Saturday, June 26, 2010

Local produce and organic stores

I decided it was time to have a look see at that other venerable market in our area - the WW Boyce Farmers' Market in Fredericton - last Saturday morning and I'm glad I did. It reminded me that not only do I have lots of farm markets to cover (Thursday in St. Andrews, Friday in Sussex, and Saturdays just about everywhere) but I should remind people that you don't have to run all over God's half acre visiting individual farms to get local food: you have the markets, obviously, and you have CSAs (community supported agricultural boxes which are delivered to you or you can pick up once a week - there are a number of those running in NB right now) and, you have your lovely farm market stores which at least carry some local produce and/or organic produce stores.

If you live in the Fredericton area you really have an embarrassment of riches to choose from when it comes to both local and organic sources. Two stores in the downtown serving this need: the True Food Organics store on Charlotte St. (run by and supplied in part by their organic farm in Keswick Ridge and which carries an amazing array of stuff - including organic sunflower and flax oils from NS) and the long-running Aura health food store. *And* at the market I got to talk to the folks running the Apple Bin Farm store which is *dedicated* to NB produce and is just a few minutes outside Fredericton at Keswick Ridge. The Apple Bin carries NB fruits, veggies, meats, eggs, dairy and other things like honey and cider and herbs etc. Really, Freddybeach has no excuses whatsoever. Nonetheless I had an interesting conversation with the Apple Bin folks who are finding it hard to educate people on local food (the "yes we have no bananas" song comes to mind) and have had to cut their hours back to Wed-Friday afternoons (1-6) and Saturday afternoons (1-5). Phone 506-260-2498. We would die to have such stores in Saint John (more on that soon.) People in the Fredericton area can also drop by Joseph's "Urban Organic Garden" in Marysville on Tuesdays between 4 and 7) or he's in the market on Saturdays. Last Saturday he had scads of scapes and sprouts and he assured me that the number of different things available on Tuesdays is much greater as he pools resources from two of his gardens.

In Saint John we have Baleman's in the market which brings in stuff from its farm and other local producers when available and Grand Bay Westfield has the Corn Crib and there's Cochrane's in the Valley.

Towards Sussex, in Berwick just up the #10 highway towards Cambridge Narrows, there's a new one to me: Goddard Farms Shop (433-2544) which sells both animal and vegetable products "no growth hormones, pesticides or sprays" - and that includes pet food. It's open Mon-Sat. "mornings and evenings are best for dropping in, or call ahead."


Moncton not only boasts two very fine markets on Saturdays but has a lovely natural foods store, Sequoia, 114 Highfield St. (http://www.sequoiafoods.ca)

And, if you're going down the highway towards NS, a great stop is the relatively new "Green Pig" farm store at Salisbury - you know where you'd normally turn off to go to the Tim's and the Irving Big Stop. Well, go right, not left, if you're coming from Moncton and you'll immediately see the Green Pig (http://www.greenpigmarket.com) - open every day 9-8 in the summers. The Green Pig (the story behind the name is on their website) is dedicated to local products (including a lot of stuff they grow/raise themselves). They carry Speerville products, local cheeses, Just Us coffee from NS, and they have a great bakery to boot! (You can get organic pumpkin pie there in the fall).

Now if you get all the way into NS and you're headed for Truro or Halifax, just before Truro and again just 2 minutes from the highway, is Masstown Market. A fabulous stop if you're looking for coffee (they serve Just Us) and a snack - they have a whole cafe counter/bakery thing happening - they also have a liquor store, a plant store, a craft store, a deli counter and a grocery store - but most importantly for our purposes they are again dedicated to local products. It's the only place I know where I can buy local (okay south Shore NS) *line-caught* haddock. They're very into supporting sustainable fisheries. But there's also loads of local meat, cheese and produce. So if you're passing through bring a cooler with you so you can stock up...

Okay, so that's what I know at least in the Southern NB region (or nearby). Feel free to add!

4 comments:

  1. And I really must add here: Winterwood Natural foods in Sussex - across from the old train station (i.e. ice cream stand) and down the street from two fabulous restaurants (the Broad Street Cafe and Ty's and Tails - where they serve NB buffalo burgers and Picaroon's beer from F'ton). Winterwood stocks all sorts of organic products, fair trade herbs, spices and coffee, mean multigrain bread and Joel's dad's grassfed beef (it sells out as fast as they can bring it in though). They're at 51 Broad Street (433-4195/ WinterwoodNatural@hotmail.com)

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  3. You've mentioned Corn Crib in Grand Bay... Can you say where in Grand Bay it is?

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  4. Just came across this FABULOUS blog! A question for you... I am new to Fredericton and am looking for home delivery CSA in this area. Do you have any recommendations? My Google searches haven't been too successful. Thanks in advance. Please keep up the great blog!!

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