intimate or visceral as the gift of food prepared with passion and thought. It touches all the senses while evoking a warmth and connection for both the giver and the receiver.”
All noble sentiments, but at the end of the day, you still want a cookbook that is accessible and makes you want to cook, and this one is just that.
You might say the proof is in the vanilla rice pudding, which you can find on page 222.

We asked mas­ter butcher and owner of Cumbrae’s, Stephen Alexander, to give us some instruc­tion in butch­ery. Here is the third in the series where we take a look at his aging room.