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Organic orgy
The 15th Feast Of Fields takes place September 12 in Scarborough’s Glen Rouge Park. The fundraiser put on by Organic Advocates, the non-profit coalition of organic producers and environmentally concerned chefs founded by Jamie Kennedy and Michael Stadtlander , promotes organic agriculture and environmental responsibility. This year’s sure-to-sell-out event – on the theme of Living In Harmony With The Land – begins with a keynote address at 11:30 am by enviro broadcaster David Suzuki and continues with a panel discussion on farmed fish.
But the real fun starts at 2 pm, when the free food and booze (or, rather, the complimentary organic smorgasbord supplied in exchange for only 800 non-refundable $100 admission tickets) gets spread. This year’s grub and grog is provided by local chefs like Kennedy, Live’s Jennifer Italiano , Osgoode Hall’s Yasser Qahawish and the ACC’s Brad Long as well as area wineries and microbreweries Frog Pond , Malivoire and Mill Street .
Those who don’t ride their bikes to the rain-or-shine fest can take an alternatively fuelled shuttle bus from the TTC-accessible Metro Zoo. There’s free parking for the rest, but no pets, please. For more information: 416-422-1944 or www.organicadvocates.org for tickets: 905-859-3609.
Fruits, nuts and flakes
A little closer to home and most budgets, the 20th annual Vegetarian Food Fair runs September 10 t0 12. Admission to the Harbourfront Centre event’s hourly cooking demonstrations, workshops and lectures is free. The participants scheduled in this celebration of all things veggie include syndicated cartoonist and part-time stand-up comic Dan “Bizarro” Piraro , who discusses his animal rights activism (he admits to having slapped the meat and cheese out of the mouths of strangers), as well as somewhat more laid-back but no less delish cookbook authors Nettie Cronish of the Big Carrot and Fresh by Juice for Life ‘s Ruth Tal Brown . For more information, call 416-973-4000 or www.veg.ca.
