Wednesday 30 May 2012

If not now - when?


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All that is really worthwhile is action.

                                            Teilhard de Chardin















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Monday 21 May 2012

Nelson: CHC, APC, CDC - Decommissioned!






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With yet another Official Community Plan (OCP) in the making and its purpose being ...to guide community activities in a coordinated, sustainable manner that will sustain (sic) and enhance Nelson's economic, environmental, cultural and social fabric - I wonder particularly about sustaining and enhancing the economic fabric.

Which is in tatters, and I don't see in the OCP how these tatters are to be held - even put back - together, although hardly any item in the Plan could get off the ground without appropriate financial backing.



Which the City would/will be hard-pressed to find today and tomorrow. What with unemployment numbers and real-estate prices being up - what a combo! - and construction being down. And people taking and holding onto whatever job they can get, seeing that Nelson can only support so many Pilates teachers and website designers.
We are not doing well, but in our Brigadoon-fog busy with keeping busy, as if the economy were a side-issue. Sort-of like dog-doo on Baker instead of Baker per se.

Community Heritage Commission (CHC)
Having no industrial base, Nelson's economy will not improve unless Nelson reinvents itself - as it did in the 80s. The assumption then, that with the acknowledgement of its roots everything Nelson would be taken care of ever after, made heritage the password for everybody. The CHC was born and put in charge of Nelson. Not as a driving force of its economy - just Nelson! The concept of heritage was never connected with a conscious approach to economic sustainability. Commission-members always have been detail-people only. Good at that but divorced from economic reality, with Nelson's business community waiting.
And still waiting today to be taken care of.

The CHC recorded/catalogued heritage this-and-that, and in the process made those structures more and more exclusive, untouchable - as such first, then demanding and receiving buffer-zones around them and then all of downtown Nelson. This meant: no room for individualistic here-now expression - thus little development in/of the core. Downtown became stagnant - while possibly heritage-correct - and dull.

And today heritage-buildings downtown are generally dirty, with rotting awnings - during late fall, winter and early spring embarrassing in their obvious neglect. During late spring, summer and early fall - the main tourist-time - somewhat less so, only because leafy trees and flowering baskets diffuse, distract.

As an example - the Hudson's Bay building, which could be attractive: with clean facade, clean awnings, flower boxes under its windows, appropriate signage and a bright, inviting entrance - is a monstrosity in all these aspects. And - predictably - because of that finds few interested in shopping/opening a business there.

Then the CHC ran out of stuff to tweak: in 2011 it posted minutes of its meetings on the City's website 6 times only (and that after being nudged) - although generally there would be monthly meetings - and in 2012 it has posted none so far.

With less control through heritage, the CHC by-and-by has attempted to transfer its addiction to being the local game-caller to non-heritage decisions - which Council allowed. Even when clearly not part of the CHC bylaw.
This went as far as in 2011 the CHC attempting to rewrite its bylaw to the effect that: it was going to be the gate-keeper, filter for any kind of new development anywhere in Nelson! All development-proposals would be vetted by the CHC first and - if deemed worthy - handed on to Council for actual consideration.

Nelson's economic woes are to a large extent attributable to the CHC - over years - developing and tightening a strangle-hold on the City's growth. While allowing its Holy Grail - the downtown-core - to become run-down. From untouchable to untouched. How visionary is that!

The Community Heritage Commission would be more accurately named: Nelson-Uphill White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant-Colonial-BC-Heritage-Only Commission, seeing that it has never acknowledged the local heritage of Asian members of the COMMUNITY! This month is Asian Heritage Month in Canada thus BC - but not in Nelson!

Advisory Planning Commission (APC)
The APC has grown so close to the CHC that the City Planner often functions as its spokesman - as he did when he defended the CHC's intended power-grabbing bylaw-adjustment and lack of transparency, during my presentation of the matter to the COW, Oct. 2011.
Indicative of the problem here with which way to go: planning as such is usually directed towards the future and heritage as such towards the past. Development ought to be favored, with due consideration given to heritage - but in Nelson this has been the reverse.
The APC posted minutes of its meetings on the City's website 7 times in 2010, 3 times in 2011 and none at all so far in 2012.

Cultural Development Commission (CDC)
By definition of its name and sometimes vague bylaw - the CDC would be a go-to commission, concerning the OCP's cultural and social fabric. But instead of being proactive in socio-cultural development as a whole for the Whole - it has been satisfied with nibbling away on smallish arty projects.
While worrying about funding, although it could/should be an established  socio-cultural prime-force, with the CHC as an adjunct.

The CDC and CHC often bump into each other, partly because wide allowances are being made for the CHC, while the CDC just wants to be liked. And the CHC has taken-on - without a mandate - decision-making within CDC territory.
The CDC published minutes of its meetings on the City's website 10 times in 2011 and none at all so far in 2012.

For an in-depth look at the CDC/CHC relationship, go to post:
Nelson: Strings Attached
Sep. 12, 2011




With the City's economic future clearly being in tourist-dollars - and a shabby heritage-ghetto clearly not having them roll in - Nelson as such has to become a uniquely colorful and lively destination! 
Baker Street in color - as it is being done with heritage-buildings all over the world, including the mother of BC-colonial heritage - Victoria!

Baker Street's heritage buildings painted exuberantly, their detailing brought-out by a variety of colors! Flower boxes, pennants, new awnings!
In the evening: the street brightly (and flatteringly!) lit and closed to vehicular traffic; stores open; side-walk dining; strolling musicians - for tourists to safely bring their families, a meeting-place for locals. THE place to hang-out for everybody - and spend money!

For a closer look at Nelson reinvented go to posts:
Nelson: (T)arting-Up The Place
Sep. 4, 2011

Nelson In living Color
Dec. 1, 2011

Nelson: Waterfront And Downtown Plan
Mar. 7, 2012

Material of Nelson In Living Color is already available to the CHC, City Planning and Councillor Baticky, through a presentation I made to the CHC.

Certainly reinventing the downtown-core - thus Nelson - will take money, but the City and its business community will have to accept at some point: if you want to make money - you need to spend money first. A basic business principle, too long - like years! - disregarded in favor of waiting for the heritage-angle to kick-in!
For Nelson to gather sustainable economic force, a second renaissance is necessary. This will need considerable broadening of its mindscape!

The new director of the - deep breath! - Nelson Kootenay Lake Destination Tourism Marketing Organization - a group long in words and short in substance - is predictably (still, after 5 years here!) blown away by the area's multitude of diverse cultural and recreational offerings. Thus her marketing-strategy for the area may become more verbose yet - and even less reality-supported/supportable. After all - we can only be who we are, and we gots what we gots!

Head to the Kootenay Bakery Cafe with a book but prepare to be distracted by the gorgeous scenery, fascinating people and sin-fully good food.
                                       Visitors' Choice - Nelson & Kootenay Lake

Noteworthy - and a step in the right direction for this same publication and possibly the organization as such - is a photo of the only colorful bit of Baker - during the day, for shopping, strolling - and another photo of the same colorful bit from a different angle - at night, for bar-hopping.
Buildings supplyig this bit of color are 338-340 Baker and the Royal - the only more distinctively colorful ones - even though dirty - in the downtown-core; their picture showing up more and more and in more contexts these days.





A big part of broadening the Nelson mindscape will need to be looking at the CHC, APC and CDC closely: objectively determining their usefulness-now!, in terms of a focused substantive contribution towards Nelson's economic well-being - directly/indirectly.
Within this contribution needs to be the establishment of a repository for creative ideas - open to all - instead of relying on the same old same old, who - after all - have so far not been particularly creative in getting the elusive cultural tourist to come!







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Tuesday 15 May 2012

Nelson: It's Organic - Trust Me!








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There's a misconception about the label "Organic" in BC: like people generally think its use is restricted through some rule. And another: that the label "Organic" automatically means 100%. Pure.
Not so!



I will take a look at bulk food-stuffs labeled Organic, in Nelson only. This, while recognizing that there seemingly also exists an "Organic-labeling" issue with a wide variety of bottled, boxed and bagged products - like young-forever potions.
In BC you can call/label anything you grow/produce and sell in the province Organic. (We're a tad behind in all this, and efforts have been afoot for a long time to change it.) BUT! If you do, and anyone asks for proof - from customers to high-level organisms - you must be able to provide certification on the spot that your stuff indeed is organic! If you don't have it - there may be life-changing ramifications. Voluntary compliance and not really.
Yet there probably are those who know that no inspectors roam freely - and work that lack of oversight! Organic money! Supervising agencies will take action upon written request!
All a bit convoluted, confusing and - yes -lax.

Certification can only be provided by a Certifying Body (CB). There are lots of those around - usually for-profit organizations. Certification does not address the quality of the product but only its organicness as such, as well as permissible non-organic ingredients and their complementary integrity.
CBs have to be accredited by even higher-level organisms, to be allowed to certify. The same organisms which have this drawn-out tussle with each other over righteous across-the-board use of the Organic label.

This does not apply to general lists of ingredients on sealed packaging; they are a must - a different universe - and the CB usually is part of the list.

Organic bulk food-stuffs - brought in over the provincial/national border - automatically have to be certified before they are allowed in the BC-retailers' bins, and labels on containers then must list names of CBs, or - with produce - labels on shelves and/or individual pieces/bunches identify CBs. In theory. It would seem reasonable that the retailer does the same with organic BC-originated food-stuffs.

Organic liquid-bulk items from the outside - with several ingredients - do not need to list all ingredients on the shelf-container, but here also the list must be readily available. Whether a single- or multi-ingredient item - they all must list the CB's name and usually show the country of origin.

All this is critical at the Kootenay Co-op, for instance, which - for example(s) here - offers bulk olive oil from Argentina, Canola oil, tamari sauce and agave syrup - all organic. Critical why?



Organic olive oil:
Much has been said - even written in books! - about multi-source/quality olive-oil shenanigans across Europe and North Africa.
Organic Canola (rapeseed) oil:
There is controversy - in terms of GM seeds, euricic acid (a toxin), the oil's nutritional benefits at various stages. And currently the demand for commercial rapeseed (Canola) oil in Asia is so high that many Canadian farmers are switching to growing rape. Where/how that leaves organic crops is a guessing-game. Probably down-wind!
Organic tamari sauce:
As a multi-ingredient item, ingredient-info on the label to inform/assure the potential customer would seem the way to go.
Organic agave syrup:
There also is controversy around this as a particularly potent sweetener - as claimed - and its source: usually a byproduct of commercial tequila production.

Thus - providing products such as these with a sort-of Good-Housekeeping Seal of Approval - in form of the CB's name - may instill some trust in the potential buyer. Unless just having something labeled Organic does it for you. That and the Co-op's own You-Can-Trust-Us mantra.
Potential customers - if waking-up from their blind acceptance of a food item just because it's labeled Organic (and significantly pricier - sure proof that it really is organic!) - could/should have questions about the Co-op's liquid-bulk items. And the Co-op should not rely on its local sacred-cow status, letting informative labeling slide!

I am here not questioning the organicness of the product, but not at least supplying CBs' names on the liquid-bulk labels is very clearly a very basic very no-no!
Which the Co-op hadn't, until a very recent nudge made the store come-up with new labels just like that: now they actually do state the CBs, as opposed to only Certified Organic. A step - yes - but only one and not providing any background noise.

Aside from possibly some of those concerns above: what if CBs are based outside Canada, as those certifying imports usually are?
And what if an item like rapeseeds was imported from Canada by the US, there combined with US seeds, turned into Canola, bottled and labeled as an organic American product and exported to Canada? Interested to know?
The Spectrum people in the States - main supplier to the Co-op of various bottled oils - do this. And if you have a question, you can't send it to the e-mail address provided on the label, because it doesn't work in Canada! But if you - circuitously - do get to them by e-mail, it's: Hello, my name is Sunshine, and we take your concerns very seriously.

The Co-op - as local food-leader-presumptive - ought to provide info on how it all works. Everything! Particularly as rules can be confusing, and changes - though at a glacial pace - do occur! Go educational, past breathlessly announced cooking-classes in the new store! The monthly newsletter should be a forum for this. And member/owners(!) ought to be able to see the storage area - backstage!

Basic info on the chemical composition of plastic containers these liquids are stored in on the shelves could/should be useful to those interested in the beyond of Organic.
What about chemical compatibility of plastic containers and contents? And over time?
What/how many containers have any of these out-of-province/imported liquids been collected/prepared/shipped in before they landed in the Co-op's receiving/storage area to - one last time - be transferred to the shelf-container?
Not only growth but production, storage, shipping, transfer, shelving-refilling: they all are part of a certification-process. You wash your hands?




The nudge prompting the change of liquid-bulk labels should have - but did not - include the labeling of solid-bulk. Labels range from Certified Organic over Organic to Organic-with-a-maple-leaf, this seemingly meaning Canadian Organic. Only a few mention the grower and/or place of origin; none mention the CB. Why not? And why only Organic but not all Certified Organic? Commercial bulk generally is just named and priced.
There are dulse flakes Certified Organic. Yet these flakes presumably originated in an ocean as a "seaweed", instead of a closed growing-environment (a dulse-flake farm?); the scenario reminds me of a special the Co-op ran a while ago of gluten-free chocolate chips!
CB THIS! They'll swallow anything!

Neither did the nudge prompt a change in the produce department: labels on shelves always say Organic (printed on a standard label), the price and possibly Cali or Mex written in. That's it! Larger individual pieces of fruit/veg may bear a sticker with the pieces' place of origin, Organic or Certified Organic and may/may not identify a CB. Too much may. Stickers are very small, with very tiny printing, and their info is not reflected on the standard, more easily read shelf-labels.
Bunches of veg usually - not always - carry a label with grower/CB info on the rubber-band/wire-tie keeping them bunched - California's got this handled
Other bulk-fruit/veg are just identified by the in-house standard Organic label - sometimes with the place of origin - on the shelf only.

At the Kootenay Co-op, the in-house Organic-labeling process - as mandated - is being applied inconsistently. Why is much organic produce not certified? A uniform, nailed-down approach to Organic and labeling seems advisable.                            



Many - reading this - may by now tut-tut: Yeah, but what about Ellison's and Save-on? I'll get to them, though probably less lengthily. Here's why.

The Co-op - even under ordinary circumstances - is rather self-importantly self-promoting. The intended relocation - thus necessary reliance on multi-level member-help - puts it out there even more. And well it should! So - it may be a good idea to do the dishes before the neighbors come over!

Then - there was the egg-thing a while ago, when Jon Steinman found out that eggs the Co-op had been selling as free-range and free of hormones and medication at a hefty price for ages - in fact weren't. Never had been! Even with some kind of certification locked-in. Thus there are those who may - certainly ought to - say to themselves and the Co-op: If they/you have no control over eggs from down the block, how can I trust your certified bulk olive oil from Argentina?
The Co-op's handling of the affair showed little integrity: consistently spreading blame and not once accepting responsibility for being the end of the supply-line - the retailer, dealing directly with the customer. Taking responsibility for its product. And all the money made with these eggs was not mentioned once!
Did any of those in the Co-op's gluten-free-beam glow - putting down 6 bucks a dozen regularly - ever wonder (and ask!) why these eggs neither in taste nor color seemed different from commercial eggs, at half the price?
Yes?
Anyone?

That's why I look at the Co-op more closely, lengthily.




Save-on's organic-labeling practices are simple. Most of their produce identifies Certified Organic, grower, CB and country of origin - usually California - through the grower. Most.
Save-on and the Co-op share a Californian produce-supplier. So there goes being down on organic mega-agros!
The organic dry-bulk section is elementary. Every bin is labeled the same way: Organic Whatever and price. Period! Which - in itself - doesn't necessarily make Whatever here less organic than Whatever there.

Ellison's labels Organic and Certified Organic on the produce-shelf and in bins; produce and fruit may have the tiny sticker/label. But there are no CBs on in-house labels.
So an obvious question is why some food supposedly has been certified but no CB is mentioned, and other food - supposedly organic - was not certified.
There are oranges stickered Organic, while the bin says Certified Organic. There are bananas from Mexico, identified by sticker and bin-label as Organic, but with the rule being that there needs to be a CB involved for cross-border certification.....
Dry bulk-stuffs are consistently identified as Organic on their bin - there is no certification. Few places of origin.
Like Save-on.
Like the Co-op.

If you have been hanging-in here with me this long, you may wonder: Is this worth all the attention? Well, there's more beyond Organic-The Reality Show than superficial feel-good convenience: after all, you are what you are prepared to swallow.
We've - indeed - come a long way (the right way?) since Organic entered our consciousness, stomach and feeling of well-being. We wanted and - seemingly - found yearned-for purity in our most basic support-system. With its growth the movement became more complex, more profit-oriented - thus less pure. Calling for regulation - control. Some countries - including Quebec - handled this relatively quickly and responsibly. BC not so much! With a lot of toing-and-froing around establishing, maintaining a food-supply system in BC with integrity overall, the process often seems unclear and confusing.
All three retailers mentioned show a lack of clear customer-focused labeling-concern. Therefore, consumers need to become proactive and demand it: nudging retailers to establish uniform user-focused product- and product-marketing standards. Nudging them to constantly become better informed and inform.

While the Kootenay Co-op tells us what we need (the other two don't!), it ought to make very clear why. Pseudo-spiritual woo-woo leaves me hungry for a bite of integrity!




           
                                             



                                                            Pacific Agricultural Certification Society
                                                         in Vernon BC
                                                                                        
                                    Introduction To Certified Organic Farming
                                                                     by Resource Efficient Agricultural Production - Canada

                                      Canadian Organic Retailing Practices - Manual and Guide
                                                           by Organic Trade Association of Canada (OTA)




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Friday 11 May 2012

Nelson: Asian Heritage Month





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                                                   May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada.
The article in last week's Sing Tao Weekly is a reminder to Nelson that "Heritage" here is not necessarily an Uphill matter only.





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