To me, Fresh From
The Farm represents the way I’d like urban food sourcing to be, in
order to supplement farmers’ markets. In what follows, I will be
both discussing Fresh From The Farm, a local outlet for farmers just
outside the GTA (Mennonite farmers in this case), as well as the idea
of how we should find food locally. It’s not necessarily foraging,
but I think that knowing the cycle your food has followed is very
close to finding it yourself. Places like Fresh From The Farm and
local farmers’ markets perform the function of bringing us closer
to our food and what it really represents, beyond the plate.
As the staff of
Fresh From The Farm (just south of O’Connor on Donlands, East York)
will be happy to explain, they offer only fresh and frozen meats and
produce that come directly from a series of Mennonite farmers just
north of the city. The result is that anything from fish to eggs to
poultry to vegetables can be found only when they are seasonally
available and produced. This means that it really depends on the day
you visit the store when it comes to your available options. Having
said this, the staff are always happy to let me know when orders and
shipments of specific things are coming in fresh, and then frozen.
I think it’s a
real gem, and I’m completely thankful for living close to Fresh
From The Farm. In a province and city with a number of “food
deserts” in which nutritious, fresh, affordable food is difficult
or near impossible to find, it’s refreshing to see a store like
this thrive, offering local residents meat and produce of quality
exactly the same as if they lived next door to the farmers
themselves. Simply by taking the time to speak with the staff at
Fresh From The Farm, one can learn a great deal about the lifecycle
of the food one consumes. Unlike grocery stores, where a food’s
cycle and life is very much disconnected from the customer, Fresh
From The Farm’s products are completely authentic and connected to
the soil, farmer, and production cycle.
As any city
dweller understands, finding an excellent store like this or food
source in general (like a farmers’ market) is akin to foraging for
food itself. It is often a challenge to find “real” and local
food, so I consider myself lucky to shop at stores like this one and
deal with food producers themselves.
Finally, I want to
strongly suggest that our readers check out this store, as we did.
It’s an absolute gem in Toronto.
Harris Jones
No comments:
Post a Comment