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| - This is a wonderful example of a neighborhood, park-based farmers market.
You can tell it's a neighborhood scene because of all the strollers and dogs (this is the Beaches!).
No-one has to drive here (which is how farmers markets solve the problem of pedestrianizing the city and the food system!), so it's just another part of a family outing -- which is what food shopping with neighbors should be like. Whoever said the place to buy food is in an air-chilled supermarket.
The range of choice for a small market is incredible, especially in ready-to-eat food. There's a stand there for first-rate processed tofu, that tastes as different from store tofu as fresh-baked bread does from store bread. There's fresh roasted coffee, from solar roasters, from Merchants of Green Coffee. There's horizontally readed cacao from mexico, mixing it up with as many Ontario ingredients as possible. There are two bakers and a fish place.
Fresh-farmed food is also plentiful.
Bought some fantastic sour cherries (they had about 3 kinds) from the Local Sustainable Plus-certified Bizjak Farm in Niagara. Bought some calaloo, the delicious and nutritious green popular in the Caribbean from Ujama Farm, grown by youth in North Toronto.
Lots of natural meat products, but I didn't try any.
Had a great drum band the day I was there.
In my e-book on Food for CIty Building, I try to make the case that parks should sponsor farmers markets as a way to support artisanal producers, and save them from having to have the upfront capital to lease a storefront over a long time, and as a way to build neighborhood spirit and togetherness.
My wife and I came here after working out Sunday morning at the local gym. We met about 5 people we knew from the gym and introduced ourselves.
This is what farmers markets do!
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