(Kelowna, B.C.) A full day celebration of Food Day Canada® / Journée des terrors unfolded very early on Saturday Morning. It dawned in Newfoundland with Chef Roary MacPherson’s Pop Up Deli and rolled across Canada with the sunrise from St. John’s Newfoundland to the west coast of Vancouver Island. It was, as we’d hoped from the very beginning, 10 years ago, a people’s celebration. In 2003, there was no such thing as Facebook or Twitter. This year they were the repository of many diverse and really pretty interesting posts. Images abounded. Pride was front and centre. And during it all, the social media world was abuzz as #FDC2013 trended on Twitter for three days straight.
My own day began at the tremendous Kelowna Farmers and Crafters Market with the Okanagan Chefs Association and their growers giving out tastes of the valley. Chef Matthew Batey worked with Wolf from 
Greencroft Gardens whose patty pan squash were roasted quickly, sliced then tossed with basil oil. Then followed Stuart Klassen (Delta Grand & current President of the Chefs Association); Willi Franz (Gray Monk) and the inimitable Rod Butters (at right) followed suit. There were an estimated 10,000 people at the market that day. In fact it was so busy that the market manager took pity on me and brought a couple of fabulous tacos made on the spot and filled with fresh tomatoes and pulled pork.
The Mission Hill menu follows but before Chefs Matthew Batey and SAIT instructor Michael Allemeier raised the curtain on it, this massive, pan-Canadian video greeting was unveiled. It was deeply touching! These men and women are my friends but more than that they represeent the greatness of the food life of Canada. Here’s the link.
