SACKVILLE, N.B. — A new event celebrating local food was added to this year’s Fall Fair line-up – and the 100-person, sit-down harvest supper was a resounding success.
Members of the Sackville Farmers’ Market hosted their first-ever fundraising dinner as part of the 19th annual Fall Fair festivities on Sunday, drawing over 100 residents and raising more than $2,500 for the Market Dollars project.
“We wanted to host an event that would put a celebration of local farmers at the heart of the Fall Fair this year,” says market manager Michael Freeman, who co-organized the event with a committee of volunteers. “The idea is to have fun and build links between our small-town pride and pride in our local food system.”
Held under the Fall Fair’s main tent in the parking lot between Goya’s Pizza and the post office, the event was helped along by grants from Renaissance Sackvile and the provincial department of agriculture.
On the menu: two spit roasted pigs from longtime market vendor Arndt Becker of Portage Pork Plus; craft beers and sodas featuring locally-grown hops and blueberries from Sackville’s own Bagtown Brewing Co; seasonal salads sourced from market vendors featuring the best of the harvest season; rolls from Esser’s Bakery, who has been vending at the Sackville Market for over 30 years; mustard and bread & butter pickles from Ralph and Joan Smith in Upper Sackville; and desserts from Knuckles Truffles and Ketchup With That Kitchen.
The event was a fundraiser for the Market Dollars project, which issues an exchangeable local currency to food security initiatives – from the food bank to school-based food programs and the Sackville Refugee Response Coalition – in order to enable people facing food security challenges to shop at the market.
“We want to build a local food system in which everyone can make their own choices in obtaining healthy, fresh food,” says Freeman.
The Sackville Farmers Market has distributed more than $4,000 in Market Dollars to community groups since 2015.
The market raised $2000 from ticket and beverage sales for the event, plus an additional amount from a silent auction held during the dinner.
“Tickets sold so quickly that we’ll have to organize another event soon,” says Freeman.
He said there’s already been discussion between market members and town staff about organizing a local food and beverage event in the Waterfowl Park or on the green roof at town hall.
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