Eat BC Promotes Local Eating - Even in Ethnic Cuisine

September 14th marked the launch of Eat BC's campaign to encourage consumers to question where their food is coming from and choose local fare. With the growing popularity of the 100 Mile Diet and local farmers markets, the seed has been planted, the buzz is happening and people are starting to ask the questions, but all the while there have been small businesses putting this idea into practice without fanfare. Nyala African Cuisine on Main Street, for example.

Yesterday I went to Nyala, one of the 150 participating restaurants across B.C, to meet with chef and owner Assefa Kebede; one of his suppliers Mark Hills of Hills Foods Ltd; and Ian Tostenson of the B.C. Restaurant & Food Services Association (BCRFA), to talk about the campaign and the intricacies of supplying and serving local food in an African restaurant.

Assefa served up a delicious spread of Lamb Kebabs, Chicken with Curry sauce, Potato and Beet salad, Tabouleh, all made with B.C. ingredients and paired with Okanagan wines. The kicker is that Assefa, also a potter, even makes the tagine dishes himself and uses clay from the Fraser Valley!

Apparently this is not as monstrous a task as it looks. Mark Hills has been in the food supply business (specifically specialty livestock) for 20 years and became aware of the need for locally sourced ethnic food during Expo 86, when the ethnic pavilions wanted to be able to serve the specialty dishes of their countries. His company now supplies everything from B.C. ostrich to venison, as well as as rarer fare that needs to be imported, such as alligator.

He finds that chefs are asking where the food comes from and want to know the story behind it, and he often takes chefs on tours of the farms so that there is an open line of communication from the source right down to the consumer. This is good news for everyone, because increased knowledge will only result in better and better quality of food and we need to eat after all.

The Eat BC campaign runs until September 30th and participating restaurants (check out the selection in the lower mainland) will feature a signature dish made from local ingredients. At Nyala, the lunch dish is the above mentioned chicken with curry sauce, rice and beet salad for $8.95. Pair that with a glass of Hester Creek Pinot Blanc and you can feast happily knowing your lunch has not travelled halfway around the globe to get to you.

A nice touch is that even hospital cafes and universities are participating, so you won't be stranded in the middle of a huge campus with nothing good to eat.

The Eat BC website also has a handy guide for what's in season WITH recipes, an events calendar and a lot of other useful information on eating locally.

Image of Assefa Kebede courtesy of Sara Stover, Grey Vancouver.

Nyala African Cuisine
4148 Main Street
(604) 879-9919