Imagine the most inclusive, accessible day of celebrating food possible – a day of free food, information sharing and inspiration towards the goal of a sustainably well fed community!
My idea is to organize two free food festivals: one in August and one in January (when many people especially struggle with access to food). Exact dates to be determined.
This would be a “food for everybody” event, with a focus on tasty, inexpensive, healthy food and on education, including a gathering of all community food resources.
The summer festival would be held both outdoors and indoors in Benson Park and the Picton Town Hall across the street. The fall event could be in Wellington, venue to be determined.
What might there be at this festival?
-Free food sampling (donated by restaurants, food purveyors and farmers)
- workshops and roundtables on, for example, stretching food dollars, cooking skills, great kid’s school lunch ideas, etc.
- cooking demos with recipe cost breakdowns
- mini-mart where people could come and “shop” for free (a kind of art installation free store)
- speaker’s corner video booth for people to have their say about food (especially their struggles with it)
- children’s snack-making bar
- kitchen equipment swap table
- cookbook swap table
- recipe exchange wall
- hourly draws for food gift cards from local grocers
An important component would be having local food resources information booths, hopefully with interactive activities like questionnaires or quizzes. Food banks, Food to Share, Fresh for All, the health unit, The Hub, Slow Food, The Good Food Box Program, Food for Learning, County Orchard project and other helpful folks would all be invited.

A number of people have already committed to helping with this great community builder. Moreover, some people who struggle with access to healthy food are also interested in being involved.
To be held on a weekday, from 12 noon to 9pm to allow the largest number of community residents to participate.