Our local food program supports and connects residents on both the producer and consumer sides of the local food industry. We host and support initiatives that increase public trust, awareness and education of food networks in the region. We also provide information on pests and diseases that affect trees and garden vegetables.
Upcoming events
Our local food coordinator is working to increase local food opportunities in the region by hosting education events and developing relationships with local food entrepreneurs.
Join Leduc County for a tour in west Leduc County featuring three local food producers. Visit the farms and learn about local products and how they're produced.
How it works
We will have three start times available for you to register for. There are a limited number of spots for each tour, so please register early. Registered participants use their own vehicles to travel from stop to stop, following a Leduc County guide in the lead. Learn more about each tour stop below.
Plan for a full-day event, as the tour will last approximately five to five and a half hours. There will be a lunch stop in Warburg, where participants can go to the Warburg Corner Restaurant or the Two Flowers Bistro. Participants are also welcome to bring their own lunch.
After the tour, a community event will take place at Glen Park Hall at 6 p.m.
All public health measures must be followed during the tours, including practising physical distancing of two metres or six feet.
Please be aware that planned tour activities are subject to change based on current health orders.
Tour stops
Farm Fresh Florals
Farm Fresh Florals offers seasonal, local florals and a unique outdoor venue for events and photography.
Activity
Tour participants will go on a guided tour of the u-pick flower gardens. Please note there are no activities for children; all children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Products
The Silo Farm Store will be open and stocked with freshly cut bouquets and local artists' household goods. Antiques and vintage wares as well as beverages and snacks are for sale.
Reclaim Organics is a certified organic market garden, cut flower farm and indoor vertical farm. It is a 12 acre market garden farm and a small indoor microgreen operation.
Activity
Tour participants will go on a walking tour of the indoor and outdoor farm area. There will be a scavenger hunt set up for children.
Products
Reclaim Organics grows a variety of whole vegetables, such as beets, carrots, radishes and squash, micro greens and sprouts, seasonal salad mixes and unique varieties of greens. Also available are canned products using vegetables from the farm and produced by Mojo Jojo Pickles in the commercial kitchen.
The Old Red Barn is an agritourism and special events venue on a working dairy farm.
Activity
Participants will learn about dairy farms through a variety of displays and activities, such as a feed display and butter-making demo. There will also be a dairy quiz and a colouring activity for children. Please note for bio-security reasons, there will be no tours of the milking barns.
Continue to celebrate local food and agriculture at a community wrap-up event at Glen Park Hall. This event will feature local food vendors and a video about local food in Leduc County. It will also have a drive-in concert featuring the Spy Squirrels! This event is open to the public and to all registered participants in the local food tour.
The following vendors will be at the community event:
Join Leduc County for a tour in east Leduc County featuring five local food producers. Visit the farms and learn about local products and how they're produced.
How it works
We will have three start times available for you to register for. There are a limited number of spots for each tour, so please register early. Registered participants use their own vehicles to travel from stop to stop, following a Leduc County guide in the lead. Learn more about each tour stop below.
Plan for a full-day event, as the tour will last approximately five to five and a half hours. There will be a lunch stop in New Sarepta, where participants can go to the New Sarepta Market, the Out to Lunch Cafe or order through the Let's Eat concession that runs out of the New Sarepta Agriplex. Participants are also welcome to bring their own lunch.
After the tour, a community event will take place Rolly View Hall at 6 p.m.
All public health measures must be followed during the tours, including practising physical distancing of two metres or six feet.
Please be aware that planned tour activities are subject to change based on current health orders.
Tour stops
Rig Hand Distillery
Rig Hand Craft Distillery is a grain to glass distillery and is in the unique position of being the first craft distillery in Nisku. The family business makes vodka, rum, whiskey, gin, moonshine and coffee cream liquor that is locally sourced, produced, and distributed.
Activity
Participants will go on a tour of the manufacturing floor to learn about Rig Hand's processes, followed by a visit to the tasting room for small samples*.
*As per AGLC regulations, children are allowed on the production floor for the tour and in the retail store when accompanied by an adult but are not allowed in the tasting room.
Products
Spirits, beer, wine, mead and Rig Hand-branded merchandise.
Sunnyhill Alpacas raises both Huacaya and Suri alpacas and run a mill where they make yarn.
Activity
Participants will view alpacas from outside the pen and feed them grain and carrots. Kids activities include colouring pages and finger puppets. If time allows, participants will also tour the Twisted Sisters Mill, where they make their yarn.
Products
Alpaca yarn and rovings (unspun fibre for projects) and finished products made from alpaca yarn, such as hats, mitts, socks, felted soap and dryer balls.
Northernhawk Hops Garden is a one-acre hop yard established in 2017. Northernhawks Hops Garden has Willamette, Centennial, Cascade, Columbus and Chinook variety hops.
Activity
Participants will go on a tour of hops gardens.
Products
Hops pillows, dried hops from home brewing and potted hops plants.
Safety
Piled logs will be cordoned off. No adults or children are allowed near them. Also no swinging is allowed on guy wires.
Continue to celebrate local food and agriculture at a community wrap-up event at Glen Park Hall. This event will feature local food vendors and a video about local food in Leduc County. It will also have a drive-in concert featuring the Spy Squirrels! This event is open to the public and to all registered participants in the local food tour.
The following vendors will be at the community event:
The website features an interactive map that highlights attractions and tourism destinations in the region. The map now includes a category featuring local food producers in Leduc County. Learn about who's making your food, what they have to offer, and how you can purchase their products.
businesses that source local ingredients to produce value-added products
How it works and criteria
To be featured on the interactive map, you need to meet certain criteria and fill out an application form.
Criteria
You must own your business.
Your business must be located within Leduc County or one of the municipalities within its boundaries (Beaumont, Devon, Leduc, Calmar, Thorsby, Warbug).
You must meet at least one of the following requirements:
You are a producer of food, horticulture, other agriculture products, or raise animals/products that are sold into local market channels.
You host agri-tourism activities on your farm.
You source ingredients from Alberta that are your main ingredients to produce value-added products.
If you meet the above-listed criteria, you may fill out an application form.
After you've submitted your application form, county staff will review it and you will be notified if your application was successful.
There is no cost to be listed on the local food listing, but you must complete an annual audit of information to ensure everything is up to date.
Please note: if you indicate specific certification/classification/or holding certain permits as part of your business features, such as organic certification, you may be requested to provide a copy of the certification to the county.
For more information, contact Sharon Faye, local food coordinator, at 780-770-9271 or sharon@leduc-county.com.
Ag Matters e-newsletter
Do you want to learn more about agriculture and agriculture-related events in Leduc County? Sign up to receive agriculture news to your email inbox, including our monthly Ag Matters newsletter that highlights both local and regional agriculture information and events.
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