As Ontario continues to deal with the effects of inflation, hotter and drier weather, and labor shortages, farmers say now is more important than ever to support the province's agricultural sector. "Supporting local supports our Ontario community as a whole," Kelty Mackay, a co-owner of Willow Tree Farm in Port Perry, said during a tour of the property on Monday.
"We shop in our towns. Keeping that money here in Ontario, I think, is a really important way for the future for us to guarantee that our land and our people are able to enjoy fruits and vegetables for (the) future." Beginning on June 5, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture marked the beginning of local food week — an effort to promote buying food from local vendors and visiting one of the nearly 180 farmers' markets in Ontario.
Willow Tree Farm has 150 acres of fields for growing various vegetables and fruits, all of which are handpicked. "We grow everything from asparagus to rhubarb, green garlic, spinach, all the way through to tomatoes, peppers, radishes, strawberries. Raspberries are grown in high tunnels," Mackay said.
"In the fall, we have pumpkin squash, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts — pretty much most of the fruits and vegetables you can grow in Ontario."
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