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| - I stopped into Harvest Noon for the first time last night for a free bread-making workshop. I should say free for members or with a $5 donation. Membership at Harvest Noon costs a whopping $5 and comes with discounts and other perks. I went the membership route, naturally and it will be mean free workshops in the future.
Harvest Noon is like U of T's Hot Yam! except it's open and serving of delicious, local and sustainable meals Monday to Friday. Located above the GSU pub, HN's lunch menu is more extensive than Hot Yam!, which can be a little skimpy, let's face it. The portions here are more satisfying, based on the dinner we were served as part of the workshop; cajun roux soup with potato, red cabbage, and tofu, mushroom and herbed polenta and kale salad.
What I learned in this workshop is to make your own bread, you've got to get your hands dirty! We prepared our doughs from scratch and were taught proper kneading techniques. Everyone who brought their own containers was given some sourdough starter to bring home and nurse, which I'm super excited about. My own little pet bowl of bacteria! The workshop was long - rising time and baking time take awhile and this was using the quick-rise yeast method, but totally worth it. At the end, we all went home with our own loaves. I also went home with 2.5kg bag of local, organic Red fife flour for only $6, that the cafe ordered for interested attendees through one of their suppliers. It came in an adorable canvas bag that I just cannot get over!
Moral: Harvest Noon puts an emphasis on local, sustainably sourced foods. Some of the herbs and veggies are grown on campus at the Victoria College Community Garden. There's even a large chalk map of Ontario on the wall showing all the towns where they source their main ingredients from. The cafe is vegan, save for some milk and coffee creamer, but there's alternative milks too. The fact is, when you're talking about local, organic, sustainable and AFFORDABLE foods, you're talking about plant foods. So don't expect any free-range beef burgers coming out of their kitchens anytime soon, unless you want to start paying $50 for membership, instead of $5. If you want a quiet place to grab a cuppa in the late morning or a nice lunch with friends on campus - this is it!
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