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Dundas In The News
City folks meet farmers at market Bringing back the farmers' market in Dundas is just one of Chris Krucker's plans as he continues to 'dream big'
KATRINA SIMMONS
THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR
(Apr 23, 2009)
City folks will get to know the producer behind ManoRun Farm when they shop at the Dundas
Farmers' Market this summer. Chris Krucker is a new farmer by most accounts, just 10 years into
this full-time lifestyle. His commitment to building and strengthening healthy food communities, though, has been an integral part of several initiatives designed to move Hamilton toward a food-secure future.
Education is a big part of what Krucker does. On his farm in Copetown, he trains a new generation of farmers, as interns contract for the summer to learn about integrating organic farming into local communities. He enlightens supporters of his community supported agriculture (CSA) program on the how and why of local organic food and eating seasonally, and offers events at the farm to celebrate
together around the table.
Krucker and his wife, Denise Trigatti, also own two houses in the heart of the city, where urban food projects -- lessons on urban food production, seasonal cooking and preserving locally grown food -- are slowly taking hold. "We're still in the 'dream big' stage," Krucker says of the plans for a community food centre on Murray Street East.
Helping to restore Dundas Farmers' Market is his latest effort to make the urbanrural connection. "We brought back the market. That was the easy part," he says of the group determined to put more local, sustainably grown food on the tables in this region.
"It won't be the same market that it was historically," he points out. "It will have new farmers, and the pricing will be different. We won't try to compete with the grocery stores."
What this Dundas BIA initiative will do, though, is provide a place for city folks to meet their local small-scale producers and processors. Fruit, vegetables, meat and cheese at the 20-stall market will be local -- within a 160-kilometre radius of Dundas -- and processed products such as baked goods will have at least half of their ingredients produced locally.
Since decisions about the market are made jointly with the BIA and vendors, the market is designed to enhance rather than compete with the unique food businesses along King Street. Even the decision to open on Thursdays, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., was based on drawing visitors to both the market and the shops.
In the past year or two, there has been a lot of demand for farmers to attend markets across the region, and Krucker gets calls from as far away as Woodbridge. He would rather stay close to home, though, and work to educate his own neighbourhood, build partnerships and help the Hamilton area develop a strong and vibrant food culture.
The Dundas Farmers' Market will open June 11 at the corner of Hatt Street and Memorial Square in the TD Canada Trust parking lot. The market is looking for vendors. For information, visit downtowndundas.ca or callChris Krucker at 905-304-8048 or Melanie Golba at 905-659-2572.
Cactus and Busker festivals both make Ontario Top 100
Organizers of the 34th annual Dundas Cactus Festival reached one of their big goals last weekend, joining the Downtown Dundas BIA’s Buskerfest as one of the top 100 festivals in Ontario.
The annual Festival and Events Ontario Top 100 Festivals list for 2009 was announced during the association’s conference March 7 in Burlington.
First time in history
For the first time in its long history, Cactus Festival made the list. This is Buskerfest’s fourth time on the list.
Robyn Jarvis of Festivals and Events Ontario said having two Top 100 festivals from the small community of Dundas is quite significant, particularly when compared to some of the huge events in the list.
“It’s a real achievement,” Ms. Jarvis said. “I’m really excited both the signature festivals in Dundas won. Dundas should be proud!”
The Valley Town fared as well, or better, than some of the province’s best known tourist destination and largest cities. Of the top 100 festivals, fifteen were Torontobased and seven were in Ottawa. Mississauga was next highest with four events. Burlington and Kingston both had three. Niagara Falls, London and Oshawa, like Dundas, had two each.
Inclusion among the top 100 festivals and events in Ontario for the first time in more than three decades was on Steve Deighton’s mind when the Cactus Festival organizing committee president talked to the Dundas Star News one month before last Augusts’ event.
“Our goal is to be one of the top 100 festivals. There’s lots to do for that,” Mr. Deighton.
Now he’s looking ahead to the Cactus Festival’s 35th anniversary.
The established Dundas event added several new elements this summer, in what Mr. Deighton described as a new focus on “event-entertainment.”
He said music and vendors are staples of the annual festival, but there’s room for new ideas.
“Events that allow people to relate to the experience are a draw,” Mr. Deighton said last summer. “I think people want to see new stuff every year. That’s a challenge.”
Both annual Dundas events will be featured in the 2009 Festivals & Events in Ontario Guide, produced by Festivals and Events Ontario with the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation.
This month, 250,000 copies of the guide will be distributed to several sites, including all Ontario Travel Information Centres.
Organizers of both Cactus Festival and Buskerfest recognize the value of this recognition.
“This award allows the reach of the Dundas Cactus Festival to expand and include the province and beyond,” Mr. Deighton said. “It’s important to capitalize on this recognition, showcase the community of Dundas and do whatever we can to help the local economy.”
