KEFTA TAGINE WITH TOMATO AND EGGS

Canada is a major producer, exporter and importer of an immense variety of agricultural and food products ranging from processed foods with global value chains to local, farm-based value chains.  In this section, we share 3 of our research insights and assess to what extent our recipe can be made from Canadian agricultural and food products.

While most eggs are produced in China, the Americas are the second largest producer; the eggs I used for my recipe were Grey Ridge which are actually from Ontario!

While most tomatoes are from China, the ones I purchased were from Mexico. I personally usually try not to purchase produce from anywhere outside of Canada and the U.S because the food standards in less developed countries are not as high. Interestingly, the more local a tomato (or any type of produce is), the more expensive it is. However, I think this extra cost is worth it, to know that your produce was grown and harvested by workers in good working conditions making a fair wage, and doesn’t contain toxic levels of herbicides and pesticides.

The top 3 producers of beef are Brazil, India and China. Some brands, such as the beef I got from Food Basics, doesn’t even say where the beef is sourced from, but just that it was “packaged for Food Basics”, which worries me. We should carefully read packages so we know where our food is coming from, and we can support our local economies. Canadian beef is often available at many local grocery stores.

In summary, 5  of the 20 ingredients I needed wase produced in Canada, while the other 15 could be purchased without much difficulty. One of the ingredients (suet) was not available, and required substitutions.