Cold-pressed Organic Extra-virgin Canola Oil

At Highwood Crossing Farm in Aldersryde, Alberta—just 20 minutes south of Calgary—Tony and Penny Marshall produce a variety of canola oil that is the talk of chefs, diners and home cooks throughout Alberta.

Where most commercially produced canola oil has little or no flavour, the Marshalls’ hand-pressed oil is dark amber in colour and rich in flavour. Though the farm also produces organic flaxseed oil and multi-grain cereal, it is the cold-pressed extra-virgin canola oil that has made the Highwood Crossing reputation.

"Free of the usual oil-processing chemicals and bleaches, it retains all of the vitamins and essential fatty acids that make canola oil one of the healthiest dietary fats around," wrote Cinda Chavich in her book, High Plains: The Joy of Alberta Cuisine.

Quantities of the oil are limited, as the Marshalls produce only what is needed, once a week, at a rate of three to six litres per hour, pressing the seeds in a small German-made expeller press one day, and bottling the next. Because the oil is not heated above 40 C or exposed to air or light, the healthiest elements—fatty acids Omega-3 and Omega-6, and the antioxidant Vitamin E—are retained.

The oil is found in specialty food markets, health food shops and a growing number of restaurants throughout Alberta.

Products for Healthy Living

The Heritage Community Foundation is pleased to present this feature article, courtesy of Alberta Ingenuity.

While companies like Highwood Crossing Farm are marketing innovative new cooking products using canola, ongoing research into oilseeds is looking the potential of crops like canola and mustard in the creation of new vaccines and topical creams and lotions.

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