I was watching “A year under the Tuscan sun” (starring Diane Lane) on television not long ago and I cannot say that I’m a huge fan of the movie, but I quite like the scenes where she was renovating her new Italian home and feeding her renovation crew.

Visiting my friends and family in Europe is always very exciting to me because I know I can expect long multi-course dinners, a lot of wine, a lot of warmth and a lot of laughter.

I so enjoy the art of sitting down and enjoying food and the company that you’re sharing it with.

After watching that movie, I wondered how many other movies had a food theme so I thought of compiling other movies celebrated food or documented the evolution of food.

Here are 12 movies that either celebrate food or document the (sad) evolution of what we eat that I’ve found, but if I’ve forgotten anything, I’d love for you to jump in and add your two cents.

>>> Movies with food theme:

1) Under the Tuscan Sun (Widescreen Edition) (staring Diane Lane): Diane Lane takes a break from her post-divorce life to live without restrain!

2) A Good Year (Widescreen Edition) (with Russell Crowe): Russell Crowe portrays a man looking for a new life. The movie is based on Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence movie.

3) Julie & Julia (with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams): One year in blogger Julie Powell’s life.

4) Chocolat (Miramax Collector’s Series) (with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp): Juliette Binoche seduces villagers in a small French town with her talent for chocolate making.

5) Babette’s Feast: This Danish film was one of the first major film celebrating food as a theme. The idea that a woman who wins at the lottery would want to share that wealth by feeding a whole village by preparing a French dinner is music to my ears.

6) Food, Inc.: This is one of the most powerful films I’ve seen in recent years. If you’ve not seen the review I wrote, you can catch it here: Video review of Food Inc

7) Super Size Me: This documentary following Morgan Spurlock who eats a diet of Mc Donald’s fast food three times a day and gains an insane amount of weight. This shocking documentary won the best director award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival for this jaw-dropping investigation into the health hazards wreaked by our fast food nation.

8 ) King Corn (Green Packaging) (Standard Packaging): This documentary reveals the prevailing nature of corn in our diet and why/how it’s making America extraordinarily fat.

9) Fast Food Nation: This film features Bill Clinton and Arnold Schwarzenegger and tackles the obesity threat in America. The film was produced by Bryan Yong who lost 40 pounds over two years while making the documentary.

10) The Future of Food: If you’ve wanted to know more about genetic engineering in the food industry? This is the movie for you.

11) Bad Seed: The Truth About Our Food: The Truth about our food: Here’s another film that is revealing about genetic engineering of food. A number of food and nutrition experts are sounding the alarm about genetic engineering of foods and this documentary will surely open your eyes.

12) Fast Food Nation: If Super Size Me didn’t do it for you in terms of curbing your appetite for fast food, this documentary will do it.

13) Like Water for Chocolate: This is one of my favourite movies of all time and you should expect to be quite hungry when watching it!!!

14) Eat Drink Man Woman: This movie celebrates the richness of Asian cuisine!

15) Big Night: An Italian family, a restaurant business, two siblings – one chef the other the business partner? You know that’s a recipe for an entertaining film set around Italian cuisine!

© All copyrights reserved to http://www.eatsmartagesmart.com in all countries.

>>>> If you’re viewing this healthy eating or healthy living tip as part of an aggregated content stream from different sites, or as a re-blogged post, please check out the content on the original Web site at www.EatSmartAgeSmart.com

Last month, I talked about how Bronx, New York was allowing its citizen to buy fresh fruits and fresh vegetables from 1,000 new mobile produce carts (NYC Green Carts). I don’t know about you, but I thought it was quite exciting that people would have a great reason to opt for fruits or vegetables instead of the traditional hot dog stand.

I hope you were able to catch that post … if not, you can still read it here: Fresh produce stands instead of hot dog stands!

Well, Bronx is not the only North American city offering its citizens a chance to eat healthier.

Toronto, Canada has recently opened its doors to many hungry office workers to try a different type of street vendor menu, instead of hot dogs and greasy spoons.

I was passing by a busy intersection and noticed a food cart that sold Caribbean food.

The initiative falls under the ‘Toronto Cart’ program, and the first vendor to be given a green light was Bridget Pinder and her business partner Henry Beckford who were both cooking up a Caribbean fusion storm when I spotted them.

Bridget Pinder is from Guyana while Henry Beckford is Jamaican. Together, they are giving a nearby hot dog vendor a run for his money — I was there for only a few minutes, and I counted at least eight hungry Torontonians waiting patiently for their roti (think of a Caribbean-style wrap with spices)!

I was able to grab a few great shots on the fly and you can even see Bridget in action preparing a roti for a hungry patron. You can find Bridget and Henry on the southeast corner of Yonge St. and St. Clair Ave.

>>>> Enjoy these photos showing the changing face of Toronto’s “street meat” business:

>>>> If you’re viewing this healthy eating or healthy living tip in an aggregator content from different sites, or as a re-blogged post, please check out the content on the original Web site at www.EatSmartAgeSmart.com

I did a full review of my wonderful experience on Beauty Match, but since they had an incredible healthy juice bar, I felt compelled to write a quick review.

I’ve been to many spas that offer tea (often commercial teas that you can buy at the grocery store), regular filtered water (I’m a sucker for citrus-flavoured filtered water) and a few treats.

When it comes to healthy juice bars, I had never really experienced anything like HealthWinds spa!

In fact, I’ll tell you that the experience was so incredible that I decided that I will need to focus a segment on ‘Healthy Spa Foods‘ because why go to a spa to feel relaxed and refreshed if they serve food that’s not serving your body any purpose?

First, I should mention that the HealthWinds spa Healthy Juice Bar is located at the front of the spa and it’s the first thing to greet you.

All their teas are from David’s Tea and I almost thought that I was at the doors of Paradise because David’s Tea takes gourmet loose leaf tea to a celestial level (I’ll be reviewing them soon)!

I tasted a refreshing glass of antioxidant green ice tea and before even starting my treatment, I knew this was going to be a great experience.

At the HealthWinds spa Healthy Juice Bar you’ll also find a few baked goods. They actually have someone on staff who bakes granola bars, cookies and Italian-style biscotti cookies in their kitchen … on the premises! Yes, freshly baked goods to enjoy after your treatment!

I have often been treated to freshly baked healthy snacks when I go to hotel spas, but HealthWinds spa has adopted this same philosophy for the enjoyment of their clients.

I usually buy my cookies at Whole Foods Market and you’ll rarely see me eating any other type of cookies (unless they are homemade). Since I’m not much of a baker, I like leaving this part of culinary arts to passionate bakers.

Let me tell you that after tasting that outrageously delicious cookie from the HealthWinds spa, I might have to consider travelling a little further when I need a cookie fix (I mean even when I’m not getting any spa treatments there).

I loved the cookie so much and enjoyed every bite with my cup of Japanese Green tea from David’s Tea that I kept the packaging so I can list the ingredients. Unfortunately, the cookie didn’t have a name, but it’s the kind of cookie that is so filled with goodness that it would pass as a breakfast cookie as easily as a snack cookie.

The list of ingredients is so straightforward that you could literally make these in your own kitchen. You won’t find any hard to pronounce artificial ingredients … you’ll only find goodness!

Here’s the list of my super-delicious HealthWinds spa Healthy Juice Bar cookie:

* Raisins

* Dried cranberries

* Walnuts

* Pecans

* Almonds

* Oats

* Whole wheat flour

* Brown sugar

* Butter

* Almond butter

* Pine nuts

* Sunflower seeds

* Sesame seeds

* Wheat germ

* Buttermilk

* Eggs

* Cinnamon

* Baking powder

* Ground ginger

I know, I know that is the type of cookie that makes your mouth water just by reading the ingredients (trust me, tasting the cookie is an even better experience).

If you live near the HealthWinds spa, you should go in for a quick tour and maybe stop by the Healthy Juice Bar for a delicious healthy snack!

>>> You’ll find all the details on the HealthWinds spa here: HealthWinds spa

I recently attended my first Slow Food event and I will try to describe what an incredible day I had. I hope I will be able to convey how an entire day devoted to learning how naturally grown and organic food has been so transformational.

If you’ve not yet read my reasons for joining the Slow Food movement, I encourage you to read the original post here: Why I am a member of the Slow Food movement

A Slow Food event is really like a meeting of the minds.

We were a small group of about 11 people and we spent the whole ride to the farm tour talking about food and the Food, Inc. movie (which came out in June 2009).

If you’ve not read not yet read my reviews of the Food, Inc. movie, you can read them here:

1) Video review of Food, Inc.

2) Review: Food, Inc. documentary

The great thing about my first event is that we spent an entire day travelling outside of the city to learn from the farmers who are devoted to producing naturally raised food and organic food.

For a hardcore city girl like myself, this trip was blissful because not only was I able to step away from my computer for an entire day, but I was also able to set my heels and designer shoes aside and sport my flip flops.

The farms we were visiting were in the area of Creemore, Ont. and it’s one of those new areas of the province I had never discovered before.

Our day trip took us to two farms:

1) Metheral Meats

2) The New Farm

We started the day under an umbrella of clouds and as we were driving to Creemore the sky ripped open and the rain poured so heavily that driving became quite challenging and the organizers (Miriam and Paul) feared that we’d end up in a big pile of mud.  Luckily for us it was a heavy shower that quickly ended and the blue sky and sun greeted us well before our arrival to the first farm.

Our first stop was Metheral Meats! Metheral is a family-owned farm that naturally raises sheep, beef and pork. The animals on this farm are born on the grass, they are fed grass and they run around on the grass. The animals aren’t caged and they aren’t feed a steady diet of corn.

1) Metheral Meats is a farm that raises natural meats!

Our first stop at the Metheral farm was at the abattoir.

I’ll be honest that after seeing Food, Inc., I wasn’t too sure I actually wanted to spend anytime whatsoever ever inside an abattoir, but I’m so glad I decided to think of the readers’ experience before thinking of myself. I have to say that it took me about ten minutes to get adjusted to the smell inside the abattoir, but once I was able to get accustomed to the smell and the cold temperature, I was okay.

It’s not that it smelled bad, but there is a particular smell to a place where animals go to die.

Neil was the one who introduced us to his farm and opened the discussion by giving us an overview of what exactly happens in an abattoir. As he was explaining the day in the life of a sheep farmer, I started looking around and quickly discover how spotless the abattoir was. I mean, this abattoir was as clean as my kitchen and that said a lot about how they handle their meat.

We were then able to see some of the sheep they had just killed. I’ll be honest – I wasn’t sure if I was going to pass out or not, but once the door was open I was able to see a number of very clean carcasses that didn’t smell at all. I was so enthusiastic about how brave I was in all of this new adventure that I took two photos (you’ll see them below)!

>>>> Photo of Neil’s son Rick holding a few carcasses of meat:

>>>> Here’s the saw they use to cut up the sheep:

>>> Here are more photos of the sheep from Metheral Meats

>>> Here are photos of some of the cut of lamb a lot of us took home:

It’s a strange feeling to be so close to the production of my food. Like most people I buy pieces of meat at the grocery store and spend little time wondering how exactly they get a sheep, cow, chicken or turkey from the farm to my dinner table. Meeting Rick and Neil and visiting their farm gave me a different perspective.

After the tour, we were able to select some lamb to take home with us. Since it was warm and we didn’t have much ice, most of us ended up buying frozen lamb to take home and we stored the meat in a cooler at the back of the bus. I was one of the only ones who asked for sausages and I’m happy to say that most of the other people on the tour regretted not following my move (I’ll reveal more later).

After the Metheral Meats farm, we were back on the bus and headed to The New Farm where we would visit an organic vegetable farm, but not before having one of the most delicious lunches I’ve had in a very long time.

I have loads of photos of the lunch, but before that I should give you the menu that awaited us:

>>>> Farm Tour Menu:

1) Local bread prepared by a local baker from Red Fively Breads

2) Lamb sausages from Metheral Meats (these were the most incredible tasting lamb sausages I’ve had up to now. I’ve bought some at my local grocery store, but I was less than impressed with them and never bought them again).

3) Raw beets and carrot salad (This was my first time eating raw beets. I love cooked beets, but now I’m totally hooked on raw beets)

4) A spinach, egg and organic strawberry salad (the spinach and free range/grain fed eggs were from The New Farm)

5) A spinach and organic strawberry salad (the spinach was of course from The New Farm)

6) Organic mesclum mix salad (grown on The New Farm)

7) Homemade salad dressing (the dressing was so divine that we finished it well before we finished the salads)

#8) Condiments from Culinary Condiments

9) Creemore microbrewery beer (Creemore was generous enough to donate a whole keg! I much prefer microbrewery beer to conventional beer and this Creemore beer was ice cold and so refreshing)

10) Mapleton organic ice cream (Mapleton sent one pint of vanilla ice cream and the other was ginger ice cream. Had I not been able to taste ginger ice cream for the first time I don’t think I would have ever considered ordering it … it was outrageously delicious and I went back shamelessly for seconds)

11) Homegrown strawberries from Barrie Hills Farm

As you can see from this long list, I ate myself silly, but I was so happy in the process. In fact, I ate so much that later on that night I went out with a few friends and could not eat a bite of food … I was that stuffed!

>>>>Here are the photos of our delicious menu (which we ate outside under the shade of a tree on three picnic tables … I can tell you that at that moment in time, I never wanted to go back to the city anymore).

>>> Some refreshing beer from Creemore Spring Brewery

>>> Organic ice cream and organic strawberries!

2) The Stop:

On our tour we had the pleasure of having Chef Scott MacNeil. After our divine lunch, Chef Scott gave us a brief description of a movement he’s part of. I will give you only a few brief lines of description on The Stop, but I intend on interviewing Chef Scott a little more.

The Stop Community Food Centre (The Stop) works to increase people’s access to healthy food in a manner that maintains dignity, builds community and challenges inequality.

The Stop offers so many incredible initiatives to help those who have less. What most impressed me was when Chef Scott explained how they made an effort to include fresh produce in each food basket they give to the less fortunate who visit their Food Bank (The Stop provides a three-day supply of nutritious and culturally appropriate food once a month to individuals and families who live in the vicinity). Wow! Most times when you see those big boxes where people leave donations for food, you often see ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese in a box, peanut butter (and not the good kind), lots of sugary treats and loads of refined sugar foods, but rarely do you see foods that are packed with nutrients.

As I said, I was so taken aback by Chef Scott’s presentation that I will spend more time with him in the coming months and I’ll let you know all about The Stop!

3) Touring The New Farm:

To help us digest, Brent and Gillian, who are the owners of The New Farm took us on a tour of the farm. This was such an incredible experience for a city dweller like myself.

The New Farm sells its produce at local farmers’ market, but it also supplies high-end restaurants in the city of Toronto who have a passion for locally grown foods.

The photos I have below tell the whole story about the passion that Brent and Gillian put into everything they do. It’s hard to believe when you look at their operation that they’ve only been farming for three short years (that said, Gillian grew up on a sheep farm in Vermont, U.S., so she had farming in her blood).

Not only does The New Farm produce delicious organic products that are eaten daily at some of the top restaurants in Toronto, they are also big supporters of The Stop!

>>> That is all fresh garlic you see below:

>>> Organic greens that make the tastiest salads!

>>> More organic veggies!!!

>>> Lessons teaching of the tools used to plant organic seeds!

>>> More great photos from The New Farm

>>> I had a great day and I look forward to the next Slow Food event!

I kid you not, this is one of my favourite Saturdays in a long time!

I’m looking forward to future Slow Food events and I’m also looking forward to the Terra Madre event, which happens every two years in Italy … the idea of spending five days eating Italian food grown by smaller farmers thrills me to no end!

In the meantime (the next event will be in 2010), I will gladly indulge in events organized my local chapter of Slow Food!

One last word, I’m sure you’ve heard of the 100 miles/100 kilometre diet (where you eat foods that are grown within 100 miles/100 kilometre of your home, well this farm event was exactly it and it could not have tasted better!

>>> Key Websites if you want to recreate your own farm day trip:

1) You’ll find many chapters of Slow Food movements in many countries around the world. To find out more, I highly suggest that you visit the main site and pick your country to become a member of one of the coolest movements around: Slow Food

2) Metheral Meats farm: Here’s a link where you’ll be able to find all the information you need: Metheral Meats farm

3) If you are looking for organic vegetables that are grown with lots of love, I’d say you need to head to: The New Farm

4) Barrie Hill Farms: You’ll find a lot of yummy berries at: Barrie Hill Farms

5) The Stop Community Food Centre (The Stop): This is the most innovative community centre I’ve ever heard of: The Stop

6) Mapleton Organic ice cream is out of this world. You can discover them for yourself: Mapleton Organic

7) If you like microbrewery beer as much as I do, you love this beer: Creemore Springs Brewery

It seems this year we’ve waited for summer for a long time. Now that the weather is glorious, why not take the time to discover some new ways of discovering healthy eating in your city?

There are sooooooo many activities around your city that it makes perfect sense to take advantage of them to taste new recipes and dishes that you might want to reproduce at home.

Given that this recent recession has cut out the travel budget of a lot of us, why not take advantage of the next few months for a culinary trip right inside your city or by discovering a few cities in your area?

I’ve asked our Editorial Assistant Colleen to come up with a few ways to make the most of your summer!

>>> 10 ways to take a culinary trip in your city this summer!

1) Summer cultural festivals: Look for your local jazz, art festivals, musical festivals; there is an abundance of festivals that go to during the summertime and with all those activities there is bound to be a food section that you can browse through and discover new tastes!  At the local jazz festival here there is always a fresh lemonade stand where they press the juice right in front of you.

2) Street food vendors that sometimes only come out in the summer: There are plenty of vendors that are seasonal so go out and take the time to find them. During the summer months, you’ll also find quite a few food vendors selling foods from different parts of the world!

3) Enjoy ice homemade cream: Discover homemade ice cream from a different vendor or better yet, discover Italian gelato!

4) Farmers markets: There is no better way to indulge yourself in fresh local produce than farmer markets. You get to see fresh food that is grown locally and oftentimes you’ll discover something you have never heard of before or tasted. The farmers are usually very nice and friendly and will sometimes give you tips on how to cook an ingredient you’re not familiar with.

5) BBQ with a cultural theme: Sometimes restaurants open up and have summer BBQs that feature one style of international cuisine. Imagine a Portuguese BBQ at a local restaurant with the traditional piri-piri sauce??? You’ll have to search around for those types of culinary cultural theme events, but they will be rewarding.

6) Discover a new culture by discovering a new restaurant: Just walk down a street you’ve never been to before and look at what’s available. If you’ve never tried Thai food or Lebanese food, this might be the great time to discover those two healthy cuisines.

7) Host a healthy summer potluck with all your friends: You’re bound to discover something new from someone you know. People tend to get quite creative when a potluck is involved and it’s such a great a fun way to learn about new dishes that you’ve never tried before.

#8) Wine tours: I love wine tours. Some places also include good food pairings from their winery that compliments their wines. This is yet another way to familiarize yourself with different foods and to think about food in a new way.

9) Going to summer expos: I’ve been to a few myself summer expos and I have found out about new and exciting foods that I wouldn’t have otherwise engaged myself with. Sometimes there are also food demonstrations that go on which will help you learn how to cook these interesting ingredients as well.

10) Food demonstrations or drop-in sessions at schools or stores: I know that Williams Sonoma sometimes has food demonstrations to show how to not only use their tools but to learn about cooking and food. Going to a culinary class isn’t a bad option either. You could take a friend and the two of you can learn more about different ingredients together.

The bottom line is that it’s summer and it’s the perfect time to discover food in a new way to help you eat healthier all year round!

Photo by nakedsky

When big hotel chains start being locavore and buy from local farmers, you know the world is changing!

North American chain Loews Hotels are promoting local farming and they are treating their guests and restaurant goers to any of their 16 hotels to ingredients that are locally-sourced, organic and sustainable!

Wow, imagine that!

I’m a big advocate of eating for the season because you end up eating food that is much more flavourful and if you combine that to eating as locally as possible then you really are in for a culinary treat. Now, I’m not saying that imported foods are bad … not at all. How else would I be able to satisfy my addiction to mangoes, avocadoes and tangerines?

Importing food is not something that will go away anything soon because food imports open us to a world of flavours. That said, if you’ve ever bought a papaya at your local grocery store and then went on vacation in any sunny destination and tasted a papaya that has ripened to perfection then you know that the concept of importing produce has its limits.

By focusing on local ingredients, Loews Hotels are really able to play with local tastes that can not be reproduced anywhere else. The French call that cuisine du terroir and I call that simply yummy!

If you were wondering what buying locally mean for Loews Hotels, allow me to give you an example: the company’s New York headquarters connected with the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, procuring the only artesian sheep’s milk made in the Hudson River Valley while their Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego uses herbs and vegetables from its own garden, sourcing the rest of its ingredients from 12 local farming communities.

I quite like how the San Diego hotel is engaging guests at the hotel and patrons to the restaurant with their seasonal series of dinners. “Farmers, Foragers and Fishermen” pairs the resort’s chef with a local purveyor, who dines with the guests and tells them about his or her products and methods.

If you are travelling for business or pleasure and you’d like to know more about Loews Hotel’s ingenious culinary initiative, you’ll find out more details here: Loews Hotels.

This will be extremely short, but when I saw this **delicious** feature, I had to share it with those of you who have not had a chance to read it on the virtual pages of New York Times’s online paper.

Imagine holding in your hands a list of New York City’s top 10 burgers!

Well, one Monday a month, the Burger of the Month Club in New York City scout the best burgers in the city and here’s their latest list of top ten of the 47 burgers the group tasted.

Hmmm, trekking around New York in search of the best burgers seems to be the kind of after-hours activity I’d gladly sign-up for! Who do I need to call or email to be part of the club???

Here’s the link for you to check out New York City’s finest burgers: Ten of the Burgers

Photo by pointnshoot

British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is offering Brits a chance to not only eat upscale takeaway (aka take out in North America), but he’s also offering Brits a chance to learn how to properly prepare healthier meal options that are fairly simple to reproduce at home.

You know how easy celebrity chefs make it look on TV because all of their ingredients have already been chopped, julienned and blanched in advance. While the cameras are rolling, the only thing they need to do really is toss a bit of this and toss a bit of that in their pan since all the hard work has already been done in advance.

Imagine having your own sous-chef who is ready to cut, chop, peel and set everything in nice little containers?

Well, Jamie Oliver’s Recipease will not offer you the privilege of working with your own sous-chef, but they will offer you the ease of assembling ready-to-cook meals using ingredients that have been prepped ahead of time by on-site staff.

If you live in one of the two cities where Jamie Oliver has launched his concept (right now it’s available in London’s Clapham Junction in Battersea and Western Road in Brighton) or if you are visiting any of those cities, you’ll only need to take the following two easy steps:

* Book a session online.

* Choose the recipe or recipes they’d like to make.

To accommodate seasonal foods, the menu at Recipease changes every two months. If you’re only interested in learning how to prepare pizza or curry, you can drop in without an appointment!

So here’s what a cooking session at the Recipease shop would look like:

1) You start by finding all the ingredients that you’ll need.

2) Wash and chop all your ingredients.

3) Prepare your meals following the step-by-step instructions (trained chefs are available to help if you get stuck).

4) You’re set!

At Recipease each recipe requires about 10 minutes on average. Prices vary by the dish, but current entree selections begin at GBP 3.75 ($5.68 USD) per serving.

You’ll find all the details you need to experience this new Jamie Oliver concept here: Recipease by Jamie Oliver.

Photo by 46137