ONTARIO FEAST OF FIELDS
FOOD, WINE AND SUSTAINABLE LIVING

Ontario's Feast of Fields is an idyllic multi-course gourmet picnic. Held at Cold Creek Conservation Area (northwest of Toronto in King Township, near Bolton, Ontario), the culinary event attracts enthusiastic chefs, winemakers, brewers, organic farmers, bakers and foodies.

At the 2011 event, warm September breezes carried aromas of grilled flat iron steaks, bison strip loin and pork spareribs, while Sonica Collective entertained with background music. Open-sided tents shaded food and drink stands. Couples, families and groups of friends strolled between tents to admire, discuss and taste the culinary bounty of Ontario.

Natural and organic food

The colorful painter's palette of vegetables at Acton Ontario's Whole Circle Farm stand typified the freshness and diversity of local produce with wicker baskets of peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, kale, chard and lettuce.

At the Arthur Greenhouses stand, Joanna Baars displayed pots of basil, rows of large kohlrabi and bunches of fresh carrots.

But Feast of Fields features much more than fresh vegetables. The part-educational, part-social celebration of organic foods, healthy sustainable living and environmentally friendly Ontario foods also showcases organic meat, dairy products, olive oil, bread, honey, grains, chocolate, coffee, beer and wine.

Organic meats

Baskets of fresh plum tomatoes and flats of Caledon Farms green cabbage cress and spicy red Asian sprouts decorated the Hockley Valley Resort stand. At an open fire, chefs grilled Beretta Farms organic ribeye steaks, marinated with Sense Appeal Coffee Roasters organic coffee and Hockley Gardens' herb and chile marinade. They served the appetizing sliced steak on Hockley Gardens' zucchini and tomato risotto, garnished with the Caledon Farms organic micro greens.

At the Sodexo stand, Food Network TV chef, Michael Smith, chatted with Feast of Fields visitors, while chefs grilled mouth-watering bison strip loin over the fire. People lined up to sample the sliced steak on quinoa patties with rhubarb chutney.

Another crowd-pleaser was the Beretta Ranch flat iron steak, grilled by Andrew Hajjar at King City's Kingbridge Conference Centre stand. Chefs sliced and served the steak on a slice of whole wheat baguette. Feast of Field visitors topped it with relishes, made with vegetables grown in the Kingbridge Conference Centre garden (zucchini and green tomato relish, corn relish and four-pepper relish).

Also addictive, was the pulled beef brisket, with truffle aioli sauce on Fred's Sourdough Buns, served at King City's Beretta Farms stand.

Ontario Feast of Fields participants enjoyed seafood dishes too. Wild Organics served marinated and barbecued locally farmed trout on slices of corn baguette.

"I love Feast of Fields, because it supports farmers," notes Christopher Ennew, executive chef at Ste. Anne's Spa in Grafton, Ontario. "We chefs can be as creative as we want, but we couldn't do it without such incredible raw materials."

Organic raw honey

At Richmond Hill's Louianna Estates stand, we learned about certified organic first cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil.

Honey bees buzzed in a glass-enclosed honeycomb at the Pioneer Brand Honey & Nuts stand. We discussed environmental hazards to honey bees and causes of colony collapse disorder with Andre Flys, as he arranged jars of wildflower and buckwheat honey, next to beeswax candles and lip balm.

Environmentally friendly food

No plastic plates polluted Cold Creek Conservation Area at Feast of Fields. In some cases, the food was the serving dish.

We munched on delicious tongue and cheek tacos, with tomato salsa, green goddess lime crema and shredded cheese, prepared by chefs at Belworth House in Waterford, Ontario.

Toronto's Centennial College School of Hospitality served curried lamb garnished with Bumpercrop preserved Ontario cranberries with rosemary in pastry shells.

Bread and rolls were also used as environmentally conscious serving plates at Feast of Fields. Thornbury Ontario's Bruce Wine Bar served elk, mushroom and red onion ragout on sweet corn and sage cornbread with apple compote.

Daniel Gilbert, chef at Daniel's of Nobleton and president and co-founder of Feast of Fields, served wild boar and apricots with organic greens on crostini.

Other Feast of Fields chefs used eco-friendly "dishes." Belworth House restaurant served crispy pakoras (Indian vegetable fritters), with tomatoes and peaches, in paper cone cups.

Chef Robin Pradhan, from Rocky Raccoon Café in Owen Sound, Ontario, grilled spiced Mountain Lake bison, from Williamsford, Ontario, over an open fire. After slicing the tender meat, he served it on fragrant sautéed baji (hand-beaten whole grain rice from Nepal), on biodegradable plates.

At Toronto's Vertical Restaurant stand, we watched cooks hand roll strozzapreti, made with red fife wheat. Chefs sautéed the tasty pasta with venison ragout and served it in biodegradable dishes made from compressed corn leaves.

Local food

Many Feast of Fields dishes were perfect examples of why eating local Ontario food is not only delicious, but also environmentally friendly, saving fossil fuels used for transportation. According to the authors of The 110 Mile Diet, the average grocery item travels 2,400 kilometers between the farmer and the consumer's table.

Besides organic meats and local fruits and vegetables, Ontario foods at this year's Feast of Fields ranged from maple syrup, from Black Willow Elk Farm in Erin, Ontario, to Whole Circle Farm's rye grain.

Organic wine

Nearly two dozen wineries, breweries and dairies offered beverages to accompany the culinary creations prepared by Ontario chefs. At St. Catharine's Feast of Fields Biodynamic Farm stand, we admired a plate of organic green Niagara grapes. "We sell our grapes at Toronto farmers' markets and to two Quebec certified organic wineries," said Laura Sabourin.

Heike Koch and Jens Gemmrich, from Frogpond Farm, a Niagara certified organic winery, offered us samples of their best-selling Cabernet Merlot. "We use no synthetic fertilizers or chemicals on the grapes for our organic wine," said Heike.

Wine and food pairing is a highlight of Feast of Fields. The friendly folks at the Ontario wineries and breweries helped us match local dishes to wines and beers. (With their admission tickets, visitors receive handy neck pouches that hold their wine glasses, leaving their hands free to eat.)

Just as popular as the wine and beer stands, on this warm Feast of Fields day, were the Nimbus water coolers dispensing pure filtered water.

Organic dairy products

A favorite dessert, every year at Feast of Fields, is organic ice cream. We have tasty memories of the organic cappuccino ice cream served by Mapleton Organic Dairy, from Moorefield, Ontario. Their other creamy flavors (chocolate mint, maple, chai, rum n' raisin) were so tempting that we returned for seconds.

Other memorable organic dairy products included Harmony Organic Dairy's delicious organic chocolate milk, as well as their organic double cream brie cheese, served with rosemary mashed potatoes on organic gluten-free corn tortillas.

Talking to the folks at the Glencolton Farm bus brought back memories of the healthy raw milk that we, and generations of our families enjoyed, as we grew up on southwestern Ontario farms.

Home canning

At the Bernardin stand, Chef Emerie Brine drew rave reviews for his brie and candied pecan phyllo pastry cups, topped with rosemary-scented wine jelly. Besides answering questions about home canning, he also motivated Feast of Fields visitors to preserve Ontario produce. Each Feast of Fields participant received a jar of the white wine jelly and the recipe from Bernadin.

Besides organic ice cream, other desserts beckoned, including a scrumptious peach almond coffeecake made by Wanda Beaver, from Toronto's Wanda's Pie in the Sky.

After eating one of Belworth House restaurant's decadent bourbon bacon brownies, topped with sour cherry compote, we couldn't resist going back for seconds.

Also lip-smacking delicious were the lavender shortbread cookies, made by Evelyn's Crackers in Toronto, and the high-protein almond butter maple cookies from Hempola Valley Farms in Barrie, Ontario.

Fair trade chocolate

The diversity of Feast of Fields participants amazed us. We met Ontario organic cheese-makers, farmers, bakers, chefs and restaurant-owners, winemakers, craft beer brewers, fair trade green coffee, tea and chocolate merchants, heirloom seed distributors, herbalists, organic sprout growers and bee-keepers. Each person gave us valuable, practical information.

Linda Rose, at Black River Gatehouse, explained the uses of wild herbs that she harvested for tea and medicine, as she served us samples of sweet fern tea. "It's a tonic and an old remedy for black fly bites," said Rose, who sells her herbs at St. Lawrence Market in Toronto.

Famous chefs

Feast of Fields unites people who eat and prepare organic foods and drinks with people who produce them. The organic food festival began in 1989, when Toronto chefs, Jamie Kennedy and Michael Stadtlander, formed a group called Knives & Forks-Advocates for Organic Agriculture, to link chefs with organic farmers.

"We have a great organization behind us," says president, Daniel Gilbert, "and many dedicated volunteers." Organic Advocates, the non-profit organization that hosts Feast of Fields and supports organic food awareness, donates a portion of ticket sales to promote organic agriculture and education.

Recipients have included FoodShare Toronto, The Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, Organic Crop Improvement Association, Canadian Organic Growers, Everdale Farmer Chef Intern Program and the University of Guelph Organic Agriculture Department. This year's raised funds will support the Children's Organic Garden at King Township's Cold Creek Conservation Area, which educates local schoolchildren about organic agriculture.

Feast of Fields location

First held at a farm near Rob Roy, Ontario, the location of Feast of Fields has changed frequently over its 22-year history.

Previous locations included Vineland Estates Winery, Vineland (1990), Cave Spring Estates Winery, Beamsville (1991), Boker Organic Farm, Elmvale (1992), Ignatius Community Farm, Guelph (1993), Kortright Conservation Area, Bolton (1995 & 2009), Maple Lawn Organic Farm, Schomberg (1998), Albion Hills Conservation Area (2006) and Everdale Organic Farm in Hillsburgh (2007 & 2008).

Organic food recipes

Ontario Feast of Fields tickets cost $100. With each ticket, you receive a wine glass for sampling, a linen napkin and an informative organic cookbook in an eco-friendly cloth bag. (Participants return glasses and napkins after the 1 to 5 pm event.)

Best of all, the Feast of Fields cookbook includes recipes for many of the delicious foods and drinks offered during the culinary festival. The homemade preserves contest winning recipe for strawberry vanilla marmalade, from Karen Hollingshead, in Caledon, Ontario, is also in the cookbook.

Visitors also receive a list of contact information for the restaurants, bakeries, caterers, wineries, micro-breweries, organic farms, meat suppliers, dairies, organic partners and non-profit organizations that exhibited at Feast of Fields.

Feast of Fields 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 will also be held at the Cold Creek Conservation Area in Ontario's King Township. The date for the 2012 Feast of Fields is Sunday, September 9. Hours are 1 to 5 pm.

Early bird tickets for 2012 Feast of Fields cost $75 and are available from January 2 to May 31, 2012 from the Feast of Fields website.

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TRAVEL INFORMATION

Feast of Fields: www.feastoffields.org

Farm-to-table cookbook: Outstanding in the Field

More things to see and do in Ontario