Winter Wonderland

I've never seen this guy before, but I like
his style.
http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca

If you're thinking it would be too difficult to maintain a locavore diet throughout the winter, then you need to know;
What's Available in Ontario?

I know there are still some delicate, typically-summer produce on this list and this is because they come from the greenhouses. I'm wary of this, it seems like cheating. Personally, I don't need to buy fresh tomatoes and cucumber during the winter, but maybe some of us just can't live without year round gazpacho, who knows?

Contrary to what Google thought of me while researching, I understand that the dreaded greenhouse effect is not a result of greenhouse farming (it's surprisingly difficult to find information about actual greenhouses in relation to the environment).  However, those structures do need power to maintain a proper temperature for growing these delicate foods, usually at the cost of some non-sustainable resource. This is straying a bit from local food, but I feel sustainable food is just as, if not more important.

So blanch and freeze your beans and can your tomatoes. Are you concerned that  processing will destroy some of the nutrient value? That's fair, some of the nutrients may be depleted, but some may increase; such as
iron¹.

Here's something interesting as a counter-balance; a greenhouse heated by the all natural, sustainable power of... chickens!




Sources:
[1] Review: Nutritional comparison of fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables II. Vitamin A and carotenoids, vitamin E, minerals and fibre. from: http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/1214/36518.pdf