The Rural Voice, 1990-04, Page 44The
first annual
KNIVES
& FORKS
Winter
Congress
FARMERS are accustomed to
meetings. They meet with each other
and with government officials. They
have their fairs and functions where
they meet with equipment dealers and
feed suppliers. And in February at the
first annual Knives & Forks Winter
Congress, farmers were given the
refreshing opportunity to meet the
consumer — the urban consumer.
Knives & Forks, a rather informal
club of mostly young, successful
Toronto chefs, has, after a year-long
association, taken the unique initiative
of establishing a personal relationship
between chefs, consumers, and
farmers.
It seems a sensible alliance. Like
farmers, chefs care about food. Like
farmers, chefs make food their busi-
ness. And increasingly, food is
becoming their concern.
On the front lines of the food -
supply industry, chefs like Jamie
Kennedy and Michael Stadtlander,
considered by many to be two of the
finest chefs in the haute -eatery district
of "world-class" Toronto, have been
eager for some time to respond to a
growing interest in organically grown
produce. Even in the trendiest circles
this interest can no longer be consid-
ered merely a trend. At the Winter
Congress, Stadtlander called it "a
movement." At the least, this demand
ql
by Sarah Borowski
Farmers and chefs who met in Toronto
this winter to explore market opportunities
found they had a good deal in common.
And their plan to open a farmer's market
for restaurant buyers this spring should
provide mutual benefits.
for organically grown foodstuffs
and hormone -free meats is a distinct
market adjustment.
The urban consumer is, as always,
looking for good -tasting and nutritious
food. But increasingly he is also de-
manding some information and assur-
ances about the actual production of
that food.
For Kennedy and Stadtlander and
a small group of like-minded chefs
and restaurant owners, the quality and
integrity of the food they prepare and
serve is of direct relevance to their
personal integrity and business repu-
tation. They say that inadequate food -
supply systems, the unwillingness of
food suppliers to meet their changing
needs, and the inability of city vendors
to respond to their questions helped
lead to the formation of Knives &
Forks.
And they are looking to the source.
They want to talk to farmers.
Just before Christmas last year,
Knives & Forks held a small market at
the Latvian House on College Street.
Fourteen producers came to show their
stuff. Chefs and restauranteurs asso-
ciated with Knives & Forks came to
shop, to socialize, and to meet the
suppliers.
It was fun and it was a beginning.
But it wasn't business. "We took
home a lot of meat," one rabbit farmer
noted. "We put it in the freezer."
Still, she and about 40 other
Ontario farmers came from a 100 -
mile radius of Toronto to the February
Congress to talk some more with these
avant-garde buyers.
It was an interesting day. The
hundred or more chefs and farmers in
the Liberty Restaurant at the corner of
Queen and Church streets divided
easily into two camps. Almost by
appearance alone we could recognize
each other. On the whole, we, the
farmers, were older. We were more
consciously and less expensively
dressed. We had notebooks and pens
ready. Our city hosts mingled cas-
ually, hands in pockets. They were
relaxed, confident, and welcoming.
We were eager, questioning, a bit
cynical.
But if there were shared charac-
teristics among the producers, there
was also the inevitable diversity.
Some growers were accredited `or-
ganic." Others were "transitional."
Several, chiefly the livestock people,
made no claim to the organic label but
were offering hormone -free meat.
One fruit grower had been working
for years to regenerate old and nearly
lost varieties in anticipation of this
new marketplace. Another fellow, a
large market gardener (who farms
with his family in the disquieting
40 THE RURAL VOICE