I’m strongly considering printing and laminating the above photo so I can carry it in my wallet and periodically offer it as evidence.
I’ll start at the beginning. In some ways I hate quinoa. Not quinoa the food, but quinoa the fad. Like açaí berries, quinoa is a “super food” promoted by nutritionists as if everything that your body needs to be healthy could not possibly be grown in the province in which you live, but needs to come from the canopy of the Amazon rainforest, or an Andean plateau.
On the other hand, from a strictly gastronomical point of view I really like quinoa. It’s tasty: it has a nutty flavour, sometimes verging on peanut butter, often with a piquant bitterness. It’s extremely simple to cook. So yes: I purchase and consume quinoa.
And every so often when I admit this someone informs me that my consumption of quinoa is disenfranchising farmers in South America. That my gluttonous consumption of the pseudo-cereal is driving up the price so that Bolivians can’t afford it and are increasingly relying on cheaper junk food. That the money I spend on quinoa has pressured farmers in Peru to convert what were once diverse agricultural lands to fields of just quinoa.
Then I say that I can’t have disenfranchised South American farmers, because Lisa’s mom bought us fifty pounds of quinoa from a company in Saskatchewan called NorQuin.
Then they reply that quinoa can’t grow in Canada, and that a Canadian grain farmer told them so.
Then we stare at each other incredulously and uncomfortably.
The picture at the top of this post shows the quinoa in my cupboard. As the labelling suggests and the website testifies, it was grown in Canada. If anyone is interested, I’m going to get some t-shirts printed that have that image on the front. On the back it will say, “Save Peru, buy Canadian Quinoa.”
Quinoa can most definitely be grown in Canada! There’s a farm by Barrhead that grows it as well.
I’ve thought about growing it but it would cross-pollinate with all the lamb’s quarters (pig weed) in our area and wouldn’t be able to save seed for future plantings (eating it would be fine).
So, I have a pack of Rainbow Quinoa from a farm by Barrhead that may or may not get planted this year…
Awesome blog. We admire your passion and support for Canadian Grown Quinoa, and would love to see you rock a Canadian Quinoa Shirt!
P.S. DebTheLocavore, quinoa will not cross-pollinate with lamb’s quarters as it is a self pollinating plant. We have never seen a hybrid plant in our 22 years growing quinoa across the prairie provinces.
Really?! AWESOME!
That was warning that came with the package… maybe because they wanted me to buy more seed…. sneaky sneaky…
I’m planting it this year. Thanks! :D
Silly question for you farmer-types. I’ve known for some time now that lamb’s quarters are related to quinoa and amaranth. I’ve been wondering: Can you harvest the grain-type seeds that lamb’s quarters produce? Does it taste good? Is it suitable for agriculture?
You know, i thought about that same thing this spring. I think the seeds are too small to be harvested properly… but you never know!
I’m convinced that the expensive black quinoa is actually lambs quarters seeds. When I rubbed the coating off lambs quarter seeds it looked very similar. I did not, however, compare them for size.