Loft Market Food Box Program: Local, organic, seasonal, delicious.

In September, I attended the Savour Stratford Perth County Culinary Festival. It was SO incredible, I know I'm still on a high from it. I returned twice that Saturday, in the rain, beaming with pride and ignited by passion. I'm already doing the countdown to the 2010 festival and have recruited a number of out-of-town friends to join me.

While at Savour Stratford, I was introduced to the Loft Market, a co-op that connects local eaters with local sustainably grown organic food from family farms in the Perth, Waterloo and Wellington Regions of Southwestern Ontario. Loft Market fills its bags and boxes each week of the year with local sustainably grown organic food, which it delivers to 16 depot locations in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Wellesley, Elmira and New Hamburg.

"What about Stratford?" I squealed like a whiny six-year-old. I was so taken by the idea, I had little time to compose myself. The representative said Loft Market was considering expanding to Stratford and asked me to send an e-mail with my request (there were several inquiries that day). I barely had my rain boots off before I was pushing the send button. I haven't heard back from Loft Market yet, but I won't be surprised if Stratford is next on its map.

At the festival, I chatted with James Harrison, a farmer from Shakespeare, Ontario, who is part of the Loft Market program. He was a sweet, humble man who had the most gorgeous and delicious produce I think I have ever tasted. He even had tomatillos! Over the years I've come across several recipes that called for them and could never track them down. They were heavenly and added a terrific punch to my homemade salsa (a first canning experience for me this year!).

Like Soiled Reputation (see yesterday's post), Loft Market makes local eating easy. And so fresh, your taste buds will be singing from the rafters.