Every time Christina Piecha rescues unwanted apples from a local tree, she estimates she saves 500 pounds of fruit. Fruit that otherwise might be wasted goes into jars of applesauce and chutney. And perhaps a half dozen new immigrant women and a handful of AISH recipients are employed as they learn to rescue and cook the fruit.
This endeavour began three years ago in Edmonton's west end, in the neighbourhood of Sherbrooke, when Piecha and fellow volunteer Carol Cooper were out tending flowers as part of a community beautification project. As the women walked down their own back alley, behind nearly every house, they saw hundreds of rotting deadfall apples.
"We saw this incredible waste of food and yet people in this city are going hungry," said Piecha.
The women challenged themselves to find ways to use that fruit. Together with neighbour Alan Cosh and St. Albert friend Maria Laycock, they founded the Fruits of Sherbrooke.
"We were all part of the Sherbrooke garden club," Laycock explained.
The first thing they tried was turning the rescued apples into pies to sell as a fundraiser for the Sherbrooke Community League.
"We made 75 pies in one week until I got carpal tunnel in my wrist. We sold those 75 pies to community hall members, but we decided that was not the best way to make our way in the world," Cooper said.
Storage was a problem because they didn't have enough freezer space for all the apples and it was also obvious that even though Cooper and Piecha both had experience in the food industry, they couldn't do all the work themselves.
"I'm a social worker by training and I had a catering company for two years. Christina works at the Crowne Plaza, Chateau Lacombe as a server. We had knowledge and a passion for food. We decided to turn the fruit into preserves," Cooper said.
The group divided up the work, with Cooper doing the cooking, Laycock designing the labels for the jars, Piecha looking after the picking and Cosh handling the marketing.
Now, three years later, Fruits of Sherbrooke is becoming more and more community minded as its organizers seek help from other groups to do the picking and the cooking.
"It's about making connections with the food and linking volunteers," said Cooper.
Cherry Stone Soup
An outreach instructional cooking program through Fruits of Sherbrooke is called Cherry Stone Soup and it's how Cooper teaches other people how to make use of the fruit.
The Cherry Stone Soup name is derived from a legend about a poor man who came to a village with nothing to eat. He asked the villagers if they could spare something for him, but none came forward with food.
"He put a stone in the bottom of a pot and asked for an onion to make his "stone" soup better. Someone gave him an onion. Next he asked for a bit of potato and a turnip and some meat and so on and in the end he shared his stone soup with everyone in the village. The only fruit we rescue with a stone in it is cherries, so we offer courses through Cherry Stone Soup," Cooper said.
Courses in food preservation are given to students from Grant MacEwan University, the University of Alberta, Jasper Place High School and from various new immigrant groups. The students either keep the preserves for their own use, or, as is the case with the Jasper Place students, they sell the jam as a fundraiser for their school.
"They go home with rescued fruit, a full set of canning equipment, recipes and the ability to make apple sauce or jam that is cheaper than they could buy in the store. If the canning course doesn't do enough, we give them a dehydrator so they can store food in abundance that will give them better nutrition," Cooper said.
The group has also made connections with the food banks at both the University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan. Those food banks have taken the rescued fruit to be shared among students.
Some volunteers do not work at canning the fruit, but they are able to pick.
"The Winnifred Stewart Association, which is an agency for people with disabilities, helps to rescue fruit like cherries, apples and crabapples. For their clients, it's part of a community service program and their workers help us a lot," Cooper said.
Even fruit that is not fit for human consumption because it is deadfall that has been on the ground, may be rescued.
"We have an agreement with four animal farms," said Cooper. "The homeowners pick the fruit or pick it up from the ground and call us. The animal farm owners come and pick the fruit up from the boulevard for their horses and llamas."
Although the core group of organizers does not take a wage for their efforts, Cooper is proud to pay a per-diem honorarium to the new immigrants and AISH recipients, who help out in the kitchen.
"For me personally, I'm seeing something good come of this and it feels like a worthwhile thing to do, especially when I have an AISH worker who tells me, 'This is the best job ever' or when I have a new immigrant who has only been in Canada two weeks, come up and give me a hug," said Cooper.
Last year Fruits of Sherbrooke volunteers made 10,000 jars of preserves and they hope to sell 20,000 jars this year. So far they have more than 100 products for sale ranging from chutney to jam, all made from recipes that Cooper has devised.
"Last year someone gave us 40 pumpkins and though we gave most of them away for Halloween, we also pureed the pumpkin and cooked it into a garlic/ginger sauce that is one of our best sellers," Cooper said.
Piecha admits that picking all the waste fruit in the Edmonton area would be impossible, but the Fruits of Sherbrooke group picks and uses as much as it can.
"We can't facilitate the picking of all fruit. We can facilitate the picking of some. We can offer cooking classes to low-income families. My biggest farm for the fruit I need is my own back alley and others could do the same in their backyards. We don't expect to use all the fruit, but I'm proud to say that last year, not even counting apples, we rescued 1,400 to 1,500 pounds of fruit that would have gone to waste," she said.
For more information about Fruits of Sherbrooke, visit www.fruitsofsherbrooke.ca. If you have fruit to donate, phone 780-244-0129. If volunteer pickers are available, they will come and pick the fruit for you. Previously picked fruit is most welcome. Fruits of Sherbrooke jams, ketchup and chili sauces are available at the St. Albert Farmers' Market in stall #150. Jam costs $7 per jar and sauces cost $8.
Chicken with Saskatoons in Summer Fruits Sauce
4 to 6 chicken breasts
1 250 mL jar of Fruits of Sherbrooke Saskatoons in Summer Fruits Jam
1 pkg. dry onion soup package
6 oz. oil and vinegar (balsamic or rosemary) salad dressing
In a 9 x 13 inch casserole, arrange chicken pieces. Combine Saskatoons in Summer Fruits, dry onion soup and salad dressing and pour over chicken. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes covered, then uncovered for 15 minutes.
Serves 4 to 6
Lemon Apple Chicken
500 g of boneless chicken or other meat or tofu
125 mL Fruits of Sherbrooke Lemon Apple Jam
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. sherry or cooking wine
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. minced garlic
Chili paste or flakes to taste
c. water or wine of choice
2 Tbsp. cooking oil
Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes and combine with remaining ingredients – except oil – in a bowl. Toss well, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. In last 10 minutes before dinner, heat a wok or frying pan with the 2 Tbsp. oil. When the oil is quite hot, add all the contents from the bowl – both the meat and marinade. Stir over medium high heat until the meat is cooked, adding up to cup as needed to create a sauce. Taste and add salt, pepper and more chili as needed.
Serve with rice or noodles and fresh vegetables.
Serves 4
