BUY LOCAL, ONT. URGES
New bill applauded as farmers markets close for season.
As the Downtown Farmers’ Market and Riverside Farmers’ Market both closed for the season this week, vendors and customers were reacting positively to Premier McGuinty’s new plan to promote buying local food.
At the annual Premier’s Summit on Agri-Food Innovation last week, McGuinty introduced the Local Food Act. If passed, it would promote Ontario-grown food along with setting goals and targets for the production, processing, distribution, sales and marketing of Ontario food.
McGuinty also announced the launch of a $10 local food challenge, which asks families in Ontario to shift $10 of their existing weekly food budgets to spend on local food. The Premier said this could increase Ontario food sales by $2.4 billion and create 10,000 jobs.
Andy Tir, a local apple farmer, said the plan is a great idea. This year he lost 95 per cent of his crops in the spring and had only enough apples to take to the Downtown Farmers’ Market to sell locally.
He said usually he sells most of his crops wholesale and does the weekly farmers’ market for fun, on the side.
“If it wasn’t for this farmers’ market, I probably would have let the apples that did grow just rot on the trees. It wouldn’t have been worth it to pick them for wholesale,” said Tir as he unloaded some boxes at the open-air market Saturday.
With pumpkins already bought, Maureen Andrews was heading to Tir’s apple stand next to make pies for Thanksgiving Saturday. She said the fresh ingredients offered at the farmers’ market make for the best ingredients in her cooking and baking.
Andrews has shopped at the Downtown Farmers’ Market every week since it began and said McGuinty’s plan makes sense and would be easy for anyone to do in Essex County because there is so much that is grown in the area.
“We’re all trying to reduce our carbon footprint, and this is one way to do it, buying local,” said Andrews.
In a news release last week, McGuinty said Ontarians grow the best food in the world. “That’s why we’re continuing to push hard to promote local foods and celebrate our innovators.”
Mike Holdsworth, president of the Downtown Residents Association, which overseas the Downtown Farmers’ Market, said there are no definitive plans for continuing the market next year.
“There’s a couple of things on the table. Obviously, there’s the proposed development at the arena (a new market within a redeveloped Windsor Arena), but we haven’t heard anything back on that,” said Holdsworth. He said because the current location, the old bus depot, will be under construction next year and will become a location for the University of Windsor, a new site needs to be found. He said the DRA wants to negotiate with the city or even a private property owner for a new location, to ensure the market continues.
“There are lots of parking lots around here and lots of options we have to keep in mind here,” said Holdsworth.
Downtown Farmers’ Market general manager Victoria Rose said there were 20 to 30 vendors on market days. She said on slow days during the 18-week season, a few hundred people would attend and on busy days up to 1,000 would come out.