Preferably, for Obama. But vote.

I find myself extraordinarily nervous today. My guy has the lead in the polls, but how accurate are those things? They certainly have been very convenient for the media… first Obama has a “big” lead, then it narrows, making it a tight race… will this lead in the polls translate to a victory tonight? I’d rather Obama be up than down, but it hasn’t eased my nerves much.

Read a great article on the mood of Obama and his campaign in the dwindling days – hours – of the campaign. Really moving and insightful.

George Will had a great article as well, covering carelessness and finances, and his closing line has stuck with me since I read it.

Callie Shell contributed an amazing photo essay as well.

A few other moments that have stuck with me… of course, the nomination acceptance speech in Denver; the Chicago Tribune endorsement rang true and was momentous in its own way; and, sadly, I still haven’t shook Giuliani and Palin ridiculing – making fun of – community organizers. I was already for Obama, but I lost any respect I had for those characters at that moment.

But I find myself with hope, with a sense of being lifted up, by Obama, and I’m so proud to say I voted for him. Now I’m just hoping my country – from my perspective – doesn’t screw this one up. To not elect Obama would be a wasted opportunity of unbelievable scale, in my opinion.

And there’s no doubt that I’ll feel a whole lot better about bringing a child into the world with Obama as president.

Unlike the US election (in which I actually get to vote), I’m quite torn between the two leading candidates. A vote for the Liberals probably helps dethrone current Conservative PM Stephen Harper, and Gerrard Kennedy seems to have been a real good MPP. Before that he ran food banks, so naturally I like the guy.

But I also like the feeling I get from Peggy Nash (who I’ve now seen several times and met once). And Dad would be happy to know she was a longtime labour negotiator with the Canadian Autoworkers union, one of the largest and strongest unions in the country. Earlier this year when GM announced it was closing a plant, workers set up a blockade of the corporate headquarters that lasted until a court order was achieved to force them to “release” the building. But I digress.

Canadians vote a week from today (Tuesday, October 14). Usually around here there are complaints that Canada just follows the US’s course… maybe this time Canada will set the liberal trend…

Oh, happy day!

It’s taken only 36 hours to hit me. Barack Obama has clinched the Democratic party presidential nomination.

I watched his Minnesota rally speech live two nights ago, and as stirring as his words were, I still couldn’t fully comprehend what I was watching him declare he had all the votes he needed to claim he is the nominee.

It was interesting to watch an interview on ABC World News last night where Obama admitted to Charlie Gibson it hadn’t sunk in for him either. Obama may have just achieved a countless number of things — the first black presidential nominee, knocking Hillary out once and for all — but he was feeling just as human as I was.

As beautiful luck would have it, my husband arrived home with a library book I had put on hold several months. I exclaimed when I saw it was Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama. How neat is that and just six weeks after I had finished his other book, The Audacity of Hope?

As soon as I found my place on the subway car this morning, I dug voraciously into reading the back cover quotes, the dust jacket and then the introduction. Somewhere in the pages of the first chapter, on the dark tracks between Runnymede and High Park, my eyes began to well with tears. I don’t think it was anything in particular I had just read — I honestly couldn’t tell with my blurred eyes. But I felt something stirring I can’t really explain and frankly, don’t care to find an explanation for. I

All I know is I’ve always had hope in Barack Obama, from the moment I heard him speak at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He captured my attention and has held it ever since. And not just held it, he has affected my spirit with his words, with his actions and with his message of hope.

Am I gushing? Yes! Because I had the audacity to hope and I will continue to, right until the last vote is counted in November.

And I will put it in writing here and now: If Barack Obama is elected president, I am going to do everything in my power to be at his inauguration. Not because he will be the first black president and not because he is a liberal. I will be there because every fiber in me tells me it’s what I need to do. Perhaps it sounds ludicrous to admit how deep one person I don’t know, and who doesn’t know me, affects me. All I know is this guy is the shit, even if he is a politician, and I am not even an American.

Perhaps sometime soon, I will be able to better articulate how Barack Obama has affected and influenced me. For now, I will just enjoy this book of his that I am reading and wish him much luck in the months ahead.

The idea is to compare what a week’s worth of groceries costs and consists of for families in several countries.

That the American family featured spent $341.98 was not surprising. And while the difference is arresting, it was also not surprising that a family in Chad spent a mere $1.23.

Economic disparities aside (and after visiting in some very poor places, believe me, I’m not forgetting those disparities), something else is striking.

More money spent on groceries does not mean more food, it means more (perceived) convenience. And if anything, it means worse food. In fact, the poorest families actually eat (percent-wise, at least) more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Check it out for yourself.

The poorer families (or at least the ones spending less), actually have more real food. The photos are filled with fruits, vegetables, rice and grains. And while the Mexican family would do well to reduce or eliminate their Coca-Cola intake, it’s clear that the American family stands out as being the only one filled with junk food, and an appalling lack of fruits, vegetables and other fresh food.

Obviously these photos are not a picture of every family in each society, but they are also not aberrations. The Italian family’s food reflects choices that are based on a food culture that has been developing for centuries. It involves lots of fresh foods.

So many American families eat the junk food and products that make claims to fast, easy meals because they are supposed to be cheaper, and easier, than cooking from fresh ingredients. It’s primarily Americans (and maybe Canadians, who aren’t pictured) who have bought into this idea. Local plantains carry the day in Ecuador. Fresh vegetables win in Egypt. The Mediterranean diet persists. And so on.

I understand that this web page is not a scientific study, that it is merely one piece of information related to a topic that is much bigger. But it is reflective of the bigger issue. The notion that to get dinner on the table we need to order pizza, grab Burger King or start meals from a box, or the idea that we can’t afford or don’t need or don’t have time to use fresh fruits and vegetables has been cultivated in this society by the major “food” companies. Our sense of what is good to eat has been perverted.

Looking around the world you can find many different diets (I don’t mean of the Atkins kind), and many ways of eating and balancing foods. There is not a single best way, such as “French” or “Mediterranean” or “Japanese.” But you can point the finger at America and see that there clearly is a wrong way. Land of the free, home of the obese.

For all of the effort and money that has gone into fighting the tobacco companies, the food companies have caused harm just as bad or worse with none of the repercussion. They will be the next target. Nonetheless, an entire culture has lost its way with what food is, with what we, as human beings, should be eating. Yes, it’s a matter of personal choice – and plenty of Americans are now choosing fresh, real food – but each food “innovation” comes at a price. A very high price.

I grew up with a homemade dinner on the table virtually every night of the week. Sometimes it may have been leftovers; one time-saving strategy for two working parents my mom used was to make a lot of food on the weekend or days she had the time. It may have been re-heated, but it was still homemade, good food. There was always at least one vegetable, and no meal was complete without a salad. We read labels; there were always fresh fruit and vegetables in the house. Everything may not have been made from scratch, but it was close.

My in-laws are the same, and perhaps even more so. They go through a lot of pasta, but you will never see a jar of sauce (unless it’s been made by the nonni). Meat or fish during the week is done simply and easily, without the assistance of Hamburger Helper. The reality is that it doesn’t take long to put some fish fillets in a baking pan, coat them in a bit of olive oil, bread crumbs, garlic and parsley, and then put them in the oven. Similarly, it takes almost no time at all to slice up some chicken breast, toss it in bbq sauce, and put that in the oven. Vegetables cook quickly; salad is a cinch when you wash all the lettuce on the weekend and only have to grab what you need for the nightly salad.

I’m not advocating fancy meals every night. But in one hour or less you can put a very good, very fresh and even healthy meal on the table. It may take a little more planning and a change in buying habits, but it’s worth it. It’s better for you and the planet, and better still, the result is tastier meals.

This all said, I think this piece over at Alternet, busting some myths about Canadian healthcare, is particularly insightful whether you are Canadian or American, whether you have experienced both systems or just one.

My two cents: spread the word — universal healthcare is something to be proud of, but also something to learn the whole truth about so we can protect it and continue improving it for everyone.

Even though I hope you vote Obama, even more important to me, if your state is voting tomorrow, make sure you are one of the voters.

Although I haven’t become fatigued by our current lifestyle, we are not so absorbed in our travels that we haven’t thought about what will happen when our year abroad ends. We are thinking about things like where we might work, and where we will live in Toronto.

Today, however, these things seem quite trivial compared to where I will dine when I am back in Toronto.

You see after more than two years spent living on our own in Chicago, and unearthing so many of Chicago’s culinary and cultural delights, I have a certain, well, inclination towards what I have come to know so well.

Of course, having been born and raised in Toronto, there is plenty I know about what the city has to offer, but I feel a little embarrassed to admit I don’t know Toronto in its present-day form quite as well as I have come to know Chicago. As a result, I am a little nervous about what I will find there when I finally start doing some exploring. I already know the Italian food is excellent — I just need to knock on my grandparents’ or parents’ doors, or just about any other relative’s door for that sort of authentic and delectable nourishment. And there are certainly many Italian restaurants and cafés that will help when I want to venture away from home-cooked meals (it’s been hard for me, but I have come to see the benefits of paying someone else to make me an Italian meal).

I am especially nervous about the Mexcian food scene in Toronto. It is so wonderfully delicious and bountiful in Chicago, and so many authentic ingredients can be so easily had at local Mexican grocery stores. The articles are no longer available, but the Toronto Star ran several pieces outlining Toronto’s abysmal Mexican food options, and even going so far as to point out just what fine food can be had in Chicago, including that offered by our favourite chef, Rick Bayless. I should point out that at least two of the pieces talked about the opening of several new Mexican-themed restaurants, which seemed to hold promise, as well as where to find Mexican food in Toronto. A small consolation, though, when the Mexican population of Toronto is but a few thousand, while Chicago boasts hundreds of thousands of these fine folk — enough to keep up the demand for the real deal, whether fresh foods like poblanos or tomatillos, or the ubiqutous fresh corn tortilla (you can even visit the locations where these are made and shipped from in Chicago) or a restaurant meal, like chiles rellenos, horchata, or one of jft’s favourites, tacos al pastor.

I admit my outlook is rather poor, and even childish. Toronto is home, after all, and I have known it to be a great city — truly understood what a magical place it is — for many, many years. Seven months in Egypt in 2000/2001 helped me realize just what an amazing and successful experiment multicultural Toronto had become, and if anything, things have only gotten better and more colourful in subsequent years.

I will admit that my grumbling stomach is not making it easier to focus on what awaits for me in Toronto restaurants, in particular, since over the last few days I’ve been craving many of my favourite tastes of Toronto the Good that I usually get at home, like perogies and pasta e broccoli. But I will also concede to having a small hankering for things I can’t get at home like Toronto’s street meat albeit it in its veggie form.

As I caught up with the backlog in my inbox today, I came across some of the Toronto Life newsletter dispatches I started subscribing to a while ago, something I had done to begin to get back in the loop with Toronto happenings.

And much to my surprise and delight (but my stomach’s chagrin!) several short pieces rated some of the best to be found in Toronto (according to Toronto Life food critics, of course) of some of my favourite eats:

• Perogies
• Crepes
• Fancy Sunday brunch

Realizing I know many of the places listed in the best of lists I’ve linked to, I am feeling mentally satiated (my stomach growling seems to just be getting stronger and louder) already.

Oh Toronto, I was so foolish to doubt you! I am trying hard now to look past by current hunger pangs to recall I will be able to pick up several local publications — magazines and newspapers — as well as dozens of web sites. And in this printed matter and online places I will be able to examine what food critics and everyday citizens have to say about the Toronto food scene, whether rating a new, ambitious restaurant, or devining about a hole in the wall joint still going strong after several decades. And how could I forget all the delicious meals I’ve had in Toronto at places like Salad King, Ethiopian House, Commisso Brothers and dim sum in Mississauga, just to name a few?

And those best of lists I linked to above? Toronto Life has gone ahead and created a whole section they call “Quest,” all in search of some of the city’s best eats.

Toronto, I think I will be just fine when I explore you with fresh you new eyes and tastebuds. I have the south of India to finish savouring, and then I will unleash my gourmand tendencies in France for a while, then on to Chicago to get my fill of Mexican and Hot Doug’s, along with some ravioli making with jft’s dad, but I look forward to reaching your streetcar chiming streets again in the new year. I will be there soon, I’m just getting there one bite at a time.

UPDATE: I’ve added a new links section to the right called “we [heart] this city, too” featuring links about Toronto, much like our Chicago section just above it. I also added a link in our food section to Chatto’s Digest, the blog of Toronto Life food critic James Chatto. If you have any food, cultural or other interesting links about Toronto please send them way so I can build up our Toronto list.