Perspectives from Londoners

Full Circle Cooking Episode 4: Beanage Dream Full Circle Cooking

We’re keeping it simple at full circle cooking this month. Here’s a tangy, delicious and super filling recipe for a bean and tahini salad with roast zucchini. It’s totally customizable and I’ve included a few ideas for add-ons as well as the base recipe. Enjoy!  The best roast zucchini you’ll ever have Trim both ends of the zucchini, then cut it in half lengthwise. Score the open side of each half, creating a checkerboard pattern. Salt the open side liberally and let it sit for at least 10 minutes. Zucchinis hold a lot of water, and these steps are to…

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‘End the Plantation System’: Justice for Migrant Workers at London’s Caribbean Cultural Festival

The following is the speech delivered by Chris Ramsaroop from Justice for Migrant Workers to attendees of Island Fest, a celebration of Caribbean culture in London, on July 26. He has been organizing with Justice for Migrant Workers for the past 25 years.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak regarding issues pertaining to the people who are the foundation of our food system, migrant farm workers. To begin, I would be remiss not to begin with a quote from the seminal work of Justice Irving Andre, who over 35 years ago wrote one of the first critical…

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“Channelling Our Inner Sex Workers”: How SafeSpace provides for their community amid funding challenges

 SafeSpace is a local not-for-profit organization in London which serves “women and gender non-conforming Londoners experiencing crisis, including sex workers and their allies”. In March 2024, SafeSpace released a community request for donations to facilitate their re-opening of a physical space. While there are various supports existing in London for women experiencing violence and home loss, the importance of services that address the specific needs of sex workers is often overlooked. Sex workers experience unique issues and require specialized support. They face greater safety risks in terms of health and violence, yet often struggle with stigmatization such as judgement, discrimination,…

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Fried Green Tomatoes with Tonnato Sauce – Full Circle Cooking Episode 3

Still, I lay in wait for tomato season. That sumptuous crimson delight who tempts me to become lost within her splendor, whose firm, silken bosom casts shadows upon my mind, and–  Oh, uh, hey, Antler River Media.  … How did you get in here?  …  You want another article?  … Yeah, I know just the thing. Welcome back to Full Circle Cooking!  It’s summer now, everyone’s tired and sticky, and nobody feels like cooking anything elaborate. Further, more and more produce is coming into peak season. This is the time where cooks set their egos aside and recognize when a…

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Pride and Protest: “Parade” Screening at Museum London

Last month, I went to Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre to watch a production of Michael R. Jackson’s Tony and Pulitzer award-winning musical, “A Strange Loop.” I was stunned by its unapologetic Blackness, especially seeing it amongst a predominantly white crowd. The musical offers a gritty understanding of the lived experiences of a Black gay man in the modern era (modern as in like 2015 modern, to be fair), so much so that a white family with their young daughter packed up and left by the third song. I could not stop thinking about this white family leaving. I kept wondering if…

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Crowd of people sitting on the floor of Poacher's Arms surrounding the stage as Whine Problem prepares to play their final song of the evening

MAGICAL Evenings: June 18, 19 Music Show Reviews

Last week I went to two music events at a local bar, Poacher’s Arms, 171 Queens Ave. The first one was a free event on Wednesday called “Queerrr Jam”. This was held in collaboration with “Grrrls Jam”, a free event held at Poachers Arms once a month, where femme and gender-nonconforming people can go up and jam on the Poacher’s stage.  In this case, it was for anyone within the queer community to perform at. Queerrr Jam was run in collaboration with MAGICAL 519, which stands for Multicultural Accessible Gatherings Improving 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Affirmation in London, a collective that aims…

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Open Letter: This Emerita prof Supports Divestment

Dear President Shepard, I would like to thank you for the generous offer to attend a dinner with retired faculty from Western: it is an important gesture to remember former professors and our contributions. Normally, I would be looking forward to seeing familiar faces and reminiscing with colleagues about our days on campus. However, under the circumstances, I must decline your invitation.  It is impossible for me to enjoy a celebratory meal with Western colleagues when our Palestinian colleagues in Gaza are enduring a brutal famine deliberately imposed by an occupying power which is actively supported by your Administration. How…

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Go Eat a Flower: Full Circle Cooking Episode Two

It’s springtime, and Antler River is a mosaic of bright, beautiful flowers. If you’re anything like me, your first thought is: “How can I get a free meal out of this?” In fact, many common flowers in Southern Ontario are edible and I’m going to show you two simple ways I like to eat them.  First is a simple preparation that can be used to make most edible flowers (or anything in your fridge) delicious. Most of all, I like to use it for dandelions, whose flesh turns tender and jammy once fried. It’s a beautiful thing I look forward…

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We all go to the library

We are witnessing a slow but consistent creep of social services breaching public libraries across Canada. The London Public Library hired a social worker to provide addiction and mental health services to library patrons. The Toronto Public Library provided food bank services during the COVID-19 pandemic because food banks had closed. Some people in Hamilton have called for opening safe injection sites outside their libraries.  None of this is good or should be celebrated.  Public libraries have expanded their services beyond lending books to the public, offering a range of additional resources and programming. The London Public Library offers educational,…

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Hands Off My Post Office Rally – London, ON

Rallies were organized across Canada on Saturday, to draw support in the Canadian Union of Postal Worker’s (CUPW) on-going struggle to keep Canada Post a public entity. This is a continuation from their 5 week strike in the fall of last year. The union has tried to work with the corporation in order to establish new, innovative ways of delivering the mail, but holds fast to maintaining adequate wages and decent benefits for all employees. The corporation has refused to move on any of the suggestions posed by CUPW’s negotiating team and is pushing the union into another strike position…

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