Eat local concept catching on
Friday, August 15, 2008
by GEOFF DALE
They’re prominently displayed almost everywhere – from the provincial government’s $12-million four-year investment in the Pick Ontario Freshness strategy to eat-local initiatives like Oxford County’s first Oxfordlicious (August 6-17) and an expo at Canada’s Outdoor Farm (Sept. 9-11).
Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) vice president Betty Jean Crews, also a Trenton area producer, says while some insist it’s little more than a slogan, she believes the idea of buying local produce represents a growing trend.
“It’s catching on and when I was asked recently whether the high cost of fuel was impacting my on-farm market in a negative way, I said quite the contrary,” she says. “Traffic has been growing throughout the summer.”
While she admits producing and consuming locally grown produce year round may be a challenge, she adds it’s not that difficult to buy Ontario apples even in January, instead of fruit trucked in from the U.S.
Participants in Oxford County’s Oxfordlicious say they are pleasantly surprised by the number of regular customers and visitors ordering dishes from specially prepared fixed priced menus.
Eric Boyar, owner/chef of the 639 in Woodstock – one of the 10 participating Oxford restaurants – is an old hat when it comes to preparing exclusive dishes with local produce.
Since he and his mother Pauline Bucek opened the dining establishment June 28, 2005 – he’s become a regular fixture at the Woodstock Farmers’ Market every Saturday morning and a routine purchaser of local butchers’ products.
“Local has been associated with us from the beginning,” he says. “But I’m pleased to see people are also eagerly looking over these Oxfordlicious recipes for something a little different.”
Other restaurateurs – Hilda Dean, one of the two new co-owners of the Clog Steak and Seafood Grille and Michael Davies, executive chef at the Elm Hurst Inn, both Ingersoll-based establishments – agree interest has been steadily building.
Meanwhile, Oxford County Federation of Agriculture (OCFA) president John Van Dorp says he’d like to see more emphasis on the actual product, by way of interesting background material.
“I like the focus on local food,” he says. “But if there was some kind of story attached, that would be great. Where the product is from, what some of the processes are – that’s a way of connecting the product to the grower, putting a face on it and personalizing it.
“Everybody loves a story.”
When it comes to local meat, Crews says there needs to be an improvement on livestock issues, particularly on slaughter and packaging.
“Some grocery stores demand their cuts of meat come only from federally inspected plants,” she notes. “They do so even though provincial inspections are equal in quality. Getting this federal stamp means renovations that are prohibitive cost wise.”
She points out OFA officials have the ear of the provincial minister of agriculture when discussing such issues because they’ve already talked with a wide spectrum of farm and agribusiness personnel from commodity group members to packing, processing and retail industry representatives. BF