TALKS FOOD

NATE BOX

Elm CafeNate is the owner of Elm Café, a

small shop that focuses on

providing craft coffee and artisan

sammiches to the masses.

He believes in challenging

peoples conceptions of food and

the community it builds. After

working with major national

brands, not-for-profits, and

independent food

establishments, Nate finally felt

ready to sink his roots deeper

into Edmonton.

Tweet @elmcafe

CYNTHIA STRAWSON-

FAWCETTSlow Food EdmontonCynthia was raised on a 4th

generation beef farm in west central

Alberta and is the current president of

Slow Food Edmonton.

Slow Food is an idea, a way of living

and a way of eating. It is a global,

grass roots association with thousands

of members around the world - and

over 100 locally - that links the

pleasure of food with a commitment to

community and the environment.

Tweet @slowfoodyeg

KIRSTA FRANKE124 St Grand Market

Kirsta Franke is an earnest

entrepreneur and proud curator of

Edmonton's new 124 Grand

Market.

She has created a mid-week,

evening market, located in the

great outdoors on 124th Street and

108 Ave, an outlet that aims to be

a place among people; working,

eating and living together.

Tweet @124grandmarket

NICOLA & ALAN

IRVINGIrvings Farm FreshNicola and Alan Irving created Irvings

Farm Fresh Ltd in 2006 after moving

from the UK in 2005, and realizing

there was a gap in the marketplace for

premium quality sausages.

The business has grown considerably

over the last few years, and now the

Irvings’ operate a pork processing

facility, located on their farm near

Camrose, producing artisanal products

from locally

grown pork, and their own home grown

Berkshire pork.

Tweet @irvingsfarmfresh

MARY BAILEYThe TomatoFood, wine and travel writer Mary

Bailey is the publisher of the bi-

monthly magazine The Tomato food

& drink and website thetomato.ca.

Mary is a food and wine

correspondent for CBC Radio

One's Alberta at Noon and appears

monthly on Global Edmonton

Morning News. She is the co-author

of two best-selling books on Alberta

food, The Food Lover’s Trail Guide to

Alberta, Volumes I & II. Her work has

appeared in various publications

including Western Living and

the National Post.

Tweet @tomatofooddrink

AMY BEAITH &

MIKE JOHNSONOperation Fruit Rescue

Established in 2009, Operation Fruit

Rescue Edmonton is a non-profit

organization.

Our project grew out of an interest in

locally grown food, raising awareness

about food security, and establishing

urban, local connections with our food.

Mike and Amy have started

transforming their backyard into an

edible landscape as they become

urban farmers.

Tweet @ofrefruit

SHARON YEOOnly Here for the FoodSharon Yeo is a food enthusiast who has

been blogging for six years at

onlyhereforthefood.ca. In 2011, Sharon

was named one of Western Living

Magazine's "Top 40 Foodies Under 40",

recognizing the impact of her blog.

Sharon is part of the committee that

organized Eat Alberta, a food conference

that brought chefs, farmers and foodies

together in April 2011 and April 2012, and

co-founded What the Truck?!, Edmonton’s

food truck extravaganza. In February

2012, Sharon co-organized Blink, an

innovative pop-up restaurant in a

downtown pedway.

Tweet @sharonyeo

MACK MALEWhat the Truck?!Mack co-founded the popular What

the Truck?! series of events and has

helped to organize dozens of other

community events in Edmonton,

including ChangeCamp, Eat Alberta,

and MediaCamp. In 2009 Mack was

named one of Edmonton’s Top 40

Under 40.

What the Truck?! and Eat Alberta both

launched last year. Mack really loves

the #yegfood hashtag because it is

unique, packed full of useful

information and best of all, anyone

can contribute!

Tweet @mastermaq

MICHAEL WALTERSFood Hub AdvocateMichael Walters is a local Community

Organizer, father of two and skilled

pickle-er. He has been involved in the

campaign to include a permanent

agricultural zone and local food hub

within any future urban development in

North East Edmonton.

He is the former Lead Organizer with

the Greater Edmonton Alliance, which

filled city hall three times with 500

people to support a strong local food

economy in Edmonton. Michael was

also co collaborator with Gord Visser in

organizing the Great Potato Give Away.

Tweet @organizermike

ARIEL del ROSARIO &

ROEL CANAFRANCAFilistixAriel del Rosario and Roel

Canafranca first started Filistix 5

years ago. As globe trekkers, they

saw that street food was a huge

part of a city's culture. As one of the

earliest food carts in the city, they

felt that there was a great

opportunity to develop a street food

culture in their hometown.

They are strong supporters of local

producers and growers and stick to

using simple ingredients to make

traditional Filipino dishes along with

other menu items they love to eat.

Tweet @filistix

KEVIN KOSSOWANFood ForagerAn unexpected decision to get

married in France led to Kevin

becoming obsessed with what the

French call ‘cuisine du terroir’ –

quite literally cuisine that speaks to

place and time.

For Kevin, the only way to change

the food culture was to simply do it,

at home, one small step at a time.

So he started gardening, took up

hunting big game, built a root cellar

and started foraging, and

butchering pigs, beef, moose, elk,

deer, antelope. He blogs about his

food local food adventures at

kevinkossowan.ca

Tweet @kevinkossowan