"When my mother arrived in Canada in 1952, she knew almost nothing about cooking, but with a little help from Betty Crocker and the Eaton's catalogue she started to learn," says Jamie Kennedy, world-renowned chef, restaurateur and Bullfrog Founders Club member. Jamie has set about the task of explaining his gastronomical roots. Raised in Don Mills, Ontario, Jamie Kennedy drew his nascent inspiration from influences as divergent as the vibrant culinary traditions of Sri Lanka to that mainstay of late sixties television, The Galloping Gourmet. Raised in Sri Lanka (then the British colony of Ceylon), Jamie's mother may not have contributed directly to her son's culinary genius, but nonetheless played a key role in his developing awareness of the cultural nuances of sharing and appreciating fine food. Jamie's subsequent visits to his mother's birthplace further shaped his sensibilities, with the traditions absorbed from those trips infusing many of his later creations including the so-called "Hopper Station" at his newly launched restaurant in the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art.

"As a child, I was fascinated by the theatricality of food, whether in TV cooking shows like Julia Child's, or through the sense of occasion experienced in restaurants. This theatricality raised food beyond the mundane to a means of expressing culture, a vehicle for communication, a statement of civilization. This captured my imagination," says Kennedy.

As a teenager, Kennedy left Toronto to attend high school in Connecticut, where he founded his first culinary club. From there, he went on to complete a three-year apprenticeship in cooking that arguably sealed his fate. A few years in Switzerland followed, allowing Kennedy to immerse himself in European tradition before returning to Canada to assume the partner chef position, together with Michael Stadtlaender, at Toronto's landmark dining spot, Scaramouche. It was in this capacity that Kennedy began to consider the impact of his culinary decisions on the environment.

"At Scaramouche, I realized I wasn't happy with the status quo, and I began questioning my sources of supply," explains Kennedy. "Our post-war mentality of privilege has undermined gastronomy, leading to a fixation with the idea that food should be cheap and always available. This fixation contributed to the rise of the factory farm and the decline of the small family farm - and the quality and stewardship of the land that it stood for. A return to crop rotation, rather than a monoculture approach, would preclude the need for pesticides, and allow farmers to maintain a more natural balance of nutrients in the earth."

Kennedy took action by helping to found the "Knives and Forks Alliance", a group of chefs and farmers with a shared commitment to promoting mixed farming and locally grown produce. The network relies on restaurants, like Kennedy's own wine bar in downtown Toronto, to liberate themselves from the confines of set menus. Kennedy takes a flexible approach, buying whatever is in season, whether arugula, green beans, or something else, rather than insisting upon set menu items that must be shipped in when they are out-of-season locally.

"It is extra work to respond to what's happening seasonally in Ontario - but it's worth it," Kennedy insists. "This alliance has helped to promote a strong niche market of innovative and entrepreneurial growers who are learning that the small farm can be profitable again."

Kennedy's passion for sourcing locally grown produce reflects not merely his desire to put quality food on the table but also a deeply held belief in the importance of enabling communities to be self-sustaining.

"Communities should be able to tackle all facets of life and culture, whether growing their own tomatoes or erecting their own windmill."

Kennedy's bullfrogpowered farm represents his own blueprint for the self-sufficient and community-networked household, where everything from eggs to lettuce are produced or grown on property or sourced from neighbours. Kennedy's ultimate vision is to open a fully self-sufficient restaurant onsite that features terroir-based gastronomy and serves as a model for what is achievable at the community level.

This focus on enabling community autonomy extends to Kennedy's perspective on Ontario's electricity system. Kennedy draws a parallel between Ontario's coal and nuclear plants and the factory farm industry; both centralize production in monolithic plants, he argues, that take their toll on communities and the environment. Instead, Kennedy favours decentralization of power generation and the support of community-based renewable projects.

"We all need to reassess our lifestyles," he sums up. "Becoming bullfrogpowered was one thing I could do to make a difference. People think it's too difficult to change, but it doesn't have to be hard to make changes that count. Don't buy fresh blueberries from Chile in December. Preserve or freeze foods bought locally and seasonally instead. Challenge your grocer to label local produce clearly so that you know what you're buying. Ride your bike if you live in an urban centre. And turn off the air conditioner."