foodiePrints receives a number of common requests for information from restaurants recommendations to places to source hard-to-find ingredients (usually ethnic foods). We also get requests to recommended food bloggers (usually local ones) to invite to events.

Today, I need to extend thanks to fellow Ottawa food blogger Jodi Lariviere (@simplyfresh) of Simply Fresh (and recently Vegging for Two). It was she I asked advice from about a controversy involving a local food event called Feast of Fields. Privy to information on what was going on, I told her I did not want to write about it. She took the initiative to demonstrate how a conflict that can evoke strong emotions could be discussed.

The conflict involves local producers (farmers and fine food shops/caterers), a not-for-profit organization (the Ottawa chapter of the Canadian Organic Growers), and sponsorship from Loblaws. The Ottawa Magazine's new blog, City Bites, may have "broken" the story, quoting the owners and operators of two fine food shops, Red Apron and The Piggy Market. But, Jodi gave us, the consumer, a voice.

I recommend you read her blog post on the subject of Loblaws sponsoring Feast of Fields and participants walking away.

Here are my thoughts from a comment I added to Jodi's post:

This is one blog post I did not want to write.

Loblaws' sponsoring Feast of Fields has evoked some powerful emotions from local producers, vendors, chefs, and restaurateurs.

Many retailers and producers who staunchly support organic, local, or a combination of the two feel participating in an event sponsored by Loblaws betrays their food philosophies.

Loblaws hasn't really shown any interest in changing their supply chains to truly support local farmers, let alone local and organic ones. Ever wander down the organic aisle at a Loblaws or Superstore? The herbs aren't even from Canada.

Loblaws is very interested in amending its image as it has been struggling to remain profitable. It has even re-arranged its produce sections to resemble more farmer's market displays.

Yes Loblaws should be taken to task for having no substance behind its marketing efforts. The question is, does the confrontation need to take place at Feast of Fields…

COG has been transparent in informing people Loblaws is sponsoring. It, however, has not been clear about Loblaws supplying produce. It has not been clear about whether or not Loblaws will be using the event to gauge Ottawa's interest in local organic produce. It has not explained Loblaws' intentions.

Loyal readers know I volunteered at last year's Feast of Fields. foodiePrints promoted the event with a ticket giveaway. foodiePrints covered the event itself.

Loyal readers know how I feel about Galen Weston. Suffice it to say, I have a list of his stores' produce and products I want to throw at him.

This year, Feast of Fields has become rather political. Unfortunately, there are too many assumptions on either side of the conflict and not enough meaningful communication.

What I hope will still occur is local farmers and chefs work together to show great food can be made from great ingredients.

Does Loblaws sponsoring $5000 have to preclude this happening? Don't we already know what Galen Weston, standing in a farmer's field, really means?

Before beginning, I must apologize for my extreme tardiness. I had hoped to finish this entry last month, but things are always a little unpredictable in the teaching world. After a busy month, I have finally found time to catch up on this entry. So here goes the long-awaited follow-up to my first entry on this year's Feast of Fields.

As promised in my previous post, here are some more pictures from the event.

Feast of Fields Setup:
Tacked up to the front entrance was a large banner, specifically printed for this year's event.

Welcome Banner

Here are farmer-chef teams, setting up their tables before the event opened.

Setup

Here are the enormous rows of dish and drink ware Don and his team of volunteers lined up for attendees. They disappeared within minutes once the public was let in at noon.

Dishes for Attendees

Advance ticket holders eagerly waiting in line for the event to open

In the remaining minutes before opening, many chefs put final touches to their dishes.

Chef John Taylor of Domus working on his tomato crostini topping

Farmer-Chef Team Dishes:
Warning: What you see below may make you hungry!

From the Alpenblick Farms ~ Ballygiblin's Restaurant & Pub team,

Something Mexican-inspired

From Ashton Naturals ~ Thyme & Again Creative Catering,

Farm House Smoked Apple Sausage with Home-made Ketchup

From Dobsons Grass Fed Beef ~ DISH Catering ,

Braised Beef on Baby Leek Custard and Maple & Black Pepper Shortbread

From Battle River Bison ~ Sweetgrass Aboriginal Bistro,

A colourful and savory salad sprinkled with sesame seeds and bison

One serving

From Champignons Le Corpin ~ Wellington Gastro Pub,

Hot chili with corn bread

The following is a typical plate attendees were served:

Plate of 3 dishes
On the left, smoky braised beef on a taco from Ashton Glen Farms/Imperial Food & Beverage. At the top, braised lamb from The Amazon's Garden/Knox Fine Dining. On its the right, a house-baked fennel seed bread with onion and garlic confit topped with shaved milk-fed veal from Eliden Farm/Serendipity

At the entrance to the food tent were organic and locally grown melons

Incredibly fresh, sweet, and juicy

Then there was the ice cream...

Pascale's Ice Cream
Perhaps the most popular attraction that day was the chance to sample the best all-natural ice cream, Pascale's Ice Cream. What makes her ice cream so special? Well, aside from the fresh, local, and high quality ingredients she uses, there are the flavours.

Flavours for Sampling

Flavours of tubs for sale

Here are pictures of Pascale's lineups. They did not end.

Two hours after opening

An hour before closing

In my opinion, an outdoor festival is a great success when you find yourself in an exciting atmosphere, surrounded by happy families and laughter. Such was the case at this year's Feast of Fields. Throughout the afternoon, I saw many smiling faces and heard many people talking about the amazing foods they had eaten.

Not only was I surprised by the number of children attending, but also by how excited they were to try all kinds of different foods. Can you imagine children eating horseradish with beef? Or happily gobbling down beets? These children sure knew how to eat!

Take for instance the large and beautifully displayed table outside the food tent that was surrounded by children all afternoon.

Growing Up Organic
Curious, I walked up to the table and met Tracey Guptill, a programmer working for Growing Up Organic. According to a brochure she gave me, Growing Up Organic (GUO) aims to "teach youth about organic agriculture." It "increases accessibility to organic foods and inspires youth to farm organically though its summer farm camps, work experiences, building school yard gardens and community programming." GUO is also attempting a school salad bar program this fall, which it hopes to give students, who may be "limited" due to "social and financial" challenges, opportunities to experience new and fresh foods. It strives to help children learn to make healthy food choices.

Kids really do eat their vegetables!

The gang at Growing Up Organic

With each passing day, autumn is coming closer to an end. At Ottawa's farmer's markets, you can still taste the best of the fall harvest. If you haven't checked out the latest produce yet, I hope these pictures inspire you to go.

If there is a better way to enjoy the fall harvest, point me in the right direction. Otherwise, the best place to head to is the Feast of Fields. While Don was busy with his crew at the dish pit, I was fortunate enough to attend with a media pass. As I was a first time attendee, I was not sure what to expect, but I did hope to see many happy faces and people passionate about food. After spending more than six hours there, Feast of Fields exceeded all my expectations and more! On this post, I'll be discussing the food, while writing another entry about the crowd and Grow Up Organic. Also, more pictures of the event and the food will be included. This entry will be long enough!

However, before commenting on the food, I think it is very important to mention the tremendous work of the volunteers. Many arrived before 9 a.m. and stayed right to the very end. Without these hardworking people, this event would not exist. Hats off to all the volunteers!

Now, onto the food! With twenty-five farmer-chef teams to choose from, it was impossible to eat everything, but there were many standouts.

Ferme aux Saveurs des Monts/ Fairmount Château Montebello

Stuffed chicken
My favourite, and voted 2009?s winning farmer/chef food team, was from Ferme aux Saveurs des Monts with Fairmount Château Montebello at table #11. The chicken was stuffed with green Swiss chard, roasted pumpkin, cranberries, and pine nuts, topped with a gingery apple compote and a tuile of balsamic vinegar and sugar. The presentation was beautiful and the chicken was succulent.

Butterfly Sky Farm/Domus Café

Tomato crostini
Chef John Taylor?s (Domus Café) creation was a crowd pleaser. His brightly coloured cherry tomato crostini was a beauty. Grilled house-made bread topped with orange & yellow cherry tomatoes, basil, vinaigrette, fresh green shoots, and grated Canadian Romano cheese. Chef Taylor was kind enough to make mine cheese-free as cheese disagrees with me. The flavours were remarkable, especially the cherry tomatoes, sweet and stunningly fresh. I felt as though they were picked off the vines right there and placed on the bread. The freshness, colours, the presentation, and flavours were simply exquisite.

Bryson Farms/Epicuria

Heirloom carrot & beet salad and a panzanella salad
Another table featuring the best of the fall harvest was the team of Bryson Farms with Epicuria. Chef Tracey Black?s creation was an heirloom carrot and beet salad with grapefruit dressing and a panzanella salad with Art-Is-In croutons, maldon sea salt, lemon, and extra virgin olive oil. Unfortunately, I was unable to sample mine as Don, hungry from hours spent washing dishes, accidentally ate my share after eating his plate of food. However, according to him, it was fresh, crunchy, and harvest sweet. It is only in autumn when you can get this flavour. Paired with the citrus, the sugars from the beets had a competing brightness, not overpowering. This is high praise from Don as he generally dislikes pickled beets. For Don, Epicuria?s dishes were one of his favourites.

Ashton Glen Farms/Imperial Food & Beverage

Smoky braised beef on a taco
As I approached table #10, my mouth was watering. There in front of me were trays of smoky braised beef on a taco with red onion jam and horseradish cream. The flavours were simply amazing. The beef was smoky, savory, and incredibly tender. The red onion jam gave it a brightness and sweetness, while the horseradish cream gave a nice bite, just enough fat to carry the flavours. Also worth mentioning is that Ashton Glen Farms/Imperial Food Beverage were winners in the best booth/team category for presentation.

Wright Poultry & Beef/The Piggy Market

Delicious traditional cottage pie
Sometimes, classic comfort food can be elevated to a new level when high quality ingredients are used. Such was the case with Chef Dave Neil (The Piggy Market) and his take on the traditional cottage pie. Don and I often visit his store, buying sausages, roast chicken, goat cheese, and pretty much anything else Dave can convince Don to buy. I, on the other hand, always leave the store with a new bucket of Pascale's Ice Cream. (If you were at the event, you would have seen the never-ending lineup for her famous ice cream!) Now, back to the pie? think well seasoned beef and fresh sweet peaches and cream corn kernels topped with buttery mashed potatoes. Are you drooling yet? I happily had at least two servings, and stole some more from Don?s plate when he wasn?t looking.

Mariposa Farms

Smoked goose breast terrine (left hand side, below the business card)
Mariposa Farms? creation of smoked goose breast terrine topped with sweet pickled yellow and red beet roots and garnished with chioggia beet chips (also known as candy cane beet root) was another favourite. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of mine before eating, but managed to take a quick snap of Don?s before he inhaled his. (The goose breast is under the orange business card of Dish ? I have no idea why Don stuck the card there). According to him, it was fatty, savory, and flavourful, everything that a goose should be!

During the two hours the food was being served, I managed to sample at least half of the fantastic dishes. This event is definitely appropriately named. For those who paid anywhere from $25 to $50, they could certainly eat their money?s worth. Meanwhile, the chefs and farmers were all cheerful, gracious, and very friendly, happily serving the public and answering all kinds of questions. Congratulations to all the farmer-chef teams on their fantastic work. I?ll be back next year!

Since I wasn't able to attend last year's Feast of Fields (2008), my better half and I vowed to make the best of the upcoming event (2009). Because I greatly support any event that celebrates what Dave Neil from the Piggy Market (400 Winston Ave.) calls "the delicious revolution", I chose to volunteer for the event. The "delicious revolution" is committed to support a local food system by getting to know farmers and encouraging the purchase of local and artisan products. Jenn and I even gave away a pair of tickets to Feast of Fields to raise visibility and encourage attendance. Because we have some great readers, Jenn bought a ticket to attend, take notes, take lots of pictures and write a mega-blog entry, which she plans on releasing in two parts.

She is currently working on her entry. We just finished sorting some of the drool-worthy pictures she took with our new camera. Neither one of us is experienced in using the Nikon D60, so the quality of the pictures may have been because of the amazing dishes we came across.

Tomato Crostini by Chef John Taylor of Domus

Top: Panzanella Salad w/Art-Is-In croutons, Bottom: Heirloom Carrot and Beet salad w/ Grapefruit Dressing by Chef Tracey Black of Epicuria
Then again, Jenn has a far better eye for composition than I do.

While she attended as "media" (Feast of Fields supports local food blogs), I had a different view of the event than the attendees. Like many outdoor festivals, Feast of Field's success can be attributed to an army of hard working volunteers and an organized volunteer coordinator. We had both.

Me, I was a volunteer team lead for the "dish pit" and my team of volunteers was tremendous. No matter the task, they organized themselves effectively, took roles, asked great questions, and quickly got to work stacking dishes, arranging mugs, rolling cutlery, and then collecting bussed dishware and washing them. They were even enthusiastic to go on a number of water runs with me to ensure that our make-shift kitchen could replenish the plastic wash tubs that became our sinks. We had well-oiled production lines, running quickly and effectively.

Of note, whoever said that high school students only volunteer to meet the provincial requirement of hours to graduate clearly didn't come across the three that worked for me. They were easily the hardest working. One, I had to ask Jenn to escort to the food tables and take her well deserved break.

As luck would have it, I also had a pair of professional dishwashers on board. One was a newly minted college student, who washes dishes at the Crazy Horse restaurant in Kanata. The other, a former dish washer who worked at Tucker's Market Place in the ByWard Market. Both had mad skills.

Now that I have heaped some praise on great volunteers, I probably should explain why there is a "dish pit." Since this year's Feast of Fields was also my first, I was surprised by how sincerely the event took sustainability to heart. It provided neither plastic nor paper cutlery or dishware. Organizers have a large stash of real dishware (dinner plates, dessert plates, and soup bowls), drink-ware (mugs), and metal cutlery (forks, knives, and spoons). Our dish detergent was also environmentally friendly, entirely biodegradable.

Dishware and Drink-Ware
Some of the plates came from collections that were released well before I was born. The cups and mugs were equally as varied, including some that advertised local radio stations long gone.

Unfortunately, we hadn't enough cutlery for all of the attendees, only able to roll approximately 300 full sets (spoon, fork, and knife) in napkins.

First wave of pre-purchased attendees
We ended up producing another 80 or so with just spoons and forks. They too disappeared quickly.

It was discovered that at least one crate of cutlery was left in storage. Happily, enough cutlery went out that, when people started asking for cutlery, we were able to start washing, rinsing, and drying used sets and sent them back out. Also, several of the chef and farm teams provided for the contingency. One, more than likely Thyme and Again, handed out sustainable bamboo forks. Epicuria handed out starch forks. Both helped.

Interestingly, as a certain food editor of a local newspaper pointed out, a number of attendees requested we rinse their plates before they headed back for seconds. Others, simply handed back their plates, sans cutlery, and picked up new ones. We accommodated both.

Two things that I would recommend for the festival next year:

1. Provide cold drinking water for volunteers.
2. Remind volunteers that they are entitled to eat from the concessions.

In my case, many members of my team were not aware that they could go eat with the other attendees during their break and food would no longer be served half way into the event. I staggered breaks and ensured that every one of them had an opportunity to try food from the event. I'll bet good money that very few of them had their better halves pick up dishes for them to try as I did. Jenn picked up a sampling for me, just in case I didn't find time to go in myself.

All-in-all, I found the event a wonderful experience and encourage everyone to attend.

My team eventually made me take my break, which allowed me the opportunity to meet some of the chefs and farm owners. Besides visiting some familiar faces, I also had the opportunity to meet Chefs John Taylor (Domus) and Chris Deraiche (Wellington Gastropub) who was apparently accompanied by his father and younger brother.

Speaking of familiar faces, here is what the Piggy Market served up:

Shepherd's Pie
Think freshly mashed new potatoes, insanely sweet peaches and cream corn kernels, and perfectly seasoned beef. After eating it, I understood how homely comfort food can be easily elevated by using quality fresh ingredients. In Dave Neil's case, skills honed at the Sweet Grass Bistro don't hurt either.

And here is Pascale Berthiaume, whose ice cream stand's line never did shorten.

Pascale
I could see the line from the dish pit!

Update: Here is more information on the "Delicious Revolution"

Piggy Market Leaflet

Particulars:
Piggy Market
400 Winston Avenue
(613) 371-6124
thepiggymarket@gmail.com

Domus Café
87 Murray Street
(613)241-6007

Epicuria
419 Mackay Street
(613)745-7356

Wellington Gastropub
1325 Wellington Street
(613)729-1315

Hello foodiePrints readers! After spending the past three years editing and contributing ideas to the articles written by Don, I figured it was time for me to take on some of the writing and give him a rest! Since September is filled with many food-dedicated events, I will be jumping right in with the writing, picture-taking, and filling my stomach with goodies!

One of my favourite months of the year is September. The mornings are cool and crisp, but the afternoons are usually warm and sunny. This September has been exceptional, with gorgeous weather and the farmer's market stalls overflowing with late summer and early autumn produce. What better way is there to celebrate the local delicacies of fall than attending this year?s Feast of Fields event?

According to the Ottawa branch of the Canadian Organic Growers (COG), Feast of Fields Ottawa is an annual open-air event that provides the public an opportunity to sample the best of the local and organic fall harvest. It pairs farmers with chefs from some of the top restaurants in Ottawa, Gatineau, and the surrounding region. Feast of Fields will take place on September 13th at Vincent Massey Park from 12:00pm to 4:00pm.

This year, Don will be busy volunteering at the event, so all the pictures, thoughts, and tastes will be coming from me. To get into the spirit of the fall harvest, here are a few pictures to get started. While all the volunteers were busy getting organized, I took the opportunity to walk around and snap a few pictures of them setting up.

Huge empty tents

This is where the food and silent auction will be

A view of Vincent Massey Park

Imagine the tents filled with good smells!

Bridgehead, one of the main sponsors!

These tables will be loaded with delicious samples to try

It may all look empty now, but by tomorrow afternoon, it will be hopping! Hope to see you there!