100 MILES AND RUNNING
The 100-Mile Diet Society is heading up a Canada-wide Eat Local Challenge running until October 8. Sign up and try it out for a day, week, or the entire thing at www.100milediet.org/vancouver/. With just-caught seafood, local wines, and much more, you’ll eat very well and support local producers, as well as making a positive impact on the environment and your health.

FRESH, LOCAL, TASTY
When hospital cafeterias start serving local, healthy fare, something’s afoot. Eat BC!, back for a second, more organized year, showcases restaurants around the province serving special dishes featuring locally grown food until September 30. Diners can win a year’s worth of weekly dinners for two at a participating restaurant, $1,000 in gasoline, and a $250 IGA gift certificate. Visit www.eatbc.com/ to see who’s serving what and where.

SUNDAY SCHOOL
Cru Restaurant’s Sunday School of Wine is signing up students for four wine-fuelled sessions running each Sunday from October 14 to November 4 (4 p.m to 5:30 p.m.). The course outline includes seminars on how to taste wines, why wines taste different, big wines for winter, sparkling wines, and more. Tuition is $40 per class or $140 for the works. Enroll at 1459 West Broadway, 604-677-4111.

FALL TREATS
A scarecrow competition, guess-the-weight-of-the-monster squash contest, live music, samplings of heirloom apples and pears, plus cooking and nutrition tips are all part of the Farmers Market Harvest Festival at the Trout Lake community centre on Saturday (September 22); Kitsilano community centre on Sunday (September 23); Riley Park at Nat Bailey Stadium on Wednesday (September 26); and Nelson Park in the West End on September 30. See www.eatlocal.org/ for addresses.

WINE ON
Taste both Chile’s and B.C.’s latest crop of wine releases at a pair of upcoming events at the Rocky Mountaineer Station (1755 Cottrell Street). At Chef Meets Grape today (September 20), 12 local chefs pair wild seafood with B.C. wines; $60 tickets at VQA wine shops, www.winebc.com/chefmeetsgrape .php. Next up, the Wines of Chile Fall Festival Tour on Tuesday (September 25) with 200 wines, and bites, $49 at 604-628-9547.

CHAMPIGNONS MAGIQUES
Chanterelles, pine, cauliflower, and lobster mushrooms are some of the many varieties that you’ll find liberally incorporated into classic menu dishes and plats du jour at Hermitage Restaurant (115–1025 Robson Street, 604-689-3237) due to an abundant early harvest.

HOLIDAY HELPER
With Thanksgiving around the corner, it’s time to talk turkey. Whole Foods Market’s Taste of Thanksgiving, Wednesday (September 26), 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Park Royal, 925 Main Street, West Vancouver), offers fresh ideas to mull over while sampling holiday fare. Donations of at least $15 benefit the Richmond Fruit Tree Sharing Project.