Remember the days when your parents used to tell you to ‘Eat your greens!’ Well, these days everyone is trying to ‘green’ their eats.  We make every effort from bringing reusable bags to the grocery store to buying fair-trade sustainably harvested coffee.  However, there is one simple thing that we could all do to improve our health and reduce our impacts on the environment – we could become Locavores.

Locavores challenge themselves to consume foods grown within a 100 mile radius of their home.  In addition to supporting local agriculture, it also brings awareness and appreciation about the origins of our food.  Shopping locally is ‘green’ – it helps to reduce our carbon emissions and natural resource use.  To encourage the Locavore movement the John R. Park Homestead Conservation Area will be hosting its second annual Lakeside Locavore Lunch on Sunday July 12th.

This event highlights Locavore opportunities in Essex County. You can learn more about this ‘green’ movement as you savour an afternoon by the Lake enjoying live music, tasting locally grown foods, a fine array of local wines and more.  Also featured will be ‘food for thought’ sessions – wherein local farmers and food producers share their specific knowledge about their products and the delicious bounty that our region offers and the benefits of buying local.

This year marks 200 years of agriculture in the Iler Settlement, the Homestead’s own neighbourhood.  One aim of the Locavore event is to encourage modern people to eat like their great-great-grandparents ate. Early pioneers, like those in the Iler Settlement, certainly knew how to appreciate and enjoy fresh, local, whole, seasonal produce.

Homestead Curator Janet Cobban said, “It is interesting to see the pendulum swing back as people discover the value of our ancestors’ food ways.”

Be sure to attend this unique event to learn more. Advance ticket sales only. Last year’s event was sold out! 

Tickets this year are $20 per person and the menu will be amazing, it includes:

  • Wines from Aleksander  Estate Winery
  • Grilled lamb kabobs
  • Fresh and smoked sausage on a bun
  • Grilled portabella mushrooms
  • Bocconcini Cheese
  • Fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables
  • A Variety of Pickles
  • Multigrain and whole wheat bread (made from locally grown and milled grains)
  • Pancakes with local maple syrup

To purchase tickets, or for more information: (519) 738-2029 or email: jrph@erca.org The Homestead is located at 915 County Road 50, east of Colchester on the Lake, and details of programs and activities are at www.erca.org