As part of an ongoing video series, we here at blogUT partnered up with My City Lives to show you all the hot spots on the U of T campus. This month we bring you…(drum roll please)…the infamous St. George food trucks! Why? Because you know what? Restaurants are overrated. The trucks on St. George will change the way you eat…not necessarily for the better, but for cheap! And if you haven’t tried it yet, we promise you…you will soon!

My City Lives is an online platform that gives us the chance to capture and share our daily experiences around the city on video. Presented on an interactive map, these web stories show exactly where each video was filmed so you can learn more about the city based on the stories and experiences of your fellow citizens. To view the entire blogUT web series, click here.

When I first came to U of T, I was on a diet of pizza from Cora’s (which was once closed for health code violations) and fries from that truck in front of Sidney Smith. I just found the food from the U of T cafeterias to be crappy and overpriced (one time I found a plastic wrapper inside my salad…).

After several years, I’ve been able to figure out what places have decent — if not awesome — food around campus, which is affordably-priced, filling, reasonably healthy, and has vegetarian options (I am a vegetarian). Hopefully this will help you stop buying hot dogs and Burger King, which I know you hate yourself for eating. While you won’t find food at these places that costs less than $3, let’s be honest — no meal that costs that little can be good for you.

1. Veda

I think this place opened fairly recently. I ran into it today and almost exploded in excitement that there was indian food on campus. Though I didn’t have time to buy anything, the menu looked pretty good (and it smelled really great in there too!).

Type: Indian
Location: Sanford Fleming

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Earthcycle, also known as Environment Week, is coming up at U of T from September 21st to 26th. With over 25 things to see and do — all incorporating the theme of climate change and the environment — you might get overwhelmed with what you want to check out. Here are some of blogUT’s event picks for Earthcycle.

Workshops and Tours

Container Gardening Workshop
Thursday Sept. 24 from 1pm – 3pm @ International Student Centre Veranda

Learn about city gardening – grow your own food

Trinity College Green Roof Tour & Lunch
Wednesday Sept. 23 from 12pm – 2 pm @ St. Hilda’s College Residence

Students from Trinity College, the first University of Toronto signatory to the Presidents’ Climate Change Initiative, will provide a tour of their green roof and free lunch to visitors.

Food

Hot Yam vegan lunch
Thursday Sept. 24 from 12pm – 2 pm @ International Student Centre, Baldwin Room

A $4 vegan lunch by the Hot Yam! — a healthy environmental alternative to fast food and animal products.
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In its 25th year, the Vegetarian Food Fair isn’t just for those who’ve gone meatless. With over a hundred exhibitors to visit, anyone who is a budding vegetarian, environmentally-conscious, interested in healthy living, or just looking to try new foods will discover something interesting.

Whether you are a vegetarian or meat-lover, you will want to try some of the faux-meat dishes offered at one of the many food booths. As a seasoned vegetarian, I was particularly pleased with the veggie drumsticks from King’s Cafe. If imitation meat is not your style, you can also find a few meat dishes here and there.
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On my second installment introducing farmer’s markets around Toronto, I’d like to introduce the little one on Borden, one block west of Brunswick (where Future’s Bakery is) since it’s really close to campus. In want of something healthier than the stuff they serve at residence? Drop by this market every Wednesday for some fresh fruit, vegetables, baked goods, honey, cheese and meat. Although the market is relatively small compared to Brick Works and the famous St. Lawrence Farmer’s Market, it’s still a lovely source of food from the Ontario greenbelt. (Not to mention the organizers like handing out free samples pretty often!) So here is the information you need if you ever want to visit:

MyMarket Bloor-Borden

Where?

The farmer’s market can be found in the parking lot on the corner of Bloor and Borden, 1 block west of Brunswick Avenue where Future’s Bakery is. It is between the intersections of Bloor and Bathurst (its closest intersection) and Bloor and Spadina.

When?

Every Wednesday from 3PM to 7PM, rain or shine from June 3rd to October 28.

Is there anything to do there?

• Sample food
• Buy food if you want
• Do something fun on or off campus

Just as a sidenote…

Ontario peaches, at this moment, are absolutely lovely at this time of year. They’re sweet and slightly tart and full of colour, just as peaches should be.

I didn’t take too many pictures but I really like this one:

Tomatoes of all sorts of shapes and colours!

Pictures by Jess.

There is only less than a month left before the beginning of the new school year. Here is what you must do to make the most of it before you are cooped up in your room studying while there’s a blizzard outside:

a) spend lots of time outside
b) wear sandals with shorts on every possible occasion
c) eat lots of frozen desserts
d) attend some of these events below

Taste of the Danforth
I hear there are free samples, and beer (but not free).
When: Aug 7 – 9
Cost: Free
Where: Along the Danforth, of course
Website: tasteofthedanforth.com

Toronto Festival of Beer
For those beer connoisseurs.
When: Aug 7 – 9
Cost: $45 – $50
Where: Exhibition Place
Website: beerfestival.ca

Outdoor screening of Gladiator
This movie won 5 Oscars, apparently.
When: Aug 11 @ 8:30pm
Cost: Free
Where: Yonge-Dundas Square
Website: ydsquare.ca

Toronto After Dark Film Festival
An awesome film festival of horror and sci-fi movies. Check out my reviews from last year: Home Movie and Let the Right One In. The latter is actually being remade in English!
When: Aug 14 – 21
Cost: $10 – $15
Where: Bloor Cinema
Website: torontoafterdark.com

Outdoor screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Arrrrr (pirate sound)…. Bring a blanket and some snacks.
When: Aug 18 @ 8:30pm
Cost: Free
Where: Yonge-Dundas Square
Website: ydsquare.ca

The CNE
I discovered that watching people play games is as fun as playing them yourself, with the added bonus of not losing tons of money.
When: Aug 21 – Sep 7
Cost: $15 for General Admission (but $1.75 on opening day!)
Where: Exhibition Place
Website: theex.com

Buskerfest
Street performance at its best, plus the money they raise goes to Epilepsy Toronto.
When: Aug 27 – 30
Cost: Donate what you can
Where: St. Lawrence Market
Website: torontobuskerfest.com

Farmer’s markets are a wonderful way to get fresh, organic and local food. Although not all farmer’s markets will have all organic food, many of them provide local produce, which means that your food will take less distance to get from field to table, making them fresher (and have little or no preservatives), taste better and use less fuel to get to your local market. During the summer and early fall months, many farmer’s markets will be filled with lovely summer and fall fruits and vegetables and therefore, will be a lively affair. As a result, I’ve decided to write a few articles on a few of these markets in the city.

A Real Gem: The Evergreen Brick Works Farmer’s Market

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