By Sarah Jensen, Regional Food Systems Coordinator, Food Action Network of Northwestern Ontario
The first week of June is Local Food Week, and to celebrate we are showcasing what it means to the people working with local food in our region. We asked some local farmers, market staff, and restaurant owners to tell us what local food means to them and how we can celebrate local food all year round! Here is what they had to say:
Mike Visser, Owner & Operator of My-Pride Farm:
Being able to access high quality and unique products that are grown or produced right in our own back yard is not only a fantastic thing, but also a privilege that others in the province don’t have. As a producer it is wonderful that the local community sees the value of this and continues to support businesses like mine.
There are dozens of local businesses that offer their products to our community seasonally and year round. One great opportunity that we have to connect and ‘celebrate’ these local entrepreneurs is at the Thunder Bay Country Market that is open year round, two days a week.
Tammy Husilik, Thunder Bay Country Market Manager:
Local food means community. The Country Market here becomes its own community every day it’s open – you come in the door, and feel like you’re in a different world because there’s that sense of connection between you, the other shoppers, and all our vendors, and beyond that to where our food comes from. That’s the power of local food – to build that type of community.
You should celebrate local food by supporting local food producers all year round – there’s so much available if you come and see what’s here! And the Thunder Bay Country Market is one of the great places to come and do that.
Patrick – Owner and Operator at Lacroix Aquaponics:
The best food is always fresh, always local and always in season. Always incorporate it into your meals on a daily basis for your own health, and because healthy local food is not only supporting local farmers but the community as a whole.
Aakash Rathod – Owner & Chef at Creative Cooking
Local food to me is something that is celebrated with everyone in our community. It’s something that we all should have equal access to, and something that we cherish together. Grown locally, for local people and by local people.
The best way to celebrate all year round is to simply support the very backbone of this community: our farmers, growers and food producers. Supporting them is supporting local food. By celebrating them we can celebrate food all year long. Generating economy for them helps them get equipped with better tools, better opportunity and better resources, that helps them to produce more local food, makes it affordable and brings that food to every door in society.
It’s clear that there is a deep sense of connection to community when it comes to sharing in and eating local food in our region – there is so much to showcase, and when we support local everyone wins. These local food folks, and so many more, want you to know just how much local food is available in our region!
Want to tell us what local food means to you, and how we can better support it? Check out tbayinseason.ca, our online local food directory, and fill out our survey on our program update – this short, 5 minute, mostly multiple-choice survey is a great way for YOU to support local food programming in our region, to help build a more connected, community-based food system!
Local Food Week is June 1 – 8th, and we’ll be celebrating! Come find us at the Thunder Bay Country Market on June 3rd & 6th, stay tuned to our website nwofood.ca and follow us on social media @nwofood
