Growing Stronger

For most of my youth, I was raised on a 150-acre farm in southwestern Ontario. Although we leased out a portion of the land to a farmer, we still had a bountiful garden. My parents grew various produce, including potatoes, onions, beets, carrots, tomatoes, and garlic. At an early age they instilled in me the importance of knowing where your food comes from, and as an adult, I try to practise this when possible. While living in Toronto, my wife and I were fortunate enough to have backyard laying hens, which we brought with us when we moved back to Thunder Bay in 2014 (I can still remember the puzzled look of fellow campers at White Lake Provincial Park when they saw our chickens grazing at our site). Whether it was seeing the many growers selling produce at the farmers markets or how chefs were using local ingredients in their dishes, I was blown away by the strong community food system here.

Celebrating everything related to our regional food system, this month we’ve teamed up with the Thunder Bay and Area Food Strategy to bring back the Northwest Nosh in the pages of our May issue. As part of our cover story, Lindsay Campbell digs into Thunder Bay's guide to local food, Thunder Bay in Season, Bonnie Schiedel showcases the city’s food systems by the numbers, Wendy Wright puts together a guide for community-supported agriculture, we discover some local DIY farm ingenuity, and much more. Keeping with our theme, for our Wall Space we head over to Woollysteer Ranch, pommelier and sommelier Jeannie Dubois talks sustainability in the Ontario wine industry, and film columnist Michael Sobota shares his favourite movies about farming and food.

Also this month, Olivia Bosma chats with the members of the Canadian folk-rock band Whitehorse ahead of their Sleeping Giant Folk Music Society concert, Matt Prokopchuk gets an update on the rebuilding of The Finlandia, and Gabriel Thompson kayaks down the Current River in our Outdoor section.

In our May issue you’ll find stories about some of the many local food producers, chefs, and advocates who are proof that Thunder Bay’s community food system only continues to grow stronger.

-Adrian Lysenko