Interested farmers have until May 31 to sign up as a host
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Alberta farmers have one more week to register as a host farm for this year’s Open Farm Days.
This year will mark the ninth annual event in Alberta, which sees farms across the province open their gates to visitors and families interesting in learning more about agriculture in their communities.
“We have just over 50 farms registered as hosts,” Nicola Doherty, marketing coordinator with Open Farm Days, told Farms.com. “We’ve got lots of new farms and lots of returning ones too. The registration deadline is May 31, so we’ll be taking registrations until then.”
The event is scheduled to take place Aug. 14 and 15. Tickets will go on sale after the registration window closes.
Because of the ongoing pandemic, some visits may look different than in previous years.
Whereas before COVID some farms hosted long table dinners with multiple people, farms have come up with different ways to give families a similar experience while adhering to safety protocols.
“Farmers are coming up with cool ways for visitors to experience local food without having those long table dinners,” Doherty said. “I think you’ll see a lot of picnics in pasture fields or artisan markets where farms are working collectively to help each other.”
Events like Open Farm Days are good for communities.
Conversations about where food comes from are important, and the pandemic has created an awareness about local food and agriculture, Doherty said.
“Without a program like this there would be no way for people to go to a working farm and see how things operate,” she said. “I think people now are more interested in where their food comes from and this is a really unique program that gives people the opportunity to meet their farmers, go behind the scenes and ask questions.”