Farmers market pushes locally grown produce
Eat Local Yk educates on local foods and recipes
Robin Grant
Northern News Services
Friday, June 16, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Marie Auger says it is possible for Yellowknifers to eat a diet of locally grown food.
Melissa Tilden hands out a bowl of lettuce and spicy greens mixed into a savory apple cranberry salad. - Robin Grant/NNSL photo |
She's a farmer with Le Refuge, a small farm near Madeline Lake which has a booth at this year's Yellowknife Farmers Market.
"We've become so reliant on imports, people don't really know where their food comes from," she said. "You don't have to go for the processed foods at supermarkets."
On June 5, Le Refuge was set up next to the market's newest addition, Eat Local Yk.
Eat Local Yk has a goal to teach people about the nutrition of locally grown produce and how to make delectable recipes from it.
Each week, Eat Local Yk features two new locally grown vegetables with a free samples and recipes.
As part of the project, the vegetables can usually be bought from a local farmer who set up shop at the market.
"We have a lot of produce in Yellowknife that people don't know what to do with," said Sean Feretycki who works with Eat Local Yk.
"We are going to show you ways to use it, little tastes of it. We're going to make you fall in love with it and point you to the farmers who actually grow it."
Produce like spicy greens aren't something most people think of when choosing vegetables.
"If I can give you a little taste, show you some ways to use it and take away some of that fear, you're going to support the local farmers," he said.
Ultimately, the hope is to get more people eating local food and fuel the local farm industry.
As Yellowknifer reported in December, according to Farmers' Markets Ontario, every dollar spent at a farmers' market circulates within the community 3.24 times.
"If we can stimulate demand for it. If the farmers who are here every week are selling out, next year they grow more," said Feretycki.
According to Yellowknife Farmers Market vice-chairperson Lise Picard, approximately 1,167 people came out on the first day last week.
While that could add up to a lot of waste, the market is ensuring it doesn't leave any garbage behind.
"Most of the waste generated by the market is disposable containers used by the food vendors," explained Picard. "All the food vendors are using compostable, disposable containers, utensils, napkins and wood sticks."
Once visitors finish eating, the organizers ask that they throw their containers out in the available garbage and composting buckets on site.
