By LeRae Haynes – European rye bread, a delicacy from Lac La Hache Bakery, delights customers with its fresh taste and simple wholesome ingredients. Lac La Hache Bakery has been around for over 20 years, with Yvette and Frank Betz at the helm for the past six years. The busy bakery, with 11 on staff, ships to Williams Lake, 100 Mile House, Prince George, Kamloops, and Vancouver. The bakery’s specialty is European-style rye bread; the Betzs’ also bake sandwich breads and deliver things like fresh buns to local restaurants. Frank and Yvette were newcomers to the bakery business when they…
Author: thegreengazette
By LeRae Haynes – Taylor Made Cakes and Sweets has been baking up a storm in the community and beyond for nearly five years. Brenda and Dale Taylor and their children Abbi and Benn have worked hard to make the delightful bake shop a true gem in downtown Williams Lake for residents and travellers alike. Taylor Made creates cakes, cookies, cupcakes, Nanaimo bars, bread, sandwiches, muffins, cinnamon buns, cheesecake, and more—all made from scratch, by hand, and on site. Baker Brenda Taylor said they’ve seen changes in the years the bake shop’s been open. “We’ve seen a great increase…
By LeRae Haynes – Kate Sulis and Tim Hathaway at the Bread Peddler in Wells bake bread that is good from the inside out and delicious from crust to crumb. It’s substantial, meaningful, beautiful food baked from the heart. They create organic sourdough breads from freshly-milled whole grains, baked in a hand-built wood-fired oven with simple ingredients—basically flour, salt, and water with no preservatives or additives.“Everything from the freshly milled grains goes into the bread,” they explained. In summer they bring scones to Quesnel farmers’ market, along with granola, spiced hot chocolate mix, and whole grain pancake mix. They also…
By LeRae Haynes – From the beautiful pristine wilderness of Horsefly, BC come natural, refreshing beverages with enormous health benefits, thanks to 52° North, a small, insightful company with vision and commitment providing a health drink with detoxifying and revitalizing properties. 52° North co-owner Sarah Wall said birch sap, or birch water, is the first project they’ve launched. “There is one unflavoured version and raspberry and mint flavoured,” she explained. “We’re currently working on another exciting product to be launched soon.” The other two owners are Gerry Mitzel and Ron Kindrik. Mitzel, who is from Horsefly, taps the birch trees…
By Patti Wood – The beautiful and awe-inspiring process by which a few cells develop into a new life is truly miraculous. Through intricate and complex steps, the creation of a new life unfolds, forming delicate organs and vital systems, making billions of important connections in the brain alone. Scientists and medical professionals around the world are working hard to understand how a developing human life is affected by environmental exposures in the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the surroundings in which we live and work. One focus of current research is wireless…
Lisa Bland, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief – We live in a vastly different political reality since TheGreenGazette last went to press on November 8. For many Canadians, the Liberal victory during the last federal election brought relief from fears of our own national identity being dismantled, and hope that a new day was dawning. While that new day isn’t as rosy at it seemed in terms of bringing in a system of change addressing climate change and averting ecological crisis, many feel it is still better than moving forward under a Conservative government. The status quo has generally not been disrupted, and, at…
By Sharon Taylor – The refrain from a childhood song says, “In this world of darkness, we must shine. You in your small corner, and I in mine.” It reminds me that our personal actions, no matter how small, have consequences. But does having a shorter shower or commuting by bike really make a difference to the huge environmental, economic, and systemic issues the world is facing? Can we have an impact on the world from our own small corner? The UN has addressed these overwhelming issues in a series of discussions and agreements over many decades. At the Rio…
Submitted by citizens’ group, Rail Ties Be Wise – Anyone who lived in Williams Lake before 1993 can remember finding their car covered in fly ash from the beehive burners that used to dispose of wood waste from the local sawmills. Air quality has improved considerably since the power plant currently owned by Atlantic Power Corp. (AP) began using that wood waste to generate electricity for sale to BC Hydro. Since then, the local forest industry has suffered a number of blows, notably the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation. As a result, much less biomass is available to fuel the plant’s…
By Kim Judd – No weeding, no watering, no pests, no till, no dig. No way! It’s all about ground cover and building healthy soil. Skeptical? Well, no doubt. But ask yourself this: is my soil truly alive? How can healthy and nutritious fruits and vegetables grow to their ultimate potential otherwise? What are some recognizable characteristics of healthy soil? The answer to this question will lead us to the answer of how you can start building a garden or flower bed that looks after itself. All you will require once it’s established is a rake and seeds. This method…
By Diane Dunaway – Honey bees are the poster children for environmental responsibility and vulnerability. They truly are the canaries in the coal mine. They create awareness for other natural pollinators that are under pressure from habitat loss, pesticide overuse, monoculture, and so on. Ideally, our relationship with them is one of awe, respect, and responsible husbandry. It’s a symbiotic dance that beekeepers grow to know and love. In recent years there’s been a rush to undertake beekeeping as a way to help save the bees. Lovely as this sentiment is, the drop out rate is high. Novice beekeepers often…
By Venta Ruthkauskas – The Community Arts Council of Williams Lake is excited to present a day-long singing workshop with Pharis Romero on March 11. There’s a little slice of heaven round the corner from here. A river dances through it, and all the birds gather there. A songbird makes her home, builds her nest, in the middle of it all. Voice smooth and bright, its gossamer tones wave in the wind, her calling card. That little slice of heaven is really all about the music. It is the home of J. Romero Banjo Company, for one—the site of countless…
Would you like to spend 25 days exploring the Mighty Fraser this summer? The Rivershed Society of BC is hosting its 14th annual Sustainable Living Leadership Program (SLLP) from July 19–August 13, 2017, and is seeking sustainability leaders who dream of starting, or who may already be working on, sustainability initiatives to apply for this once in a lifetime trip. The educational program takes participants from the headwaters of the Fraser River near Mount Robson, to the shores of Vancouver, 1,400 kilometers downstream. You will travel by canoe, raft, shuttle van, and on foot, and will explore ‘off-the-beaten-track’ parts of…
By Peter Shaughnessy – Conservation work in the West Chilcotin and Tatlayoko has protected significant areas of habitat for a wide array of species. It took years of work, lots of compromise, and countless volunteer hours to accomplish this. The initial goal was to slow the headlong rush to extract natural resources, particularly timber, thus giving time for long-term planning that included all other values. What follows is a summation of the work done over the past three decades. There is a consensus among stakeholders in the Chilcotin that access to resources is critical to everyone but that this must…
Submitted by Educo Adventure School – Cariboo wilderness off-grid glory takes on a whole new meaning, transforming the lives of young people, thanks to Educo Adventure School. In the midst of beautiful lakes, mountains, and forests, kids gain resilience and confidence, and discover inherent inner strength and peace to thrive in an increasingly complex and fast-changing world. Students of all ages are invited to rethink their assumptions and perspectives of themselves, their peers, and the world. Rock-climbing, hiking, backpacking, team building, canoeing, and high ropes challenges are the ‘outer’ activities, and the real exploration is the inner world of their…
By Guy Dauncey – Where does money come from? It’s a simple question that creates a lot of confusion. It’s important since, depending on the answer, Canada can either create its own money without needing to borrow it, or it can’t; and, a future Public Bank of British Columbia could offer zero-interest loans to students and farmers in Williams Lake or Cranbrook—or it couldn’t. I am writing a new book titled The Economics of Kindness—The End of Capitalism and the Birth of a New Cooperative Economy, and as part of my research I am digging into the various theories of…
By Jessica Kirby, Senior Editor of TheGreenGazette – Technology’s draw is undeniably changing the way we live, love, work, interact, and hunker down in privacy. Social media, apps, and various devices have their own language, rules, and etiquette, and their ubiquitous use demands change in our homes, workplaces, and personal lives. We create space and time for things meant to grant us more time and space, and our thoughts, feelings, and brain chemistry are adapting to the fast-moving, instant gratification they provide. The last remaining hold-outs are laughed at and called Luddites (after someone googles Luddites and argues for 15…
By Ciel Patenaude – How often do you deliberately – and randomly –engage in an act of goodwill or kindness? I’m not speaking about doing something nice for someone you know or a returned favour for goodness offered to you, but a true extension of kindness to someone or something that likely will not ever repay you, nor may they even know it was you who offered such consideration. Photo: www.flickr.com, elycefeliz Such acts are the focus of Random Acts of Kindness Day, observed this year on February 17 (within the Random Acts of Kindness Week from February 12–18). A…
Windy Creek Farm · At Windy Creek Farm we produce the kind of grass fed beef that we like to eat. Our animals are raised in a peaceful free range, low density environment where they can thrive without the use of antibiotics, added hormones, vaccines, chemical pesticides, grains or animal bi-products. We have chosen the breeding of the animals for their quiet nature and have found that this leads to less stress at times such as during calving and when they are weaned or otherwise handled. Our practices and facilities successfully create the type of environment that is ideal for the…
By John Dressler– Canadian journalist Chris Turner wrote a book about his global search for sustainable practices, calling it The Geography of Hope, a Tour of the World We Need. He does not recount a visit to Williams Lake, but he does describe in detail the way of life he found on the island of Samso off the coast of Denmark—a farming community completely self-sufficient and free of the costs of utility providers. He also tells of the achievements of the Maverick Farms co-op in North Carolina and of the Watershed Organic Farm in New Jersey. He made numerous stops…