Seeds of Change at Incredible Edible Festival

CORNWALL, Ontario – Now in its fifth year, the Incredible Edible Festival has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in 2012.

Bill Carriere is one of the founding members of Transition Cornwall and says that what began as more of a giveaway has evolved into a family-oriented day of garden-related activities.

“One of the things we try to do with Transition Cornwall is form partnerships,” said Carriere. “More and more partners came on and we began to expand what the event was.”

Speaking of partnerships, the Ontario Trillium Foundation was on hand at the event to present Transition Cornwall with a grant for their New Community Garden Network.

“It’s really to create and foster new events like this throughout the community and encourage gardening and build that confidence of growing their own food at home,” said Kat Rendek of All Things Food. “It’s part of a much bigger movement happening throughout the community.”

Rendek says that there’s a growing interest in gardening and healthy eating, which has really helped expand the event.

From the tall to the small, it seems gardening is something which can span the generations. Carriere says that one of his favourite parts of the day is always watching the children get their hands dirty planting the community garden.

“For some of those children, it’s the first time they’ve ever planted a plant,” said Carriere. “That’s meaningful.”