By growing our own food, supporting local
farmers and purchasing locally made breads, jams and yummy pies, we reduce the
need for boats, planes, trains and eighteen wheelers to transport our food from
across oceans and continents. This
simple lifestyle change reduces our dependency for fossil fuels! I recently read a study that shows that one
imported can of tomatoes from Mexico requires 80 calories of oil to produce
just 1 calorie of food for the consumer.
If a family grows their own tomatoes and freezes most of their crop to
enjoy throughout the winter we see that it requires just 1 calorie of oil to
produce 1000 calories of food. Simple
math for a very complicated world!
A short while ago, I was introduced to a Byron
community group that has been embracing concepts such as ‘The 100 Mile Diet’
for over 60 years… well before it became fashionable to think in terms of being
‘Green’.
In 1947 St. Anne’s Heavenly Pies had their
humble beginnings selling sandwiches and fruit pies at the Western Fair. The recipes – that they still use today –
date back to the nineteenth century!
Every fall, you will still find volunteers selling their products at the
Fair, and their fruit pies have become iconic staples at events on the Plunkett
Estate, Quai Davin concerts and several other venues throughout the region, as
well.
One of their most in-demand products is a
simple and yet delicious strawberry & rhubarb pie. When these fruits are in season, neighbours
and friends (as far away as St. Mary’s) drop by St. Anne’s Church, on
Commissioners Road, to delivery bushels and baskets of produce that are donated
to the Heavenly Pies’ ever-growing efforts.
Michael Johns – the project convenor - takes
the responsibility of creating a stronger local economy very seriously. “If we create a local product by using local
resources and we sell our products locally, all of the money stays in the
community.” Even the cardboard boxes
that are used in the packaging of the Heavenly Pies’ products are manufactured
right here in London.
Every Wednesday morning, up to 20 volunteers
fill the basement kitchen in the church to prepare fruit pies as well as meat
pies to sell to the community. Volunteer
supervisors, Nancy Payne and Sharon Poole are always delighted to see new faces
joining their group. “Of course, most of our volunteers attend service at St.
Anne’s Church, but many attend other churches and some volunteers don’t go to
church at all.”
These cherry, blueberry, apple, raisin,
strawberry & rhubarb and in-season peach 9 inch deep’n’delicious pies are
prepared, then frozen before they are sold.
Customers can then take them home to bake and fill their homes with
romantic aromas while passers by drool for an invitation to dessert!
5 inch chicken, beef and steak pies are also a
huge attraction for many local residents and special gluten free pies are also
prepared for those on strict diets. When
compared to large National food chain stores, these products win the ‘best bang
for your buck’ contest hands down! Pies
are on sale at St. Anne’s Church every Wednesday morning between 9:00am and
noon and on Sunday mornings between 11:00am and noon.
The money raised from the sale of these
products is used to support a number of local charities including My Sister’s
Place, The Men’s Mission and the Byron Cares collective charity that helps
local families with low incomes. It
brought a smile to my face to learn that these efforts are also having a
positive global impact through St. Anne’s ‘Friends Of Nairobi’ charity that
helps families in Kenya!
To learn more about all of these efforts or to
become a much-needed volunteer email Michael Johns: mike@johnsfamily.ca
Jim Kogelheide
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