The Prairie Sun Seed Festival, the first major event of the new Assiniboine Food Security Alliance, brought local food producers and consumers together on the weekend.
Formerly known as Food Secure Yorkton, the Assiniboine Food Security Alliance rebranded itself this January to reflect a more regional mandate. The Sun Seed Festival held at Yorkton's Dr. Brass School was a way of taking the group's newly refined message to a crowd made up of both serious food producers and backyard gardeners.
"Food security itself is really complex, but it really comes down to having a food supply that's accessible to people so they can get the kind of food they want," explained alliance chair Warren Crossman.
About 80 people turned out for the festival on Saturday to tour booths run by seed sellers, market gardeners, and information providers, and to hear the afternoon's speakers. Workshops by notable producers on gardening, saving seeds, and preserving food made up the agenda.
"Where we usually think of food security as being food banks or emergency food aid, this addresses building people's capacity to grow food," said Heather Torrie, the event's coordinator.
"We want to encourage people to grow their own food first, but make connections with local farmers," added Crossman. "And farmers can be rural or urban, in fact. The Prairie Sun Seed Festival was one way that we thought those connections could be made."
A second approach to building food networks is the alliance's directory of local food producers, "One bite at a time!" which officially launched at the festival. The booklet contains the details of food producers from a radius of 160 kilometers around Yorkton who sell their products directly to consumers.
More than 50 producers signed up to have their names included in the directory at no charge."I was surprised [at that number]," Crossman said, "and I don't believe that list is complete. I think there are more producers out there, ... but they didn't hear about this."
Provided more funding can be secured, the Assiniboine Food Security Alliance hopes to update the directory next year.
A single 500-copy print run of "One bite at a time!" has been completed. The alliance hopes to find a permanent pickup point for the booklet within the city, but for now it will be handed out at the group's events and speaking engagements.
