When the weather warms up, and there’s no snow in sight, many Canadians start planning their ultimate summertime road trip. Whether it’s a one-day jaunt or a week-long holiday, the adventure is as much about the journey as it is the destination: you cruise with the windows down, bop to a local radio station and make a chip-truck pit stop for a mound of golden, deep-fried potato chunks doused with your favourite fixings.

Michael Pollan, food advocate and author of In Defense of Food, says it best: don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. That idea is catching on at dozens of Canadian restaurants where chefs are embracing local, seasonal fare. So, it makes sense that this year’s CRFA Show connected operators to purveyors at an Ontario pavilion.

Imagine being pregnant and trapped for 24 hours a day, for the duration of your pregnancy, in a tiny crate that prevents you from moving. You can’t turn around, or lie down comfortably or socialize with anyone. Sound like a nightmare? It’s not — it’s the reality for most breeding sows on commercial pig farms in Canada.

More than 30 years ago, Kermit the Frog sang, “It’s not easy being green.” But today, it’s easier than ever. More notably, it’s never been more important.Foodservice companies are some of the top offenders when it comes to energy consumption and waste generation, and, as concern for the environment grows, restaurateurs are being forced to examine traditional practices, which contribute to the problem. Violations include burners and ventilation fans constantly left on; inefficient, energy-wasting equipment; large amounts of food waste thrown into garbage bags; energy-consuming lights left on — the list is long. But, increasingly, chefs and operators are implementing change.