Local farmers are being called alternative food revolutionaries by Allison Muckle, co-ordinator of Eat Local Sudbury Co-operative.
Muckle is hosting a number of local farmers Wednesday from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Market Square at the corner of Elm Street and Elgin Street. The event is called Local Farmers or Food Revolutionaries?
"Shake the hands of the farmers and producers who are shaping your local food system," said Muckle.
"We want people to meet our producers and ask them questions on how the food is produced," she said.
The co-operative has been selling locally produced produce and products this summer in their retail booth at Market Square.
Dave Lewington, and his wife Chantal, offer a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) program to 50 families in Greater Sudbury from their Verner operation called Dalew farms. They also grow vegetables for sale at the Eat Local Sudbury booth inside Market Square on weekends and Wednesday afternoons from 4:30 p.m.
At 7 p.m. Wednesday he will talk about his grass-fed livestock operation. Lewington rotates the livestock - sheep, pigs, cattle and chickens - on pasture to maximize the health of the animals and the nutritional quality of the meat. He is also active in the National Farmers Union, where he sits on the national board, Eat Local Sudbury, Sudbury Food Connections and the Ontario Small Farm Producers' Association.
Prior to Lewington, at 6 p.m., Max Burt, from Gore Bay, Manitoulin Island, will outline how he tries to be as self-sufficient as possible with his livestock operation. Burt operates a federally inspected abattoir, makes his own biodiesel from waste animal fat and makes many value-added products from deli meats to porketta roasts. He also sells his products at the Eat Local booth in Market Square.
Muckle will speak at 5 p.m. about her food co-operative. She will discuss how much the farmers make from selling through the co-operative and what plans she has for expansion.
Also featured are information booths and samples from Surely Homemade, Heart and Soil Gardens, Perogy Princess, Burt Farms, Dalew Farms, and Don Poulin Potatoes.
CBC Radio One personality and culinary activist Anita Stewart will also be present as part of her northern Ontario tour. She is author of The Flavours of Canada: A Celebration of the Finest Regional Foods and 12 other books.
For more information visit www.eatlocalsudbury.com or phone 521-6717.
