Laura Berman
Baking pizza in the outdoor brick bread oven at snow-covered Dufferin Grove Park in Toronto in early March.
FOR some, the term locavore has gone from revolutionary to groan-worthy, conjuring images of holier-than-thou elites with the means to worry about not just where, but by whom, their cheese is made. And yet, as easy as it might be to dismiss eating from harvests no more than 100 miles from home as a lark of the privileged, the movement is still gaining converts.
Toronto has embraced the trend with particular fervor. In a city where winters begin early and end late, every day of the week a new, or nearly new, ultra-local organic farmers' market can be found in neighborhood parks; each one named for its barrio in an effort by neighborhood associations to bring local to the locals. The markets, many of them year-round, also offer travelers a glimpse of daily life here.
"Up until a few years ago we had hardly any markets in the city, but it has really exploded," said John RichLeMonde, the director of Sorauren Park Farmers' Market (Monday 3 to 7 p.m.; corner of Sorauren Street and Wabash Avenue; westendfood.coop), a year-round operation that opened four years ago. During a visit this spring, dozens of children toddled about the market, dancing to the tunes of Jan Kudelka, a folk singer. Janet Dimond, owner of the stand Augie's Gourmet Ice Pops (augiesicepops.com) briskly sold fresh icy confections (watermelon infused with cucumber and ginger, strawberry mingled with rhubarb) for $2.75 and bowls of asparagus, lemon and chickpea soup for $3. "On a day like this," Ms. Dimond said, indicating the brilliant sunshine, "this is where everyone comes." Alli Millar, who lives down the block, sold loaves of spring onion and wild wheat bread, and sticky buns for $3. Two women sold vegetarian spring rolls, freshly rolled, under a banner labeled Earth and City (earthandcity.ca), and Bizjak Farms sold its cider and apples, picked just a few miles away in Niagara, Ontario (bizjakfarms.com).
Mr. RichLeMonde credits one market with inspiring others to open in Toronto, Dufferin Grove Market (Thursday, 3 to 7 p.m.; just south of the intersection of Dufferin and Bloor Streets; dufferinpark.ca). It is in a park that was once a postage stamp of green in a rough neighborhood that has vastly improved, some say because of the market's success since its arrival a decade ago. Dufferin Grove is a tremendous draw: on Friday nights, large communal dinners are cooked on site. The park has two giant outdoor wood-fired ovens where bread is baked and sold. It is also the site of a free ice skating rink.
Not all the markets are based in parks. "There are about 12 neighborhood markets in the Toronto Farmers' Market Network but over 30 markets in the city, some in civic centers, some in parking lots," said Anne Freeman, market manager at Dufferin Grove Market and a coordinator for the 90 markets in the green belt that hugs Toronto.
One of them is the Stop's Farmers' Market (Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie Street; thestop.org), which is held on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon in a former streetcar barn. Now the barns are used for artists' studios and the market.
The oldest market in the city, the St. Lawrence Farmers' Market (93 Front Street), is also held on Saturdays across a small plaza from the storied food stalls of the same name (the main hall is filled with permanent food vendors and restaurants). There, farmers line one side, peddling piles of asparagus for $1, and bakers sell pretzels, pies and breads. The Torontonian Andy Rattray's "Sabores Latinos" offers antibiotic- and hormone-free beef empanadas and black bean spicy quesadillas ($3.50 each). At the next stall, Moyer Rowe Family farms (rowefarms.ca) lets visitors taste freshly milled red fife wheat pasta and sauce, harvested and milled just outside of Toronto.
"People are interested in buying more locally, and that's starting to become mainstream," said Mr. RichLeMonde of the Sorauren Park market. "There's a sense that we are building the future economy."
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: December 26, 2012
An earlier version of this article misspelled the surname of the owner of Augie's Gourmet Ice Pops. She is Janet Dimond, not Diamond.
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