Editorial

by Dale Sproule

The three essentials in life are food, clothing and shelter. In our five years of publication, we have run many stories about shelter – from how to find a place to rent to how to buy a home. We have run stories on how to dress your children for school and where to shop for affordable clothing. And in between the fashion spreads and real estate articles, we have run the occasional article about food.

It is probably fair to say that most of us enjoy food more than clothing or shelter. Sure there are people who are crazy about fashion and lots of people who make their living from creating, selling and modelling clothes.  And there are plenty of real estate brokers, property managers, speculators and contractors. But for most of us, maintaining and improving our homes is hard work – about as far from fun as you can get.  Clothing and shelter are just necessities – and expensive ones at that. 
Food however, is a different matter.

Any person who doesn’t like food would be more than just odd, they would probably starve to death. And many of us, perhaps even most of us, would admit to being crazy about our favourite foods.  Whether you’re Chinese, South American or Inuit - sharing food and stories about food is also one of the most social things we can do. It’s a great ice-breaker, easy to talk about and fun to participate in. If you take part in Ramadan, you’ve probably shared the experience with co-workers – and there’s no better way to get into a discussion about Islam.

One of the most wonderful things about Canada is the ease with which we can find almost any food we want – usually at a very affordable price.  We have great restaurants, terrific food stores and plenty of opportunity to sit down and eat together. 
So why did it take us so long to come out with a food issue?  We really can’t explain, but we promise we won’t let it happen again.

Dale Sproule, Editor