Tuesday 25 September 2012

Fresh Fest at the Ontario Food Terminal

This past Saturday, armed with my trusty vegan-sidekick, we drove into 'the big city' and went where no veggie-nerd had gone before!  A million thank yous to all the vendors who so graciously opened their stalls for us to snoop around in.  For as long as I can remember I've wanted to know "what goes on in there?"  And now I do.  It's about fourth generation produce-guys keeping the family business alive.  It's about getting fresh produce out to local vendors and local markets across the GTA and beyond.  It's about talking to vendors about various kinds avocados, spuds, lemons and fruits I can't even pronounce. It's about a little girl who handed me a bag and said "my dad said to fill up this bag with tomatoes - you can even give us a donation for FoodShare".  My heart melted and I dug deep into my pocket - you just knew that she was the next vendor-in training.  Her father beamed.  There was this overwhelming sense of 'hope' - I know that probably sounds corny (pardon the produce-pun), but the being surrounded by people who loved food ... FRESH FOOD ... well, it made us feel like maybe, just maybe, 'real food' will return to more family tables.  That is of course, if we left any produce behind ... I'm not kidding we couldn't have fit another single solitary carrot in our car :)  What a fab day out - and what a fab cause. So glad we could be part of it ...
 
 
 

 
 

4 comments:

  1. OOOOH, I'm so happy for you! This truly must have been a monumental event for a foodie! I'd like to know how you crammed your car was after this event?? And what have you cooked up??

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    1. I think my vegan-buddy and I said "omg I'm dying" about 80 million times. Thankfully she has a good sized SUV 'cause that sucker was PACKED lol If we'd brought her children with us ... we would have had to leave them there unattended while we brought all our goodies home LOL

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  2. Thank you for Noticing my little Girl Maya 6 years old hustle and her other twin sisters Mary and Maggie were Hustling all day and by 3 pm we gave away 100 % of our tomatoes, peppers and cukes .
    the amazing thing is that we collected double the value of the produce with all proceeds going to Foodshare program , the girls drove from kingsville near windsor to give me a hand on saturday and was a terrific experience in Civic duty indeed I was beaming with joy and pride of my Girls :)

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    1. What a fantastic update - thank you so much for sharing!!!! Your girls are amazing people, what an accomplishment!!!! Congrats Maya, Mary and Maggie!!!!! I also work with my father during the week, and there's nothing better than when Dad is proud of you :)

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