By Lynne Greenblatt
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Foods of the Fundy Valley! We incorporated in December 2010 as a result of ABCD workshops (brainstorming solutions to the challenges facing our rural communities). Foods of the Fundy Valley’s mission is to foster an environment that promotes the production and consumption of local foods and local goods in the Albert County area.
Education is a key component of our mandate. We host hands-on workshops on diverse topics such as planting garlic, hydroponics, building a cob oven, beekeeping, seed security, gardening techniques and preserving.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Foods of the Fundy Valley! We incorporated in December 2010 as a result of ABCD workshops (brainstorming solutions to the challenges facing our rural communities). Foods of the Fundy Valley’s mission is to foster an environment that promotes the production and consumption of local foods and local goods in the Albert County area.
Education is a key component of our mandate. We host hands-on workshops on diverse topics such as planting garlic, hydroponics, building a cob oven, beekeeping, seed security, gardening techniques and preserving.
We host a school garden every year for kids from Hillsborough Elementary School. Kids learn to plant and tend the garden, then harvest the veggies and prepare a luncheon at the school. We also have community gardens in Riverside-Albert and, new this year, at the Hillsborough Baptist Church on Salem Road in Hillsborough. Our BeeWise members spearheaded the installation of a fruit tree orchard and working beehive on the grounds of the NB Railway Museum in Hillsborough. We plan to expand that project into a Food Forest.
We’ve held several memorable fundraisers over the years – Oktoberfest, pig roasts, cob oven pizza at the Albert County Museum, soup and chili bars at various events. More recently, we hosted the dinner and market at the 2019 Alma Fleet Launch and served breakfast at the Eating Heritage NB food tourism symposium – all featured food prepared from locally grown and raised ingredients by our talented volunteer chefs.
We’ve held several memorable fundraisers over the years – Oktoberfest, pig roasts, cob oven pizza at the Albert County Museum, soup and chili bars at various events. More recently, we hosted the dinner and market at the 2019 Alma Fleet Launch and served breakfast at the Eating Heritage NB food tourism symposium – all featured food prepared from locally grown and raised ingredients by our talented volunteer chefs.
Our farmers’ market, another key component of our mandate, has moved around over the years, from Riverside-Albert to Alma to Hopewell Cape to Hillsborough – but our mantra has always been “make it, bake it or grow it” locally. Starting this season, we are exploring a new business model. Lately, several factors have underscored the inaccessibility of fresh foods in our rural communities. This spring we reached out to food producers within New Brunswick to gauge interest in a consignment market. More than 40 vendors responded enthusiastically, and in June we opened the Fundy Fresh Consignment Market at the Artisans’ Village in Hillsborough. It’s an ideal situation for food producers who are too small or too busy to run their own retail space. The market is open seven days a week until the end of October, from 10am to 6pm, and carries a wide variety of seasonal produce, meats, cheeses, eggs, baked goods, teas, coffees, snacks and treats.
Our vision is a stronger Albert County where we can enjoy local foods and our farmers can sustainably grow the local food economy. We are gratified to see the positively changing attitudes, over the past ten years, toward healthy and local foods in our community. Stay tuned – we hope to see you over the next ten years!
www.facebook.com/FoodsOfTheFundyValley
foodsofthefundyvalley.ca
Our vision is a stronger Albert County where we can enjoy local foods and our farmers can sustainably grow the local food economy. We are gratified to see the positively changing attitudes, over the past ten years, toward healthy and local foods in our community. Stay tuned – we hope to see you over the next ten years!
www.facebook.com/FoodsOfTheFundyValley
foodsofthefundyvalley.ca
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