The Rural Voice, 2000-09, Page 50Flavours to savour
Perth's food show a huge hit
with cons ers
Story and photos by. eith Roulston
From garlic cookies (top) to beef, pork and chicken,
the wide variety of Perth County's farm production
was on display at Flavours of Perth. At right, a
children's activity area showed kids some of the tasks
of old.
Consumers had
a chance to see
farm equipment
old and new on
display.
46 THE RURAL VOICE
They came, they saw,
they devoured the
Flavours of Perth
on July 29 at the first ever
food show featuring the
county's bountiful food
industry.
In fact, says Mary Hill,
who brought together
agricultural commodity
groups from across the
county to team with the
Stratford -Perth Museum,
the only real problem was
that the tent rented for the
big event was too small to
hold all the people who
lined up to taste the food
samples offered by the
various commodity groups
and food processors.
She estimates that more
than 2,000 people
attended the four-hour
I fi 11111 lawn
event, buying tickets to
sample about 10,000
servings from the 21
commodity groups and
food processors on hand.
"It was a very
gratifying response from
our point of view," Hill
says.
Not that Hill didn't
have some anxious
moments along the way.
As the sun came out for
the opening ceremonies'
she admitted being awake
much of the previous
night as a thunderstorm
pounded through the area.
But the sun shone
throughout, then rain was
falling by the time the
clean up finished in the
afternoon.
The food samplers who
crowded the tent liked the
fact all the food was from
local farms and local
companies, Hill says. She
didn't hear one negative
thingfrom the show
visitors, she says.
Marina Schmidt, a
director of the Perth
County Federation of
Agriculture whose ideas
were part of the
inspiration for the event,
called the results
"outstanding".
It was wonderful that
With the tent crowded, many people
took advantage Of the°sunshine to sit
outdoors.