A telling tailings tale and the disappearing Greater Sage Grouse
The Greater Sage-Grouse, an endangered bird, sits peacefully on the ground.

Sorry to be pushing you to extinction, Mr. Grouse, although you sure do look fabulous.

The Wild Rose province bears two dubious distinction that we’ll explore this week. Alberta is home to some of Canada’s most endangered animals, and it is also the location of Canada’s worst ever coal tailings spill. Our reporters give you an update on the aftermath of October’s Obed Mine spill. But first, we explore the human stakes in the fight to save Canada’s Greater Sage-Grouse.

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Greater Sage-Grouse Severely Threatened

When a species of bird or a prairie landscape goes into decline, there’s often a whole slew of reasons behind it, which makes it challenging to motivate all the different interest groups who could play a part in the recovery.
Industry, government, farmers, researchers, and activists all face the same question: what’s in it for me? The difficulties in answering that question have pushed Alberta’s greater sage-grouse to the very edge of of survival. Terra Informa’s Chris Chang-Yen Phillips and Danielle Dolgoy speak with Mark Boyce, David Heydlauff, and Cliff Wallis to learn more about our quirky-looking bird’s predicament.

Links:  Alberta Wilderness Association, Endangered Sage Grouse to Be Protected by Emergency Order (CBC), Sage-Grouse Order Could Stop Operations at Manyberries’ Oil Field

Facts About October’s Obed Mine Spill Remain Elusive

On October 31st of last year, well over 600 million liters of waste water poured out of a tailings pond at the Obed Mountain Coal Mine into the Athabasca River, making it the largest spill of its kind in Canadian history. Now, more than four months later, inquiring Albertans are still in the dark as truth surrounding the spill has proven to be about as clear as the muck itself. Luckily, Trevor Chow-Fraser and Morgana Folkmann attended the second public forum on the spill so they could enlighten us.

Links: Province Never Inspected Berm That Burst at Obed Mine Tailings pond, Sherritt International’s updates on the Obed Spill, Sherritt Sells Coal Operations and Assets For $1 billion, Alberta Government Obed Mountain Mine Release Updates, University of Alberta Water Initiative

What’s Happening

Introduction to Permaculture

On March 15 and 16 there will be an introductory course to permaculture at the Heritage Harvest Farm in Jasper Ontario. Learn how to design sustainable environments that you can apply to gardens, landscapes, business models, and even your personal life. This event takes place at the from 10:00am-5:00pm. Cost is about $130 and space is limited so if you’re interested, sign up ASAP at heritageharvestfarms.ca.

Follow Your Bliss

Also on the 15th-16th, although in London, ON, learn to follow your bliss and heal the world through spiritual ecology. This weekend is all finding out how you can live your passions from an eco-centric perspective that uses the earth as a guide facilitated by Lorenna Bousquet-Kacera, the founder for Shamanu. If this event speaks to your soul, visit thelivingcenter.com for more information about pricing and registration.

Seedy Sunday in Edmonton

On Sunday March 16 there will be a Seedy Sunday at the Alberta Ave Community Hall in Edmonton, AB. You can swap fruit, vegetables, and flower seeds; enjoy presentations from experienced growers on gardening; and learn about like-minded local organizations. There’s room for kids, homemade snacks, and admission is free so don’t hesitate to stop on by! Find out more on Facebook

Them’s The Eats
Hawkers' Market in Edmonton (Photo credit: Trevor Chow-Fraser)

Hawkers’ Market in Edmonton
(Photo credit: Trevor Chow-Fraser)

This week we’re all about FOOD. First off, we’re questioning our food. What does it mean to eat the way we do? Next, it’s about seeing what alternatives could appear—or crawl—onto our plates. And last but not least, we’re on the ground to check out an experiment: what happens when street food goes indoors.

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Eating Meaningfully

Our first story comes from Danielle Dolgoy, Nadia McKenzie and Logan Murphy and it’s all about the relationship we have with our food. They speak with David Santo, a graduate student in gastronomy; Stefano Fiata of the CBC’s “In the Kitchen with Stefano Fiata”; and Alex Oster who helped found the Concordia Food Systems Project.

Links: Concordia Food Systems Project, In the Kitchen with Stefano Fiata (CBC)

OMG I’M EATING BUGS

The studies are in: meat production is a costly beast. So other than ditching meat and jumping on the vegetarian bandwagon, what IS an omnivore to do? Rachael Young, conservation biologist and entomophagy educator has one answer… and it’s actually pretty convincing. Imagine a luscious green salad with a tasty side of…flies? Rachael has been challenging the norm of traditional protein sources by advocating entomophagy–the practice of eating insects by treating them as a kind of minilivestock and cultivating. To learn more, Yvette Thompson called up Rachael to ask her about her mission and about how eating bugs can help create a more sustainable food system.

Links: Eat Yummy Bugs, UN FAO report, Insect-Attitudes, David Gracer’s website, Future Food Salon

HWKRS MRKT

In the middle of a long, cold Canadian winter, how’s a food truck vendor supposed to put food on their table? Well for a few days out of the year, they can sell their tasty wares at an event called the Hawkers Market. Started in Vancouver, Hawkers Market is now hosting events in Calgary and Edmonton too. Terra Informa’s Danielle Dolgoy and Trevor Chow-Fraser checked out the latest Edmonton edition to see what’s being served up as the newest trend in  slow food.

Links: Hawkers Market website, Slow Food Edmonton

What’s Happening

Operation Donation 2014
For those more interested in giving than receiving, Winnipeg Harvest’s annual food drive, Operation Donation, will be running March 3rd to the 7th. During this week schools in your community will be collecting non-perishable items to help supply more than 350 agencies that feed Manitoban families in need.

Vertical Vegetable Workshop
On Thursday March 6th, visit the Vertical Vegetable Workshop and learn how to grow tall plants small spaces. Local expert Ken Brown will be there to give your green thumb a helping hand. The time is 7:00pm and the place is the Cyril Clark Public Library in Brampton, Ontario. This is a FREE event, but space is limited, so if you’re interested, be sure to register online with Toronto and Region Conservation.

Vegan Bake-off!
On March 23rd,  the 6th Annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-off will take place at Daniels Spectrum in Toronto, ON. Tickets start at $10.00 for two plates (that’s 4-6 treats), with additional plates running at $5.00 a piece–there’s over 50 entries to choose from so a couple extra plates might come in handy). The fun starts at 2:00pm. Tickets are available online so get ‘em while they’re hot.

Saskatoon Seedy Saturday & Eco-Fair
On Saturday March 8th, the16th Saskatoon Seedy Saturday and Eco-Fair will be taking place at St. Mary Elementary School in Saskatoon, SK. Attendees can look forward to educational workshops, keynote presentation, and a free seed exchange. It’s also a great way to promote environmentally friendly or sustainably-minded local business. This event runs from 11:00am-4:00pm

Changing the Conversation
A snaking river winds its way through a wide mountain valley

The Wind River is one of six navigable rivers that make up the vast waterway system of the Peel River Watershed.

This week, don’t fear the tears. Terra Informa takes a hard look at a threatening future and has to ask the question, what are we thinking? We’ll get an analysis of the troubled plans for a parcel of Canada’s North that stretches far beyond the horizon. And a person who spends all their time thinking about the far future tries to get the rest of us to look beyond the next quarter. We’re examining the at times ineffective processes that we have in place to protect the land and plan for the future.

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Protecting the Peel

Morgana Folkmann speaks with Kiri Staples about the break in the Yukon Peel Watershed Planning commission. The Peel Watershed in Yukon Territory is  a piece of mostly pristine wild, the size of New Brunswick. Under a 2004 commission, a plan was hammered out, taking into consideration the many diverse perspectives of the various stakeholders. While the Four governments representing aboriginal groups in the territory accepted the final agreement, the Yukon government modified the plan, creating a very different vision.

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Alex Steffen, Planetary Futurist

In today’s fast paced milieu, chasing the here and now can blind us from the dangers that lie ahead —  just past the horizon. Our conversations are often dominated by present concerns… with very little credence given to the impacts that our current decisions will have on our world in the future.
According to journalist and sustainability advocate Alex Steffen, it’s time to stop looking at the second hand on our watch. We need to look up and begin to think about what kind of world we’re leaving to our grandchildren.

Alex Steffen is a self-described planetary futurist. He sits down with Matt Hirji while at the University of Alberta’s International Week.

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What’s Happening

In Lethbridge, the Helen Schuler Nature Centre is celebrating their grand re-opening. Festivities take place from February 27 to March 8, everyday from 10-6. There’s a huge variety of events – from a Waste Challenge with the City of Lethbridge, a family Fun Snow Boot Run and building scavenger hunts all week.

The Victoria Seed Library offers free access to seeds and seed saving education. Their goal is to support local food security and steward our region’s biodiversity. Locally-raised seeds are more resilient and better adapted to the soil and microclimate.

You must become a member of the Victoria Seed Library in order to participate. Membership is free and includes access to seeds, classes and other resources. The next orientation session is March 8th from 10-11:30 in the Central Branch Library in Victoria BC in the Central Meeting Room.  Register at gvpl.ca or call the library for more information.

Aphrodite, Take back Your Aphrodisiacs
A pile of assorted chocolates.

Chocolate: is it really an aphrodisiac? Image uploaded by Klaus Höpfner.

How do you deal with environmental concerns in the bedroom? This is what we find out in this week’s sexy episode. We discuss PETA’s notorious advertising and the wider question of whether sex sells, the classic love-drug known as chocolate, and on that note, if certain aphrodisiacs ain’t what they’re cracked up to be – at terrible costs.

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The Naked Tooth

From clothes to cars and booze to shoes, sex in advertising is so widespread that you can hardly swing a neutered cat without hitting a half-naked model trying to sell you something. The whole notion that “sex sells” has become an axiom in modern marketing, so much so that it seems like the only “madmen” out there are the ones deliberately avoiding it. But can sex effectively sell something like moral concern? Hamdi gets to the bottom of it by speaking with psychology researcher Dr. Renata Bongiorno from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia and PETA Campaign Specialist Ashley Byrne in New York City.

Links:  When Sex Doesn’t Sell: Using Sexualized Images of Women Reduces Support for Ethical Campaigns from PLOS ONE, Why’s PETA’s shock tactics barely make an impact from Brisbane Times, and Does Sex Always Sell? from the University of Queensland.

The Quintessential, Edible Token of My Love

What food, more than any other, reeks of sensuality, indulgence, and pleasure? Why, that devilish desert known as chocolat, of course. As a nod to this week’s sexy theme, Terra Informa’s Danielle Dolgoy and Yvette Thompson asks the question: What’s the most famous aphrodisiac of all? They also explore why every supermarket and drugstore goes overboard with the red, pink, and gold boxes wrapped in cellophane that market love in each edible morsel. Danielle sat down with Jacqueline Jacek of Jacek Chocolate Couture from Sherwood Park, Alberta to find out more.

Aphrodite, Take back Your Aphrodisiacs

Feeling horny? Chocolate ain’t doing the trick in seducing your sweetie? Try some alternative aphrodisiacs! Actually, don’t, because they may come from a certain endangered horned-mammal. Fortunately, the world contains rhino-lovers who devote their time to saving them. Trevor spoke with Toronto-based rhino-lover Greg Gubitz of Canada’s Big Life Foundation, as well as UBC’s Rene Beyers, to find out what they’re doing to save these lovely horny creatures.

Links: “Big Life Foundation’s Rhino Project,  ”2013 worst year for rhinos“ from BBC