2007 Road Trip Report on Markets and Local Food across Canada
Lara Melnik and Darren Holcombe

Blind River, Ontario
We came upon this market on a Saturday in mid-August. It was a fairly small affair - appropriate for the size of the community. Located right next to Visitor's Centre and within sight of the Trans-Canada highway. Mix of crafts and produce - great wild blueberries, okay pies and cookies, socks that Lara has since regretted not getting MORE and beans. Saturday only in a "multi-use" pavillion.

Dieppe, New Brunswick
We stayed in Dieppe, my sister's hometown, for about 10 days. Dieppe is a few km from Moncton. The market building is a big indoor/outdoor affair that is part of a larger community square that includes city administration buildings, private shops/offices and greenspace. Moncton has lots of big box stores and so Dieppe is working to be pedestrian friendly as it develops.

We visited the market on two consecutive Saturdays - both very busy - almost too busy!

Local bread, milk, meat and vegetables in abundance. Also a good number of art/craft stalls as well as serious, locally prepared food stands.

The market was also open two weekdays - we visited on one and found only one outside vegetable vendor set up - good cultivated blueberries available. Inside, the food and veg side was cleared out and a bingo was going on. So, multi-use inside the building too.

Gaspé, Québec
This little roadside stand had a few things to sell. There seemed more of these types of stands in Quebec than anywhere else. If you waited until dinner time to pick up your beans or corn though, they were usually sold out.

Rural Ontario and prairie provinces often had small produce stands at the end of the driveway with payment on the honour system.

Hunter's Farm - St. Leonard, New Brunswick
An excellent stop on road #144 just a few km from the busy Trans-Canada. A couple of brothers and their families seemed to have their hand in a little bit of everything.

Farm produce and home baking were displayed in a barn-like building just off the road. We met lots of locals coming to get fresh food there.

Kingston, Ontario
A market organized by the city of Kingston and set up downtown in the city square. All outside with people bringing their own shelters. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Lara's sister lives about 30 km north of town. The market rule is that all producers must be from within 100 km of Kingston.

Several organic farms were present with nice produce. Heritage produce is big in Ontario now. Heritage tomatoes especially. Seemed to have the highest priced items we saw - probably linked to the customer's ability to pay.

Some farmers who used to participate in the market now sell direct from their farms or have switched to CSA type distribution.

Pembroke, Ontario
I forgot my camera both times we visited this market. The set-up is similar to Blind River. A covered structure for setting up under if the weather is poor. A relatively newer structure as other times we've been here the vendors all seemed to have pop-up tents. The new structure includes bathrooms, a kitchen, and a room used by a local butcher to sell meat.

There seemed to be less farm produce at the market and it was cheaper than many. Maybe most people in the Ottawa valley grow their own?

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
There are two sets of photos for this market since we visited on the way out and on the way back. The first time, the site was under construction. The market is located very close to downtown Saskatoon in a "rougher" area. Apparently, this is one of several projects intended to re-vitalize the area.

The market consists of a large open square/courtyard and a fully enclosed heated structure. On old power utility building was re-vamped for the market. It is open Thursday and Saturday.

Our first visit was on a Thursday and it was pretty sparse inside although there were lots of vegetable produces in the back parking lot. The second visit was on a Saturday and construction was finished and there were more vendors. Similar to the Dieppe set up and you could tell it was just starting to catch on for both vendors and customers.