Like other culinary destinations, the true cuisine of a region is found in the back roads where the discerning palates run amuk in the fields. Here you'll find a region filled with small artisan growers and producers as dedicated and proud of what they are creating as winemakers have been for generations. Local food is available throughout the Niagara Region, where farm fields are protected by Ontario's Greenbelt. Most likely there are several outlets close to you.

NIAGARA CULINARY TRAIL MEMBERS...

Offer… Niagara grown produce, made in Niagara artisan products, Niagara Culinary Dishes.

REASONS TO BUY LOCALLY GROWN FOOD

1. Food is grown in your own backyard and picked daily is fresher and tastes better than food shipped long distances from other parts of the world.

2. Small farmers such as those on the Niagara Culinary Trail can offer produce varieties bred for taste and freshness rather than for shipping and extended shelf life.

3. Knowing where your food comes from and how it is grown or raised means you're choosing safe food from farmers who avoid or reduce their use of chemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, or genetically modified seed in their operations.

4. Three decades ago tourists visited Niagara for the fresh peaches. Today they come for the wine and agriculture struggles to survive. Support our family farms.

5. Farmers are our friends, our neighbours and our suppliers of safe and nutritious food. Buying direct at the farm ensures more of your money gets into the pockets of the grower.

6. Buying local means that farmers get their fair share of your food dollar. It keeps farming traditions and cultures alive.

7. Getting to know your local growers builds relationships of trust; the foundations of a strong community.

8. Local farmers will reinvest more of your food dollar back into the region, in effect "creating" money and economic prosperity in your region. Read our press release.

9. When you buy local, you're voting with every food dollar you spend. You're voting for the availability of fresh, healthy produce and for a strong and healthy community. Vote for the food community you want.

10. Buying, eating and drinking local products support a healthy Greenbelt.

HOW TO BUY LOCAL

You can choose to pick up the Niagara Culinary Trail map and find destinations to shop; stroll through a farmers market on a sunny summers day or stop by a farm stand on your way home from work, spend an afternoon driving the country roads in search of restaurant quality vegetables or pick up some gourmet items

Community Shared Agriculture is a partnership program where consumers purchase a share in a small farm. Then each and every week during the growing season, participants pick up a basket of just-picked goodness from the garden. Shareholders can pick up at the farm or another location at a scheduled time each week.

Trees & Twig Heirloom Vegetable Farm, Wellandport, treeandtwig@sympatico.ca, www.treeandtwig.ca

Organic Harvest Box Program is similar to a CSA, however the Niagara grown fruits and vegetables are supplemented with Ontario grown organic produce for a service that will sustain you year round.

Organic General Store,355 Mary St., Niagara-on-the-Lake, 905-468-6685. www.theorganicgeneralstore.com

WHAT IS EATING LOCAL?

Wikipedia defines local food (regional food) or the local food movement as a "collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies, one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular place" and is considered to be part of a broader sustainability movement. It is part of a concept of local purchasing and local economies, a preference to buy locally produced goods and services. Those who prefer to eat locally grown and produced foods are now referred to "localvores" or locavores.

Coined by Jessica Prentice from San Francisco, a locavore is someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius. The criteria for that distance is really decided by each individual on their own, but the the locavore movement encourages consumers to buy from farmer's markets and places closer to their home.

While each locavore can create its own definition of local, many draw inspiration from established guidelines such as the 100-mile diet. The Niagara Culinary Trail is also working to provide tools for Niagara residents and visitors when they are choosing to eat local. Its 100KM Kitchen, with its collection of Niagara Dishes to make it easier for people to achieve their goals when eating locally.

The majority of a Niagara Dish is made up of ingredients grown and produced in Niagara while still supporting other parts of Ontario and Canada.

BUY, EAT AND DRINK LOCAL CHALLENGE

Donald Ziraldo issues a Buy, Eat and Drink Local Challenge for Niagara

June 2008

Donald Ziraldo, Chair, Vineland Research & Innovation Centre and supporter of the Niagara Culinary Trail issues a challenge to all Niagarians to eat, drink and buy local with the new Niagara Culinary Trail map.

The Buy, Eat and Drink Local Challenge is about consciously trying to make the best choices you can. It’s about making a conscious decision to seek out local produce every time you spend your food dollars.

Get out of the city and buy locally harvested foods, visit farmers markets, and eat at restaurants that serve local food. That could mean choosing Ontario tomatoes over imported or buying meat, honey or wine from a farm.

Eating and drinking local is about requesting local produce in city stores and spending our food dollars where it does the most good. It’s about being informed, being particular, cultivating taste and the ultimate enjoyment and appreciation of food.

The Niagara Culinary Trail worked with Dr. Lewis Soroka, Ph.D., Department of Economics, Brock University to put together these amazing numbers. If the approximately 435,000 residents of Niagara spent just $10 of their grocery budget on local foods each week, there would be a $226 million influx into the local economy each year. Additionally, if visitors spent $10 of their dining budget on local food when they came, there would be an another $120 million injected into the local economy.Ziraldo challenges Niagara residents, “let’s spend $10 per week on local items to replace something non-local our lists".

The best place to find local foods in Niagara, says Ziraldo is to pick up a copy of the Niagara Culinary Trail Map or visit www.NiagaraCulinaryTrail.com for a map and directory to find all that is delicious in Niagara. The website includes produce, where to buy it and recipes for delicious local meals.

Magdalena Kaiser-Smit, director of the Niagara Culinary Trail agrees with Ziraldo and adds, “you can’t fail at the Buy, Eat and Drink Local Challenge because there are lots of options for doing something right. People think there’s not a lot of local produce to eat in Niagara all year, but once you become aware of the choices you start to learn there are many more options for buying local foods throughout the year than you realize.” The Niagara Culinary Trail encourages Niagarians to take the Pledge and The Challenge.

If you’re up to Ziraldo’s Buy, Eat and Drink Local Challenge, pick up a Niagara Culinary Trail Map and get started!

Buy, Eat, Drink and Think Local Pledge for Niagara

Buy local in season wherever you can.
If you can’t buy local, buy organic.
If you can’t buy organic, buy fair trade.
Buy Niagara made products whenever you can.
If you can’t buy Niagara, buy from a local retailer.
If you can’t buy from a local retailer, buy Canadian.

Buying, eating, drinking and thinking local is about keeping our dollars circulating in our community

WHAT IS THE GREENBELT?

Ontario’s Greenbelt is an area of protected greenspace, farmland, vibrant communities, forests, wetlands, and watersheds. Its 1.8 million acres surrounds the Golden Horseshoe – the most populated area in Canada. The Greenbelt’s locally-grown food, clean water resources, climate regulating forests, and incredible biodiversity makes it vital to preserving the quality of life in southern Ontario.

Created by legislation in February 2005, the Greenbelt protects our countryside from urban development and sprawl and encourages sustainable growth within surrounding communities. Home to over 7,000 farms, the Greenbelt offers a protected source of local food for today’s families and future generations.



While the spectacle of cascading water still draws visitors to Niagara Falls, there are plenty of other reasons to visit this unique area of the Greenbelt. Thanks to the distinct microclimate created by the sheltering effect of the Niagara Escarpment, the flat expanse south of Lake Ontario is home to some of Canada’s most prized agricultural land, which now receives special protection under the Greenbelt Plan.

Niagara farms produce an abundance and diversity of food. This area really has it all -unique stone fruits such as peaches, plums and cherries to apples and blueberries, nuts, vegetables, traditional and game meats, awarding winning wine and cheeses and locally crafted jams, jellies, apple cider and other specialties.

These locally-produced ingredients are coveted by many chefs in the area and highlighted on restaurant menus. The Niagara Culinary Trail creates even more opportunity for farmers and chefs to collaborate on local cuisine and become a top culinary tourism destination. The public is invited to visit farms and talk with farmers about how they produce their food – an issue of growing importance among culinary travelers and many Ontario families.

Some of what you will learn by visiting a farm or winery is how Niagara farmers also take care of the land. Sustainable wine-making Ontario has launched a program to make wine-making more environmentally-friendly from the grape to the bottle to the restaurant. This is the first program of its kind in Canada, reducing energy use, water use, pesticide use, waste and soil erosion. Many Niagara farmers have also participated in the Greenbelt Farm Stewardship Program, undergoing an environmental assessment of their operations and taking action to protect water sources, reduce greenhouse emissions and restore natural features on their property. Other Niagara farmers are among the first in the Greenbelt, and Ontario, to achieve Local Food Plus (LFP) certification for their environmentally and socially responsible food production methods and finding new markets through LFP for their products.

These actions are benefiting the Niagara Escarpment, an area designated as a World Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations. They also support a healthy Greenbelt by celebrating local foods, promoting vibrant rural communities and protecting natural areas.



Explore the tastes of Niagara along the Culinary Trail, reduce your carbon footprint by buying local and support family farms. In Niagara, the Greenbelt is also alive with history, heritage and fun family destinations.

Step back in time at Niagara’s Queenston Heights, where Sir Issac Brock died while leading Upper Canada to victory over the invading Americans on October 13, 1812.

Tour Niagara by bike on an extensive trail network. Reduce your climate change emissions by taking the “Greenbelt Express” Toronto to Niagara Bike Train. Visit www. biketrain.ca

Stroll the sidewalks and browse the shops in Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Heritage District.

Explore Ball’s Falls Conservation Area, the site of several historical mills that once harnessed Twenty Mile Creek. Visit www.conservation-niagara.on.ca

Step out onto the Bruce Trail and hike from Beamsville to Queenston overlooking the Niagara River. If you stay on the trail you can walk 725 km of Escarpment to Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula – Canada’s largest network of hiking trails is right here in the Greenbelt. Visit www.brucetrail.org