Many Manitobans are becoming locavores, consumers of locally produced food that hasn’t been moved long distances to market. There is an ever-growing interest in finding healthier, fresher food options and to have a direct connection to the grower. This trend is evidenced in the popularity of farmers markets around the Southeast as well as the rising numbers of small, family-run farms advertising everything from fresh vegetables to u-pick berries to free-run chickens and eggs.
Many of these farmers live and grow food within a few miles of our community, utilizing the fertile Manitoba soil and old-fashioned ideals of their parents and grandparents before them.
Chantal Wieler is one of these local growers. On 1.5 acres of farmland just south of Niverville, she has been
seeding, nurturing, harvesting, and selling around 45 varieties of vegetables. You can find her mobile vegetable trailer set up at Bigway every Tuesday and Friday throughout the summer months, piled high with produce picked that day as well as a variety of home-canning.
“I love working in the soil,” says Wieler. “I love the look on people’s faces when they can get their hands on good, fresh food. I give my crops personal care and attention to ensure that it’s chemical-free. It’s the way of the future, I think. People are starting to understand the detriments of chemicals in their food.”
Outside of better taste and nutrition, there are other reasons to shop locally for our weekly meal ingredients.
Wieler says being able to speak directly to the grower is another reason people are buying local. Building relationships with our farmers gives us the opportunity to learn about the food we eat, ask them
directly about sustainable practices and chemical use, and see firsthand the conditions under which livestock are raised.
Graeme and Theresa Buys of Buys Home Farm live, work, and raise their young family on a farm 5 miles north-east of Niverville. The Buys family works year-round with an all-natural farming approach, raising pastured sheep, cattle, free-range chickens, turkeys, ducks, and pigs. Much of their summers are also consumed with growing market garden vegetables, and they are hoping to diversify soon into edible grains and fruit.
“The key takeaway that I would like people to understand about our farm is that it isn’t just about the food,” Buys explains. “The food is a key, fundamental part of it, but it is more than that. The farm has been designed around a sustainable system of completely natural farming that doesn’t use any synthetic fertilizer, chemical sprays, or most
medications. The soil health is maintained through century-old methods of farming that will hopefully leave the land healthy for generations to come. Everything we grow goes directly to the family that will be eating it and, as such, we feel somewhat connected to the lives of the people we grow for. The farm is intended to be an active part of the community, not just a physical address in the phone book.”
Relatively new on the local scene is another small start-up farm with big dreams. Pure Country Organics, located halfway between Niverville and Landmark, is eleven acres of newly planted orchard, soon to provide fruit and nut lovers with local and imported varieties of organic apples, Asian pears, sour cherries, apricots, plums, blueberries, heart nuts, and more. They are currently testing varieties of seedless grapes and kiwi in a small
vineyard. It’s one of the first of its kind in Manitoba.
“We have about 60% planted so far,” says Collin De Ruyck, grower and proprietor of the orchard. “In total, we will finish up with around 300 fruit trees, 1000 berry plants, and 200 to 300 nut trees.”
Economically speaking, buying local creates jobs and keeps our spending dollars working right here at home. What’s good for the economy is good for all of us. “Cheap isn’t sustainable,” reads a tagline from Crampton’s Market on Waverly Street in Winnipeg. “A deal, bargain, or sale means someone loses. Usually it’s the farmer.”
Green Right Now, a sustainable living website, makes some relevant points about buying local. They state that farmers are a vanishing breed. By buying directly from the farmer, we can recreate the time-honoured connection between consumers and growers. Supporting local farmers helps to ensure that farms thrive, allowing our children and grandchildren to access healthy and abundant food.
So, who is your farmer?
