The Rural Voice, 2000-08, Page 18•
Perth County's farm groups invite their urban
neighbours to taste the
3/aoours O el'fhl
Farming and food production has taken a public relations beating in recent
months but a special event in Stratford will leave a good taste in consumers's
mouths about the Perth County food scene.
Flavours of Perth is a co-operative effort between 20 Perth County commodity
groups and the Stratford -Perth Museum. On July 29 at the museum location, just
across from the Festival Theatre and the thousands of people who attend Saturday
performances, there'll be a show of the best that Perth County agriculture can offer.
Flavours of Perth will have plenty for people to do for no cost with displays of
farm machinery from both today and yesterday, booths by the Perth Federation of
Agriculture, Women & Rural Economic Development, Stratford Chefs school and
Sobeys, among others, plus children's activities and entertainment.
During the day there will be several presentations. At 11:30 p.m. Bill Wallace,
one of the principals in Quality Jersey Products in Seaforth will tell of. his journey
from dairy farmer to cheese producer. At 12:30, Jackie Rowe of The Garlic Box will
speak about garlic. At 1:30 Antony John of Soiled Reputations will speak on
heritage gardening and at 2:30 Ann Slater of Slater's Organic Vegetables will speak
on buying vegetables at their peak season for freshness.
But no doubt the most attention will go to the food sampling. Some 20
commodity groups and local food producers will have booths where, for 50 cents per
sample, you can taste everything from pork recipes to bean recipes to goat milk
cheese.
And while organizers are hoping for a large turnout to sample the diversity of
Perth County's food production, Flavours of Perth is reaching far beyond the event
itself. Some 60,000 copies of a special publication, a combination recipe book for
commodities taking part and a promotion for the event, have been distributed to
homes across the county.
The idea for the event, says Mary Hill, who is co-ordinating the massive effort
involved, came from a conversation she had a year and a half ago with Marina
Schmidt, a director of the Perth County Federation of Agriculture who is active in
promoting agriculture. Schmidt, she recalls, was concerned about how to get
people to try the products grown in their own backyard in Perth. That started a
brainstorming process as to how to bridge the gap between the producer and the
consumer.
Schmidt, while a participant in the Advanced Agricultural Leadership
Program, had visited the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, sampling from the
sensational food at various booths. It got her thinking about
t1 the diversity of food in her own county, she recalls, and the
14 THE RURAL VOICE
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