Canada Day 2016!

Canada has a great history and July 1st is the time to celebrate it - Happy Canada Day everybody! Here are some fun facts about this amazing country and it's people:

1. "O Canada,” originally named “Chant National,” was written by Adolphe-Basile Routhier (French lyrics) and Calixa Lavallée (music) and first performed in Quebec City in 1880. The song was approved by the Parliament of Canada in 1967 as the unofficial national anthem and adopted officially on July 1, 1980.

2. The border between Canada and the United States is officially known as the International Boundary. At 5,525 miles, including 1,538 miles between Canada and Alaska, it is the world's longest border between two nations.

3. At 3,855,103 square miles, Canada is the second largest country in the world, behind Russia.

4. In 1642, a group of religious mystics from France were inspired by a vision to build a missionary city in the Canadian wilderness. Led by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve and an Ursuline nun name Jeanne Mance, they founded Montreal.

5. While ice hockey is Canada's most prevalent sport, lacrosse is the country's official sport. The modern game of ice hockey was developed in Canada, based on games that have been played since the tenth century. The rules were first published in the Montreal Gazette in 1877.

6. Canada has the longest coastline of any single country in the world at 151,600 miles.

7. In 1527, John Rut of St. John's, Newfoundland, sent a letter to King Henry VIII—the first letter sent from North America.

8. Charles Fenerty, a poet from Halifax, Nova Scotia, was the first person to use wood fibers to make paper. He started experimenting in 1839 and produced paper from wood pulp in 1841.

9. Canadians have made many important inventions, including Kerosene, the electron microscope, the electronic organ, insulin, the IMAX film system, the snowmobile, and the electric cooking range.

10. Manitou Lake on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron is the world's largest lake within a lake (41.1 square miles).

And now you know! Hope you learned something fun! I did.

All About Butter!

Here at Foodstuffs we have a love for butter. We have Organic Meadows pasture fed butter, L'Ancetre organic butter, Goat butter, butter churners by Kilner, butter keepers, butter spreaders...The list goes on. So if you have a love for butter come on in and check out our buttery goods! 

Giddy Yo Yo

Giddy Yo Yo creates the most amazing chocolate you'll ever eat. 

• Organic
• Raw
• Vegan
• Gluten Free
• Fair Trade
• Kosher

Oh and delicious! They have so many varieties. Some of our staff favourites are raspberry, sweet vanilla, chai, lemon lime. The list goes on - and is somewhat dependent on the weather... and our moods.

They also make body butter (that you can eat - called Love Butter!), flavourless-high-altitude-mountain-lake spirulina, maca, dried bananas and many more well-minded nourishing products. Come in and get Giddy today!

www.giddyyoyo.com

GoGo Quinoa

How It All Started

I tasted quinoa for the first time during a backpacker trip after my studies. I must admit that it was not love at first sight … this yet unknown little grain served unwashed and simply boiled in water had a rather bitter taste. At the time, I was far from suspecting that quinoa was to become the center of my professional activity. 

My name is Martin Bilodeau, president and founder of Cie 2 Ameriks, and here is my story in just a few lines.

After working in the world of financial communications, and after starting a family with my wife Clara, I began to dream of founding my own company and to do it within the values that inspire us. I returned to South America in search of organic and fair trade products. Chocolate and coffee were already present but quinoa was not yet certified fair trade in North America. We managed to obtain certification in Canada and from there launched the product line GoGo Quinoa, organic and fair trade.

The operations began in 2004 with the arrival of the first container and two years later, to solidify our relationships with our business partners and taste the local culture, we decided to settle our little family in La Paz, Bolivia. Back in Montreal seven months later with many projects, memories and a third baby almost to term, we purchased our first equipment for mixing and bagging products locally and hired our first employee.

Today, we are headquartered in a twenty thousand square feet facility in the neighborhood Ville St-Laurent, in Montreal and continue to grow our line by developing and manufacturing products that incorporate local ingredients and fulfill our customers tastes and needs. GoGo Quinoa ™ range now includes more than 40 references organic, gluten free and vegan made from quinoa and other Andean grains and distributed throughout Canada.

2 Ameriks Co. is a manufacturer specializing in Andean grains and superfoods. Our goal is to provide healthy and nutritious products and that the whole family will enjoy and safe for those with allergies or food intolerances. Our list of ingredients is simple, short and at the reading level of a 6 years old child. All the beauty is in the simplicity.

We thrive in making high quality products and our wish is that you enjoy them in confidence, always in good health and with a smile.

Thank you for your interest in us.

www.gogoquinoa.com

Tinkyada Rice Pastas

Tinkyada Rice Pasta specializes in making great tasting, whole grain rice pasta that works every time and (cooked as per package directions) is never mushy.

They make all shapes of pasta, in organic or non-organic whole brown rice and that's it. They have a dedicated gluten free facility.

La Terra E Il Cielo Pastas

The LA TERRA E IL CIELO organic farming cooperative was established in 1980, thanks to the brave and pioneering spirit of its founder members, at a time when conventional farming reigned supreme and organic farming represented a virtually unknown niche.

The aim of the founders was to take a new, more sustainable approach to cultivation, in a region, the Marche, where farming is of primary importance, simultaneously rediscovering a more balanced relationship with nature, the environment and, last but not least, with themselves. Initially, being inspired by movements active in other European countries, the Cooperative used organic but also biodynamic methods. We can quite safely say that it was one of the first and is one of the longest lasting organic experiences in Italy.

The rediscovery and relaunch of ancient varieties of cereals and legumes, selected for quality and not solely for quantity, represented and continues to represent one of the lynchpins of the Cooperative’s activity. Nowadays, spelt (triticum dicoccum), which is particularly well-suited to making pasta, Mondo barley for roasting, used in the past as a coffee substitute, millet, the Senatore Cappelli variety of durum wheat, and grass pea (lathyrus sativus), considered in ancient times to be the poor peoples’ legume, represent for LA TERRA E IL CIELO authentic symbols of the Cooperative’s decision to prioritise quality and sustainability. Today the range of products has been expanded with a view to pursuing cultivation, and consequently alimentation, which are as diversified as possible, and boasts a considerable variety of types of pasta, cereals, flours, rice, legumes, extra-virgin olive oil, wines, Arabica coffee from Guatemala, barley coffee, sauces and “passata”, as well as oven-baked products. All the products are characterised by almost completely local and regional traceability, which is something that very few companies in Italy can boast.

In thirty years, the Cooperative has developed into a solid Italian organic reality, without ever losing touch with the values of solidarity, fairness and respect for nature, the values that led to its birth. Today the Cooperative’s pasta and all the other LA TERRA E IL CIELO organic products made from raw materials cultivated in uncontaminated environments without the use of synthetic chemical products and with the correct payment of the member farmers, are among the most appreciated in Italy, Europe and many other countries throughout the world in terms of quality and goodness.

http://www.laterraeilcielo.it/

Artesian Acres Kamut Pasta

Kamut lasagna, orzo & rotini!

For over 25 years, Artesian Acres has been cultivating and marketing organic grains destined for North American markets. Our specialty is an heirloom variety of wheat known as khorasan.
 
Our khorasan wheat is marketed under the Kamut® brand name. Kamut® grain must always be grown organically and never be hybridized or genetically modified. Because of our attention to seed purity, the Kamut® brand is certified GMO-free. In addition to seed integrity, the Kamut® brand also ensures that our khorasan contains the highest levels of purity and nutrition. 
 
Our organic grain is grown in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, where the soil and environment is optimal for planting cereal crops. 
 
We are proudly certified organic by Pro-Cert Organic Systems Ltd. 

www.artesianacres.com

Demo! Microplane gadgets, Saturday May 7th from 10 am - 1 pm

Demo of Microplane Gadgets this Saturday from 10 am - 1 pm!! Great in store specials and us!

"The Microplane story...

By now, cooking aficionados worldwide are familiar with the story: A Canadian housewife commandeers one of her husband’s favorite woodworking tools and discovers it effortlessly produces the lightest, most wonderful orange zest she could have ever imagined. It’s 1994, her Armenian Orange cake is a huge success and her husband’s Microplane® rasp has morphed into a must-have kitchen grater. It seemed as if a star was born overnight, but it didn’t happen quite that fast, in fact, it took over thirty years.

 
With just a few modifications, and a slight change in our marketing plan, an entire new product line of graters for home cooks and professional chefs was introduced. The response was extraordinary. Since that time, Microplane graters have distinguished themselves from other graters by using that signature chemical process to create ultra sharp cutting edges. Unlike stamped graters, they effortlessly cut through hard and soft foods without tearing or shredding.

What makes Microplane Graters so sharp?
 
The secret is in the signature Microplane process which uses chemicals to create sharp cutting surfaces."

ca.microplane.com

Mineral Sunscreens!

We have several varieties of mineral sunscreens for kids, babies and adults that are natural, spreadable and excellent SPF's. Badger has tinted sunscreen so it doesn't cover as white. Green Beaver has a lotion instead of a cream. Goddess Garden's lotions are very spreadable for those troublesome kidlets who want nothing more than to drive you insane while you try to apply sunscreen to them (because you love them).

All of our sunscreens are listed as #1 or #2 on the EWG (Environmental Working Group, ewg.org). So come in and try the samples, ask our staff about them and see for yourself which one is for you.