Plan now for another Incredible Picnic

If plans aren’t in the works for another Incredible Picnic next summer, somebody better get busy.

The Picnic, put on by the Agriculture Department’s Select Nova Scotia Program, took place at 11 venues simultaneously around the province Sunday and, from all reports, each location enjoyed not only good weather, but solid turnouts.

Picture it: the aroma of hot dogs and boiled corn, fresh local food from a host of Nova Scotia producers and vendors, chefs onsite to prepare tasty treats to round out whatever patrons packed in their respective picnic baskets, and sweet music to boot to clarify the festive atmosphere.

Such a tableau may seem old-fashioned, but it represents all that’s great about Nova Scotia and it helps to send notice that we must foster and promote the value of buying local and embracing the good things we have.

We are blessed with abundance here through the determined and persistent effort of producers who battle for presence in the market at a time when every dollar earned is hard-fought and precious.

It’s not enough to pay lip service to ‘Buy Local’. The Incredible Picnic was a tangible way to put the message directly to the people and we applaud the government for taking the initiative and stepping up – literally and figuratively – to the plate.

As well, local food producers, restaurateurs and assorted agencies embraced the notion with gusto, adding additional credential to an idea whose time has come.

Local producers that contributed to the fete at Victoria Park included: St. Famille Winery- Falmouth; Gaspereau Winery; Mannings; As You Like It Farm – Avondale; Just Us Coffee – Grand-Pre; Falmouth Fruit and Vegetable Co.; Masons Apples, who partnered with MLA Chuck Porter to supply free corn on the cob.

All Windsor Rec Day Camp staff volunteered for the day and handed out free cookies, did face-painting and participated in children’s activities. And wasn’t it nice to see young people put their time in for free to support a cause that quite clearly affects us all?

One person said it was great to see the park put to good use, too. "Not a lot of towns have this kind of green space and we don't use it often enough. This is really nice.”

Indeed, nice, and then some. The event was a celebration of all Windsor and West Hants has to offer and we should push now for a reprise.

Homegrown food is good for us and good for the local economy. It’s a win-win when we buy local and The Incredible Picnic was a fun, festive, exciting way to send a wake-up call to people.

Sustainability and the capacity to feed future generations and ourselves underpin the point and it’s a mantra we must adopt if farm families and, ultimately, our way of life are to remain intact.

One big picnic? On the contrary, we need many more. Let’s roll up our sleeves and let the province know we liked what we saw last weekend. Maybe they’ll get the hint and start preparing now for another Incredible Picnic next year at even more locations.

Food, fun and our future all rolled into one. It reminds us of when things were a bit easier and life took place one picnic at a time. What could be better than that?