County of Origin-Meet the local producers of Indulgence

Wendell Berry

  City Palate “Eating is an agricultural act.” 2005 
 
 
 

More consumers and chefs are foregoing the big-box grocery routine — anonymous food in cardboard boxes marked product of Canada and choosing to go direct, seeking out local farmers who produce vegetables, meats, poultry, even condiments, closer to home.

Several of these producers will participate in Indulgence, a Canadian Epic of Food and Wine (May 3). Not only does the event provide a venue for chefs and farmers to get to know one another, it’s an opportunity for consumers to taste excellent Alberta-grown foods.

It’s a reminder that food is more than sustenance: it’s part of our culture and our community, not to mention our economy. We need farmers. They’re our history, and our future.

Several of these producers are at local farmers markets and some, depending on where you live, may be able to put you on their delivery route.
     
Sunworks Farm, Armena
Ron and Sheila Hamilton www.sunworksfarm.com

You’ll find Ron or Sheila, or Shae or Erin, every Saturday at the Old Strathcona Market, chatting with their customers and extolling the virtues of their pristine, certified-organic meats and poultry. Their eggs, with the rich canary yellow yolks, are sold out by 10:00 AM. Their farm near Armena is home to 30,000 broiler chickens, 1500 turkeys, 900 ducks, 400 lambs and 300 pigs. They are strong proponents of holistic management and sustainable agriculture. They’re also in Calgary at the new Currie Barracks Market, which Ron was instrumental in forming.