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Celebrate Food Day Canada on July 30, 2011!

July 28, 2011

Will it be sizzling barbecued beef ribs? A pulled pork sandwich? A clam bake on the beach? Buttermilk corn bread? Chickpea and cranberry couscous salad? However you celebrate Food Day Canada, there's no shortage of Canadian ingredients to give you a mouth-watering taste of this country.

On July 30, approximately 300 restaurants across the country will honour our northern bounty with special all-Canadian menus that highlight our rich culinary heritage. Food Day Canada celebrates the fact that Canadians are becoming more aware about buying and eating local, regional and seasonal Canadian foods. Studies show that Canadians prefer to buy Canadian foods whenever they can. Around the world, the red maple leaf on a food product label identifies it as safe, fresh, and of top quality.

"Canada has some of the greatest food on the planet," said Anita Stewart, the culinary writer and University of Guelph consultant who founded Food Day Canada and has enthusiastically developed the celebration across Canada. "If we don't keep our farmers in business, who's going to feed us? Who's going to feed the world?"

Food Day Canada began in 2003 with a nation-wide barbecue to support the then-beleaguered beef industry. The next year, it expanded to include all Canadian ingredients and has grown every year since. In 2010, restaurants joined the celebration. This year, the number of restaurants has reached new heights, new awards have been added, and the Parks Canada National Historic Sites are participating.

Sheraton Executive Chef Roary MacPherson is assembling a team of top St. John's chefs to kick off the national party by cooking breakfast at the Signal Hill National Historic Site. Food Day Canada will end with a crab cookout on Chesterman Beach in Tofino, British Columbia, at the Wickaninnish Inn.

Other events will follow across the country, sponsored by the University of Guelph, Canola Council of Canada, Beef Information Centre, Pulse Canada, Egg Farmers of Canada, and Taste of Nova Scotia. Parks Canada National Historic Sites are participating, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is partnering with Ms. Stewart to promote the event, which honours Canadian food producers.

The sponsors will offer awards to both restaurateurs and individual Canadians in a variety of categories. For example, the Beef Information Centre will honour the wildest menu created by a member of the general public; the Egg Farmers will recognize the best brunch in Canada; the University of Guelph will again offer an innovation award for the most innovative menu; Taste of Nova Scotia will select the best use of lobster; and Parks Canada will honour the best heritage menu.

Until next time,
Cheryl Hogan
cheryl.hogan@agr.gc.ca

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