Pain of Local Eating in Quebec Eased By Wine
SEPTEMBER 18, 2007 - It was a glorious first day of September in Sherbrooke, Quebec. A full bright sun shone and a cool breeze blew, hinting ever so slightly of autumn on the horizon.
We packed up the car, reusable grocery bags and all, and headed to the North Hatley farmer's market. Our plan: to eat only food produced within a 100 mile radius for one week.
We were inspired by the 100 Mile Diet, which matched our desire to cut down on the greenhouse gas emissions caused by transporting food from afar and the simple wish to get to know the agricultural community that circles my often urban life. "We" is me, my significant other and our one-year-old lab, a more willing participant than one might think.
Next stop - Ferme Wera on Route 143, home to rows and rows of pick-it-yourself produce at dirt-cheap - no pun intended - prices. I learned very quickly that there is a special technique to pulling carrots out of the ground - one that doesn't rip the top off and leave the good stuff stuck in the ground. While there, I noticed more veggie pickers from Sherbrooke's ethnic communities than I normally see in the city, which made we wonder if local eating was a given in many other countries and cultures. With several bags stuffed with peppers, carrots, cucumbers, leeks, onions, squash, eggplants, green beans and even cayenne peppers, as well as a generous jar full of locally-made honey, we spent $30 dollars, tipped our hats and left.
In a whirlwind couple of days of shopping, we managed to hit les Bobines in East Hereford for trout, Verger Ferland in Compton for apples, Fromagerie la station in Compton and Saint-Benoit-du-lac for cheeses and apple cider. From there, we hit le Vegetarian, where we picked up local milk and butter, and flour and oats from la Milanaise. Seventy-five per cent of what the Milan mill processes is local – we'll take what we can get, considering there is not much in cereal grains available in the townships. Last stop, the fruit stand up the street from our house, where we stock up on corn on the cob from Ange Guardien. (For local foods resources in the Sherbrooke area, visitatestrie.com.)
Note: we came up short in our search for a completely locally-made beer, but the opening of the Fête des vendanges in Magog eased that pain, offering a selection of wines from around the region. Note again: having chosen - for many reasons - to eat a mostly vegetarian diet, we did make an exception by visiting Boucherie du fermier to buy some beef for our hungry lab, who ate his meals that week with remarkable enthusiasm.
-Sarah Rogers in Sherbrooke, Quebec
