Mayor Marolyn Morrison — Mayor has five great reasons for eating locally

June 5, 2013 · 0 Comments

What do you think the Top Five Reasons for eating locally might be?
Here’s what I think they are.
Taste and Nutrition: Locally grown and produced food is fresher, tastier and more nutritious than imported foods. This is primarily because it takes less time to travel between the farm and the consumer. For produce in particular, this means that it is picked when fully ripe — and not before. Studies have also shown that many foods lose their nutritional value with storage and transport.
Farmland Preservation: Supporting local farmers helps to make their farm businesses more viable, which contributes to preserving the beautiful farmlands and rural flavour of our area.
The Local Economy: Money spent on local food circulates within our local economy, strengthening the community for all of us.
Food Safety: Ontario food is produced to some of the highest food safety standards in the world.
Sustainability: In this era of environmental stewardship and responsibility, it is important we all do our part to ensure sustainable solutions are used in our day-to-day lives. Consuming locally produced foods is a “three-times-a-day” step in the right direction!
Caledon Farmers’ Market, which opens June 8 this year, has been bringing locally grown and produced foods and items to the residents and visitors of Caledon since 2009. The Market is open Saturdays (rain or shine), June 8 through to Oct. 12, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and features a diverse assortment of foods, artwork and crafts.
The market operates at the Albion-Bolton Fairgrounds at 150 Queen St. South in Bolton. It is a “first producers” market, allowing residents and visitors the opportunity to sample and purchase locally-produced goods directly from the source. Each week includes a different food-oriented theme and the Market Sprouts Club offers weekly activities like face painting, colouring sheets, crafts, games and other programming for children age 12 years and younger. Events such as culinary demonstrations and live music are also regularly scheduled.
There is always plenty to see, taste and do at the Caledon Farmers’ Market. I look forward to seeing you there!