Celebrating Local Food Leaders
Spirit Nova Scotia Announces Local Food Award Winners

The results are in for the Spirit Nova Scotia Local Food Award! The award winners were announced at various locations of the Select Nova Scotia Incredible picnic on August 24.

The awards, sponsored by Spirit Nova Scotia, a broad-based, province wide citizens group committed to celebrating the spirit of Nova Scotia, are designed to promote the production, marketing and consumption of fresh local foods in Nova Scotia.

Prizes were awarded in three categories: Producer, Business, and Non-profit.

The panel of judges chose from over 30 praiseworthy entries. After much debate, they chose the following winners:

Additional information about the winners:

Jeremy Frith & Sue Brown, Mountain Meadow Farm, Baddeck, NS
Mountain Meadow Farm is a certified organic vegetable farm producing in and for Cape Breton. Jeremy and Sue grow over fifty different types of vegetables as well as herbs and flowers. The bulk of this produce is sold through the Cape Breton Farmers’ Market in Sydney although farm gate sales are steadily increasing. Produce is also grown at the request of local hotels and restaurants in the Baddeck to Dingwall area. Sue and Jeremy are outstanding examples of local entrepreneurial initiative with a social and ecological conscience.

Sean Gallagher of Local Source Market, Halifax, NS
Local Source Catering has been providing Halifax clients with local food for the past three years. Since they recently moved their hub kitchen into the North End of Halifax, they have been renovating the space to be a neighbourhood grocery store and a venue to promote and host local, community events. By the sheer love of food and the desire to foster a local food culture, Local Source Market works with local food producers to bring Halifax healthy, real food.

Kathy Aldous & Hazel Dill, with Dr. Arthur Hines School, Friends of Harmony Park, and the Hants Shore Community Health Centre for the Dr. Arthur Hines Elementary School Garden, Summerville, NS.

The school garden project at Dr. Arthur Hines Elementary School
began in 2004 as a partnership between the Hants Shore Community Health Centre (HSCHC), the school, and Harmony Park.

Kathy Aldous, program coordinator at the HSCHC, and Hazel Dill, Principal at DAHS, wanted to introduce children to the production of vegetables and at the same time interest them in healthy eating. Since 2004 Hazel and Kathy have worked hard to make their dream of a school garden become a reality. Now in it’s fifth year, the DAHS School Garden Project is a tremendous success, involving every student in the school and many community volunteers. In 2007, Slow Food Nova Scotia produced a documentary video about the garden, called “The Edible Schoolyard” in the interest of promoting the concept and helping other schools throughout the region to get started on such projects.

The Garden Project has been incorporated in many parts of the schools curriculum. From voting on which varieties to plant, to discussing soil ecology, to learning the health benefits of vegetables, students are engaged in every step of the project. This creates a sense of ownership and pride in the students who are keen to show off their work to the community at the harvest festival.

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Posted June 19, 2008