LIL READY TO GIVE GORE JUST DESSERT
By Chris Lambie Chronicle Herald Staff Reporter
Wed. Apr 2 - 5:25 AM
The Halifax restaurateur who served the Rolling Stones a blueberry pie is making plans to give Al Gore a chocolate tofu dessert.
Lil MacPherson is heading to Montreal this weekend for a series of training sessions with the environmental activist and former vice-president of the United States to learn more about the impact of global warming.
"To me, food and global warming are completely connected. How we are growing our food is not sustainable and it's just a waste of energy," said Ms. MacPherson, who tries to serve local fare at her restaurant, the Wooden Monkey, in downtown Halifax.
Fighting global warming and promoting organic foods aren't "fluffy" trends, she said.
Ms. MacPherson, co-owner of the Argyle Street restaurant, made headlines in 2006 when she took the Rolling Stones an organic blueberry pie. The friendly gesture came after Stones guitarist Ron Wood, his wife, Jo, and two of the band's backup singers ate at the Argyle Street restaurant before their concert on the Commons and then offered her two VIP tickets to the show.
She figures Mr. Gore might like something a little less conventional.
"He needs a chocolate tofu pie," Ms. MacPherson said. "He's probably never had tofu in his life, and that pie always attracts people because it's so delicious. And it's completely vegan. There's no cream or milk in it. It's just local tofu, beautiful pure chocolate, pure maple syrup and nuts."
Ms. MacPherson has a real beef with the way meat from Nova Scotia is shipped out of the province and processed before being brought back here for consumption.
"And that's happening globally all over the place," Ms. MacPherson said. "I've bought Nova Scotia scallops that actually went to Japan and back. It's absolutely ridiculous. It should be against the law."
Grass-fed cows worked really well as a food source, she said.
"But because of the demand for cheap food and fast food, they needed to take the cattle away from their food supply, pen them up and bring food to them, which costs amazing amounts of energy."
During three days of presentations in Montreal this weekend, Mr. Gore will teach about 200 people how to expand on the message contained in his Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth.
"He's got some amazing speakers that he's bringing in to teach us more about what we need to know and the main points we need to get across," she said.
Ms. MacPherson has already traded bios with some of the other participants.
"There are engineers and housewives and restaurateurs and moms and grandmothers," said the boisterous foodie, who noted lots of students will also be participating.
"It's just an amazing group of people."
Ms. MacPherson decided to attend the sessions after meeting Peter Corbyn, a Fredericton engineer who has already been trained as part of Mr. Gore's team of Global Warming Messengers.
She is paying the plane fare to Montreal and hotel for the weekend out of her own pocket. Ms. MacPherson also had to buy a new laptop computer for the sessions with Mr. Gore.
"It will probably cost about $1,500, but it goes toward the planet and I hope we get lots out of that," Ms. MacPherson said. "I hope everybody else gets lots out of that."
As a volunteer trainee, Ms. MacPherson will not be paid for her time. More than 1,000 people around the world have attended similar training sessions.
"You can't get paid by Al Gore to do this. This has to be a passion deep inside you."
When she returns to Nova Scotia, she hopes to give presentations to schools and groups about global warming. Ten a year is the bare minimum, but she has heard of people who have done six times that many.
"I don't care if it's five people or 500 people."
Ms. MacPherson said she hopes to be able to deliver the message in simple terms.
"I've been a waitress all my life, and I don't have a science degree or anything. So if I can understand this, I want you to understand this. I want to articulate what exactly is global warming, how it will affect Nova Scotia and the rest of the world."
She's hoping to include the message about buying local food in her talks about climate change.
"We need to be supporting local farmers," Ms. MacPherson said.
Organizers asked participants to look into finding environmentally friendly ways to get to Montreal.
"If I had the time, I would take the train up," she said. "Unfortunately, I do have to fly. But it's going to be a hell of an experience and I'm really excited."
Mr. Gore, who faced stiff criticism for high electric bills at his Tennessee mansion, has recently completed renovations to make the home more energy-efficient.
Criticisms about his mansion's power bills are like questions from people who come into the Wooden Monkey in the middle of winter, wanting to know where the tomatoes come from, she said.
"Jeez, we're using environmental toilet paper and biodegradable cups," Ms. MacPherson said. "We're doing all these things, and you have to pick out that one thing. I mean, no one's perfect.
"It's really sad. There are always people that are going to judge people. I mean, the man's trying to save the world, for God's sake."
