When the lockdown hit in March 2020, something interesting happened: many of us starting making very different choices about our food. Here are six ways we sourced our grub and fed our families—and helped each other in the process.
Gardening
As food security became a concern, people who had never grown their own grub before suddenly took interest in gardening while seasoned green thumbs expanded their plots. Cornwall residents flocked to the landfill to take advantage of free garden material, hauling away 550 tonnes of compost, mulch, and clean wood to use in their backyards (a 387% increase over last year). Gardening centres like Bonville Gardens, Harvest Garden Centres, and Marlin Orchards and Garden Centre experienced a surge of people looking to start or beef up their home-based food production. The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne went the extra mile to address possible needs by launching Kaienthóhsera, a garden initiative named for foods. The program distributed 300 starter kits of raised bed frames, soil, and a tray of plants to eligible community members. And Transition Cornwall+, the community group that aims to help build resilience and sustainability, took their annual Incredible Edible Festival on the road and gave away 1,100 free plants over two days at 10 different locations around the city. They also handed over 100 plants for public gardens and another 300 earmarked for Cornwall social housing garden programs (an initiative led by the Seaway Valley Community Health Centre).
Meal Kits and Heat-and-Eat Dishes
While takeout took off, so did pre-made and DIY meals. In Winchester, Cup of Jo’s starting putting together Family Meal Boxes with recipes and ingredients to make items like Chicken Fajita Bakes and Beef Enchiladas, while Cornerstone Organics of Long Sault offered things like Stir Fry Kits and Buddha Bowls, rotating fresh ingredients depending on the harvest. Vendors like Cornwall’s Birchwood Café and Akwesasne’s 613 Urban Farms took up the charge of offering pre-made frozen meals Finally, many wonderful establishments tried something new by offering take-out. These are but a few that crossed our radar: Alexandria’s Buvette du Marché were still slinging tasty tapas, Cornwall’s Spicy Pearl rocked their Caribbean flavours, and Schnitzel’s was #winning with food AND craft cocktail kits. The Kilted Canuck in Maxville kept making their beloved bar food for takeaway and Winchester’s Winchelsea Events were serving up full-feature meals for pickup like chicken n’ ribs with potato salad and dinner rolls.
Al Fresco Dining
What’s a summer without a patio visit? Many restaurants, cafés, bars, and breweries expanded their outdoor dining and drinking areas so they could serve patrons safely. Parking lots and sidewalks were suddenly brought to life with the addition of patios, picnic tables, and bistro sets. Sheep’s Head Bistro in Glen Walter christened a lovely patio in their parking lot, while Wood Brothers’ Brewing Company in Glen Robertson constructed a new terrace in June and another one in September. Butler’s and Humble Beginning Brewing Co. in Ingleside opened up side-by-side parking-lot patios.
Restaurants and bars all over Cornwall introduced new outdoor perches. Pitt Street, in particular, is feeling extra vibrant with painted picnic tables and bistro sets populating the sidewalks. A tip of the hat to all the municipalities for offering options and fast-tracking necessary approvals. Long live streetside dining!
Groceraunts
In the early days of the pandemic, many of us avoided the grocery store as much as we could. A few restaurants picked up on this very quickly and used their supplier connections to offer fruits, veggies, meats, and other items to the general public.
The North Glengarry in Alexandria delivered wholesome fruit and veggie boxes to its customers. Truffles in Cornwall started off with weekly produce and meat boxes and have since morphed that into an e-commerce endeavour featuring curated foods and drinks, items for the home, and beauty products—many of them locally sourced. Cowan’s Dairy, also in Cornwall, had (and still offers) everything from baby back ribs to yeast to cheesecakes to lobster tails.
Shorter Food Supply Chain
We can’t #hugafarmer quite yet… but we can thank them! When the pandemic hit, we turned to local farmers for help. Direct farm sales took off. Aside from decreasing our environmental impact by reducing fuel used for food production and transportation, buying directly allowed us to understand how to better support regional economic development and build a more resilient local food supply. We applaud all the farmers who partnered up with other producers to offer more items directly from their farms. To wit: Kirkview Farms in Dalkeith, Cornerstone Organics in Long Sault, Leitch Organics in Martintown, and Wild Rose Organic Farm in Moose Creek.
Breadmaking
While home-cooked meals became more of a thing, we especially noticed the number of people who took up breadmaking. Flour and yeast were almost impossible to find in the early days of the pandemic. As acts of goodwill, people were donating sourdough starter to anyone who asked for it. We loved being invited into Wahiahawi Fitch’s kitchen in Akwesasne via Facebook Live when she shared her recipe and techniques for making her famously light and airy fry bread.
Photographer Ang Waterton of Cornwall also elevated breadmaking and shared the process with her audience. She had great Instagram stories of her loaf making but her most hilarious and entertaining content was the day-in-the-life session with her new baguette bestie, Jean George Lepain. It’s hard to forget images of Ang and her baguette nestled up on the couch, brushing their teeth, and enjoying a morning coffee.
For obvious reasons, we are unable to catalog all the farmers, processors, restaurants, caterers, farms, wineries, and breweries who pivoted to meet the needs of our communities. We see them, appreciate them, and salute them all!
