Connecting Albert County - Connecting Albert County - Local Food

Albert County Agricultural Society #133 established Oct. 1913

29/9/2023

submitted by Dawne McLean, ACE Board Director

During the 1800s, local agricultural societies were developing in rural communities throughout Canada and so were the annual agricultural fairs, which aimed to promote rural development. Such was the case in Albert County; the early fairs were organized by the agricultural society of each community and devoted to the exhibition of livestock and agricultural products. These annual one-day fairs held in October were exciting social events in the communities of Albert, Harvey, Hopewell Hill, Hillsborough and Coverdale.

The ACE executive team cutting the celebration cake for our 110th Anniversary! Fabien MacLeod, 1st VP, Terry Steeves, President, and Tom McNaught, 2nd VP.

Shepody Food Bank Highlights from 2022

6/2/2023

by Lynne Greenblatt

Belated Happy New Year from the Board of Directors of the Shepody Food Bank! We would like to take this opportunity to share with you some highlights from the past year.

Shepody Food Bank, located at the Albert County Community Health Centre in Riverside-Albert, serves the catchment area from the Village of Alma up to and including the Upper Albert Mines Road in Edgetts Landing, and the Caledonia Mountain Road from Riverside-Albert up to Route 910 in Rosevale.

We are open every Wednesday from 1-3pm, serving clients on a first-come, first-served basis. Clients may visit once a month for assistance and will receive six days' worth of food for each individual in the household.
In 2022, we served over 80 households comprising 170 individuals in need, giving out almost 23,000 meals. Almost 30% of the people we serve are minors and around 20% are seniors.

January Pantry Challenge

2/1/2023

by Angela MacDougall Herb n' Joy Fundy Farms: local harvest

It's January! Time for eating hearty, soul nourishing meals we have put away in the cold room, cupboards and freezers. It's time to do the deep clean of all the food in our houses - rotate, use up, save on groceries and get creative in the kitchen! What else are you going to do with all the snow and cold temperatures coming our way?
If you've been around for a while, you know the Pantry Challenge drill, but with so many new faces in the community, let's do a quick overview.

The Pantry Challenge is to help you: save money, reduce waste, rotate through your food, learn new recipes and get the family involved in some fun in the kitchen. The concept is to not buy groceries for the month of January, BUT you are your own rule maker. So! If you need to buy dairy products, or bread or whatever it is, no sweat! You make your own rules. The goal is just to buy less and try to go as long as possible without grocery shopping.

This year we are really excited to learn some new cooking techniques and introduce new styles of cooking into our repertoire. We will be highlighting foods made with flour (Yikes! Not my comfort zone.) with our new community member Kasia Diana. Kasia is going to teach us to make some dishes from her Polish background. We are excited to get together in the kitchen and cook with friends. (This is also something YOU could do, too.)

We will be sharing all our meals, discoveries, recipes and ideas on our social media pages. We invite you to follow along under Fundy Farms: local harvest on Facebook and Instagram.

We hope you will get involved and join in on the fun. You can also follow #threeriverschallenge #pantrychallenge2023 on Instagram to see what others are doing for the challenge as well.

Open Farm Day!

30/8/2022

It's the event you've all been waiting for! Back and better than ever!

The Fair is Coming To Town

30/8/2022

by Laurie McNaught

The Board of Directors invites you to ACE '22, September 15-18. We have a great program this year with the return of the Queen Pageant opening night, delicious meals from the Dining Hall on all four days, parade on Saturday, concerts Friday and Saturday night, and lots of fun for the kids, including Playmania Inflatables and Mad Science. This year, we are taking a strong focus on our roots - Agriculture. Visitors can learn how to make homemade ice cream and see newly hatched chicks on site.

New this year, join us in Oulton Hall on Sunday and visit the many stations to learn more about New Brunswick farming. Come sit in our virtual reality tractor to grow your own crop, learn about different grains and we dare you try our edible soil! Please follow us on Facebook for updates, including our full program of events and find other details on our website www.albertfair.ca . See you at the Fair!

Iron in Your Diet

30/6/2022

by Brittany Butland

Iron is an essential mineral needed by your body for good health. Your body uses iron to make hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. Without enough iron, you don’t have enough red blood cells to carry oxygen, which leads to symptoms of weakness, dizziness, and fatigue. Iron is also important for healthy brain development and growth in children, and for the normal production and function of various cells and hormones

Gardening with Kris from Foods of The Fundy Valley

30/5/2022

by Kris Buck

The beautiful frost covered province of New Brunswick extends across two planting zones (4 and 5). The region is made up of rolling hills, sweeping flatlands, floodplains, rugged cliffs, and long coastlines, making it challenging for even the most experienced of gardeners.

Two of the most important aspects of gardening are knowing when to plant and what to plant in your vegetable or flower garden. However, it can be difficult to know the exact time to begin planting in order for a garden to flourish throughout the growing season. If your plant or garden fails to thrive, simply adjusting your planting time frame might make a big difference. A planting calendar takes the guesswork out of the process.

Healthy Eating on a Budget

2/5/2022

by Brittany Butland, RD

Making healthy food choices has become even more difficult in the last couple of years due to the rising cost of food. According to CBC News, food costs have risen 7.4% in the last year, which is the largest increase since 2009.

Shepody Food Bank - Supporting our Community for 15 Years

2/5/2022

by Lynne Greenblatt

Shepody Food Bank is celebrating 15 years of service in our community! Located at the Albert County Community Health Centre in Riverside-Albert, we have been providing emergency supplies of food to individuals and families in need who live between Alma and Edgetts Landing in lower Albert County since April 2007. Each month, we distribute an average of 2,200 meals. Our mission is to increase access to healthy food in a manner that maintains dignity, builds health and community, and fosters respect for diversity and inclusion.

Garden of Salem Community Garden

2/5/2022

by Charleen Broad

The phrase “Community Garden” can have many meanings and bring up different ideas, depending on to whom you were speaking. Every community garden has its unique objectives; however, they have been shown to provide the following benefits: education and training, increased nutrition, improved physical and mental health, addressing food security, creating employment, and serving as a common place for diverse and inclusive sharing and development. The majority of those involved in community gardens consider them to be a meeting place for creating healthier societies, and we agree 100% with that sentiment.

We invite you to join us in making Albert County a better place to live and experience the many benefits of growing your own food with a group of people eager to share and learn from each other.

Pictured are Tammy Tingley and Jaimie Campbell

Farmers Market Season

2/5/2022

By Angela MacDougall

The crew at The Old Village Church Farmers Market is growing and we are so excited to welcome the 2022 Market season. The warmer weather brings our opening weekend of May 21st.

With our vendor spaces reaching capacity, it will be a full array of colourful offerings. Enjoy the ambiance of the beautiful wooden vaulted ceilings and huge stained glass windows. Peruse the booths, a hot cup of locally roasted Buddha Bear coffee in one hand and a freshly made donut or butter tart in the other. Better yet, meet a friend and have a chat inside at one of the repurposed pew tables or outside at the picnic table under the maple tree.

We truly hope you will choose to shop locally as much as possible this summer, when you need a gift, some groceries or even just a snack! We look forward to seeing you at the market!

Foods of the Fundy Valley Coming Events

27/2/2022

MAPLE FEST 2022:
Foods of The Fundy Valley, in partnership with the Town of Riverview, is pleased to announce its third annual "Taps To Tables, Discover Albert County’s Maple Tour."

The maple tour is a collection of local maple "to-do's", featuring sugar bush tours, pancake breakfasts, maple beer, maple-inspired dining, activities, live cooking shows and, of course, maple baked goodies, etc. Local businesses will showcase and highlight all that this great season has to offer. This year's festival will take place April 1-3, 2022, and will not disappoint. Stay tuned to the Town of Riverview's Facebook page for up-to-date information on all of the events that will take place as we prepare to chase the liquid gold! #maplefest2022 #supportlocal

KIDS WORKSHOP SERIES:
We're sliding into Spring here at Farmer Brown's Greenhouse with this six-week children's workshop series. Parents are invited to attend with their children for a morning of sliding, bonfires, visiting with the animals, the great outdoors, and an instructional portion with one of our staff.

The farm will be open for visits from 9 am to 12 pm each week, with the hands-on activity commencing at 10 am. Grab your water bottle, bring a snack, and join us for a morning on the farm. The cost will vary each week based on the hands-on activity.

Pre-Registration is required for each activity by sending a message to us on Facebook or texting 506-878-9285.

Feb 26 - Cactus Pot ($15)
March 7 (March Break) - Succulent Garden ($25)
March 10 (March Break) - Fairy Garden ($35)
March 19 - Make your own toolbox for the garden (includes some tools). ($20)
March 26 - Build a flower box and fill it with flowers ($15)
April 2 - Maple Madness! Stay tuned to Facebook for more tasty details!

Farmer Brown's is located at 371 Osborne Corner, Dawson Settlement, approximately 12 minutes straight out the Pine Glen Road from Riverview.

FOOD SMART:
The Community Food Smart program is a bulk food buying club for individuals and families keen on purchasing quality fruits and vegetables at affordable prices, sourced from local farmers when possible. Each bag is available on a monthly basis and the cost is $15.00

Community Food Smart operates through a network of community partners who collect orders, provide volunteers, and distribute food bags to their members each month. Together, these partners donate their time and effort to make each area's food buying club a success. If you are interested in participating in our monthly Food Smart program, please contact Foods of The Fundy Valley's Facebook page or by texting 506-878-9285.

Take the Challenge! The January Pantry Challenge

1/1/2022

Angela's preserves

By Angela MacDougall

January seems to have crept up on us quickly this year. Maybe it is due to the fact we were able to work in the garden through November and even on several warm days in December.

We hope you will join us in our January Pantry Challenge. It's a great way to save money on groceries after the holidays and use up items in your cupboards and freezer that keep getting passed over.

Healthy Habits for a Happy New Year

1/1/2022

By Brittany Butland, RD

New Year, new you… right? Now that the holiday season has wrapped up and the New Year has begun, we tend to have an urge to start fresh and work on our new personal goals, which may include weight loss. Weight loss is a common resolution, especially if we believe we overeat throughout the holidays. The wellness industry capitalizes on this way of thinking by bombarding us with messages about diets, detoxes, weight loss challenges and other food-based resolutions. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with wanting to lose some weight, but the problem lies in the way that we approach it. If weight loss is your goal, ending up at a weight you can comfortably maintain is more important than starving yourself to reach a specific number on the scale.

Hillsborough Supports Local Food Entrepreneurs

1/1/2022

Ryan Smith & Angela MacDougall of Fundy Farms: Local Harvest

By Deborah Carr

When Byron Gourley first purchased a beautiful heritage home in Hillsborough, he envisioned an art studio in his future, not a grocery store. He and his life partner had been living in Moncton, but sought a larger home that afforded space to expand his artistic endeavours. Although it needed work, the Hillsborough house was an incredible deal. Too good to pass up. They hired a local contractor to start the repairs.

“Then I fell in love with the people,” Gourley says. “The warmth and welcoming we received…our neighbours brought us welcoming gifts. In Moncton, we didn’t even know our neighbours.”

In discussions with neighbours and workers, he heard how much residents missed the grocery store that closed in 2019. In his role as an economic development officer for Metepenagiag First Nation, he brought in businesses to meet the needs of the community. Now, he saw a niche that could be filled in Hillsborough.

Cooking Dry Beans, Another Money Saver

24/11/2021

Angela's beans shown above and her recipe for baked beans is on page 10.

By Angela MacDougall

I don’t know why, but I have a small obsession with dry beans. I grow 15-20 varieties every year, and I love them. Part of what intrigues me as a veggie grower is that I can plant these bean seeds, which then grow like other bean plants, but in the end, they dry by themselves. I can then store the beans for immensely long periods of time without them going bad or rotting. I also love the hundreds of varieties of beans that come in every shape and colour.

Dry beans are one of the cheapest and easiest things to store in your pantry. You can pick up a few bags of dry beans for a few dollars and they last forever if they are stored in a dry location.
I always find that using dry beans in a recipe makes a big difference in flavour, texture and nutritional value. Beans are high in protein and are a great meat substitute.

When I’m making meals, I like to sneak in vegetables wherever I can. I like to add a little bit of whatever I have on hand, this could be a carrot, beet or parsnip, some spinach or kale, etc. (A little added nutrition never hurt anybody.) For root vegetables, I like to grate them so they are very fine. For leafy greens, I chop them finely, so if you have picky eaters in your house, they will never know they’re in there.

Zero-Waste Broth from Food Scraps

24/11/2021

Angela serving baked beans at the Black Sheep Maple sugar camp.

By Angela MacDougall

Making broth (soup stock) from food scraps is a simple way to save money and produce a tastier, healthier alternative to store-bought broth or bouillon cubes.
Making our own broth also leads to less waste - of both food and packaging. At the grocery store, broth is often sold in juice-box type packaging. Once the broth is used, we are stuck with the packaging. When you make your own broth, you can freeze it in reusable containers and there is no waste.

You can easily make broth yourself from scraps you would normally throw out. Your version will be more nutrient-dense and taste much better than store-bought products. This will provide the basis of many immune-boosting, healthy meals for you and your family without preservatives, sugars, oil, gums and things you can’t pronounce.

Why is chicken soup so often recommended for a cold or flu? It’s because of the broth, which is full of the nutrients from the veggies and boiled-down bones. Most store-bought broths aren’t made from the bones and therefore don’t contain the health benefits from the minerals and marrow breaking down into the liquid.

It’s Lobster Season in Albert County!

25/9/2021

By Angela MacDougall

October is an important time for the fishing community in Albert County. The fall lobster season begins on October 14. The Alma Fleet Launch is a time when the community shows its support to the fishermen.

Diversity in the Kitchen: India

23/8/2021

By Lalitha Mahadevan

Hi Albert County friends and residents!

I am so glad and grateful to introduce myself through this food article for Connecting Albert County. For the last two years, I have been here, in this beautiful part of the world! I grew up in South India in the city of Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu. For many years, my husband Dev, who worked as Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, and I had the opportunity to live in different countries. After moving to Mississauga, Ontario, in 2000, my personal life gave me opportunities to become a computer teacher and to continue teaching the Veena (a South Indian musical instrument).

Now, let’s come to food! Right from my teenage years, I had a lot of interest in cooking many different cuisines from different regions of India. I am going to share two of my favourite dishes with you. Enjoy cooking!

September Harvests

23/8/2021

September in the garden is a month of bounty. It is also a very busy month for growers - from backyard gardeners to market farmers. It is time to start collecting the abundance before the frost creeps in at month’s end and time to put away food for the cold months ahead. September will be the end for sensitive crops like cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers. We will be making pickles, salsas and sauces in order to fully conserve what we have worked so hard to grow.

What are your favourite ways to cook liver?

23/8/2021

Send your recipes to info@ConnectingAlbertCounty.org

Liver is a nutrient-dense food containing high levels of iron, vitamin A and B, folate and more. Although many people don’t appreciate liver, others love it. To reduce the intensity of its flavour, you can soak it in vinegar for 30 minutes to a few hours before cooking. Pat dry before cooking.

I coat it with a bit of flour and lots of paprika (Hungarian semi-sharp paprika is particularly good in this). I sauté onions and mushrooms in olive oil until they are partially cooked, and then add the liver. It takes only a few minutes to cook. Just before I take it off the heat, I add a hearty splash of vinegar (red wine or balsamic).

Janet Wallace

You can also find this recipe in our extensive Recipe Collection.
Fast Liver - Print friendly version

The Beginnings of Hearth & Hive

21/8/2021

Article and Images By Rebekah Friesen

On our second date, my now partner, Jonathan Woodworth, suggested we go foraging for goose tongue greens, and I knew there was much to love about this man. Driving down the 114 to visit him again, I felt a wave of something I can only describe as coming home.

The community pastures and dykelands around Riverside-Albert are similar to the landscape I grew up in on the prairies, farming marshland reclaimed from Lake Winnipeg by my Mennonite ancestors.

Tips to Reduce Food Waste at Home

28/7/2021

By Brittany Butland

Plan ahead

Meal planning is one of the most effective ways to prevent food waste. Start by inspecting your fridge and pantry. Then base your meals around the food that needs to be used up first. For example, if you shop on weekends, plan to use fresh produce earlier in the week and frozen and canned foods later in the week. Keep an ongoing grocery list and write down items as you run out of them and/or while you are planning meals.

Remember to consider your schedule for the up-coming week. If it looks like a busy week, adjust your meal plan and buy less food. It’s okay to eat out or use convenience items, such as rotisserie chicken, minute rice and frozen vegetables. You don’t have to plan every meal; planning for four or five meals allows for flexibility and leftovers.

Diversity in the Kitchen: Philippines

26/6/2021

by Lynne Greenblatt

This month, “Diversity in the Kitchen” features the Philippines, my native country. Born and raised in Manila, my parents, younger brother and I moved to Wolfville, NS, when I was in high school. We lived there for a few years until we moved to the U.S., where I finished university and spent my career as a research scientist. I never forgot my love for the Maritimes and the Bay of Fundy area. For more than 30 years, we visited my sister and her family in Waterside almost every summer. My husband and I are now happy to have made our permanent home in Waterside!

Albert County Food Forest: Help bring food security and education to Albert County!

25/6/2021

Image by Tessa Wissink

By: Tessa Wissink

Hello! My name is Tessa Wissink and I am 28 years old. Over the past five years, I have become increasingly interested in the intersection of food, environmentalism and quality of life. I have found the experiences of starting to grow my own food at home, foraging for wild food, and learning to hunt, trap and fish extremely rewarding. I feel a much greater connection to the food I eat and the land around me, much more than I ever had before, and would like to share these experiences with others wherever and whenever I can.