Wellington County are hoping people will be enjoying some local cuisine this long weekend.
This Saturday, Aug. 5, is Food Day Canada, a nationwide initiative celebrating local food, and the farmers, fisherman, producers, chefs and food researchers.
The idea of Food Day Canada came from the mind of the late Anita Stewart. The Elora resident was an author, researcher, food laureate at the University of Guelph, and a member of the Order of Canada.
Stewart created the world’s longest barbecue to support beef farmers and ranchers during the BSE crisis (known at the time as mad cow disease) in 2003.
“She really championed that idea that we need to do more to celebrate Canadian food,” said Christina Mann, Wellington County’s manager of economic development. “Stewart was a cookbook author and that’s how it started. She loved to cook and created these recipe books.”
Stewart died in 2020, three years before the Food Day in Canada Act was introduced in the House of Commons by Perth-Wellington MP John Natar, then passed in the senate.
The Wellington-Guelph Farmers’ Markets are honouring Stewart by making some of her recipes where all the ingredients can be purchased directly from the markets themselves.
“We are so incredibly fortunate… that we live in a place that has incredible soil where we can grow so many excellent foods locally,” Mann said. “We talk about something that is grown in Wellington County and carries that unique taste… that unique characteristic specific to our area.”
One of the events to mark Food Day Canada on Saturday is the Dinner on the Bridge at the Jack R MacDonald pedestrian bridge in Elora. There will be a barbecue, picnic tables, local chefs, and live music.
There is also a walking food and drink tour around Elora with an emphasis on the circular food economy and sustainability. A number of restaurants in Guelph and Wellington County will be offering special dishes with local ingredients.
More information about Food Day Canada can be found by going to the County of Wellington’s website.