Here’s something you didn’t know: U of T has bee hives on campus! We visited the hives on top of New College this week, and saw how the bees get ready for the winter. Brian Hamlin (bee keeper extraordinaire) let us sample the honey (and it was delicious!)…he also told us some fun facts about bees:
90% of the bees in the hive are female. 10% of them are male, and the males are kicked out (or die) in the autumn.
All the work is done by the female bees. The male bees are simply around to fertilize the Queen.
Bees don’t normally sting, unless they feel threatened.
Bees are not scary. They’re quite nice actually.
New College cafeteria uses the honey from its roof top in its menu. Yumm!
Bees travel within a 3 mile radius to collect pollen for the honey. That means that the honey made and used at New College is from flowers at Queen’s Park and other green spaces in the area!
Contrary to popular opinion, bears don’t love honey, they love bee larvae (rich source of protein).
In Canada, the winter months are dormant for bees. In late winter, the Queen begins laying eggs, and they bees starting working inside the hive. During the summer months, they go out to collect pollen and produce honey.
Honey has antioxidant and antibiotic properties.
In future months, we will pay a visit to the other hives on campus. If you know of a hive we haven’t visited yet, do let us know!
Microwave Cookery: A Quick Solution to a Growling Stomach
Whether you live in residence or off-campus, a microwave could be your key to a quick, healthy, and inexpensive meal.Yes, your microwave is capable of making more than just popcorn, TV dinners and Easy Mac (although they do have their time and place) – in fact, the culinary possibilities are endless!To give you an idea of what I mean, here is the first of three recipes that can be a part of a three-course dinner. All you need are a few simple ingredients and a microwave…
Appetizer: Mexican Bean Dip
Ingredients:
1 can of refried beans
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 package of taco seasoning mix
1 small onion, chopped
3 drops of hot sauce
Instructions:
Place all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and mix well.Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Microwave on HIGH for 6 minutes, stir at the 3 minute mark. Add pepper or garnish as desired. Serve with corn chips.
As students enter University of Toronto this fall, many are excited about the 3 square meals a day that they will be getting from the campus dining halls. However, there are a group of students who will be fastingduring the daylight hours for the beginning half of September to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
During Ramadan Muslims abstain from food and drink during the daylight hours and avoid negative thoughts and actions so that they can remember and worship God, and appreciate the comforts of life they have been blessed with. By remaining hungry through the day, Muslims are able to feel closer to those who can only afford to eat one meal a day. Fasting is a practice common to all Abrahamic religions and Muslims all over the world have been continuing this tradition during the month of Ramadan for over 1,400 years.
The breaking of the fast or Iftar, is often a communal event for Muslims and is regularly done with their family and friends. Many students who live on campus and away from their family will take advantage of special hours provided by their dining halls and get together to recreate the communal feeling of home.
This year the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) on campus will be hosting iftars every weekday for the month of September. The iftars will begin on September 2 as part of MSA’s Frosh Week (aka Frosh Halal Meat) which is intended to compliment the University’s frosh week so as to create a welcoming environment for incoming students. MSA iftars are catered by a number of local restaurants that provide a taste from around the world, including cuisine from the Middle East, South Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean. The iftars are attended by more than 200 students every night, all of whom leave happy after a free meal following a long day without food (see pictures below).
The end of Ramadan is marked by a celebration known as Eid-ul-Fitr, which is sometimes called the “feast after the fast”. As a commemoration to the successful completion of Ramadan, this day is celebrated with members of the Muslim community coming together and sharing of food from all over the world.
Do organic pigs get swine flu? Why did McCain’s say no to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the potatoes for their french fries? This conference will celebrate a forward thinking company taking GMOs off its shelves and a man who has fought against the odds. Be inspired by how the organic sector perseveres in producing the healthiest, safest food possible. Keynote speaker is Baerbel Hoehn, the first Green Party agricultural minister in Germany. Her support of organic farming programs in Germany helped the turnaround in German agricultural policy towards more sustained development, including payments for farmers transitioning to organic. Also featured are Percy Schmeiser, the Saskatchewan farmer who challenged Monsanto, Megan Westgate, Executive Director of the Non-GMO Project, Michael Schmidt, the dairy farmer recently acquitted of all criminal charges related to producing unpasteurized milk,and scientists, politicians, farmers, retailers and consumers. This conference is about your health and your food choices. Above all, it is about choosing food with spirit!
