An event connecting farmers with the community for nearly 20 years on the Saanich Peninsula is expanding to include downtown Victoria this spring.
Organized through CR FAIR, the Downtown Flavour Trails aims to connect city-dwellers with nearby producers and farmers, growing connections between people and local food systems.
Taking a page from the North Saanich Flavour Trails that sees visitors stroll through farms, the new Victoria version will showcase local farmers and local produce through the restaurants that are using their ingredients, program and events, coordinator Cicely Frears told the Victoria News.
“It would look a little different because we don’t have farms in the city, but we have so many restaurants using products from local farms,” Frears said. “There are so many producers on the Island we want to showcase. (Flavour Trails is) picking up and expanding a lot, which is exciting.”
Saanich trails were added last year, and Central Saanich also boasts new tours this summer.
Victoria trails include cooking classes, workshops and dishes featuring local, seasonal ingredients across downtown.
Frears is building a diverse trail – with 10 to 15 sites – based on the farm-to-table experience. It showcases producers making food in the city, using ingredients customers may not even realize are from the Island – from restaurants and cafes to chocolate and ice cream shops – to provide “that immersive experience with local food.”
“The underlying goal of the flavour trails is obviously to connect people with their food but to support our local farmers,” Frears said.
Among the trail stops is one farm in city confines that feeds families and supplies restaurants. The FED Urban Farm in Vic West is open to guests Sunday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with tours at 10:15, 11:15 and 12:15 as well as a small pop-up market and education tent.
Visitors can find a downtown trail hub, with maps, information and guides on hand, April 26 and 27 at the Visitors Centre at the Inner Harbour.
The fresh Central Saanich tour runs July 12 and 13, and the Saanich trails return Aug. 8 and 9, with the original North Saanich Flavour Trails running Aug. 23 and 24. The Flavour Trails team will also be on hand for the Saanich Strawberry Festival with maps for the summer tours. Visit https://www.flavourtrails.com/ for details on each festival.
The expansion tours are well-timed with folks focused on the need to buy local.
“Now more than ever, people are looking to connect with where their food came from,” Frears said. “It’s a great experience to meet the people who grow your food and learn how it got from the farm to the table or the grocery store.”
