Location
Dufferin Grove Organic Farmers' Market875 Dufferin Street northwest corner of Dufferin Grove Park
Toronto,
ON43° 39' 23.796" N, 79° 26' 1.1868" W
Established: 2002
Days and Times of Operation: Thursdays, 3-7 pm year-round
Market Manager: Anne Freeman
Number of Vendors: 26
Website: www.dufferinpark.ca
About the Market:
Dufferin Grove is a market with great community spirit, and a wonderfully diverse mix of customers and vendors. Its strong focus on supporting ecologically sustainable agriculture is much appreciated. The market has tried to develop a model that benefits producers and the community year-round, and to welcome both rural and urban producers of organic food.
Vendor Profiles:
Here are our vendors based in the Greenbelt:
- Greenfields (Guelph), certified both organic and LFP, clean-energy powered, with ecologically protected areas on the farm
- Plan B Organics (Flamborough), which has grown from a new farm to Ontario's largest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project over the time they have been at Dufferin
- Ionel Alecu of Bees Universe, now based in the Innisfil area, but with his beeyards on the Oak Ridges Moraine
- Underground Organics (Flamborough), organic growers of nearly 200 varieties of flowers as well as herbs and vegetables
- Beretta Farms (King City), producers and processors of grass-fed organic and natural beef and pork
- Feast of Fields (Jordan Station), one of Ontario's few Demeter certified fruit producers, also LFP certified
- Urban Harvest, a Toronto based seed and seedling producer who leases land from Seldom Seen, a Greenbelt Farm, to grow heirloom vegetables, and also works with another Greenbelt grower to produce native plants
- Akiwenzies Fish & More, Native Canadian fishers from the Bruce Peninsula
- FunGuy Farms (Stouffville), both producers of gourmet mushrooms and educators on mushroom cultivation
- Country Meadows Gardens (Queensville), growers of over 80 varieties of heirloom tomatoes
- Ted Thorpe (Millgrove), whose family has been farming for four generations in the area, a pioneer in bringing organic produce into Toronto
- Seldom Seen, Seldom Heard Farm, producers of certified organic lamb and ecological land stewards on the rolling hills of the Oak Ridges Moraine
Product Highlights:
Wood-fired oven baking, fresh and smoked fish, a great variety of organically grown produce, grass-fed beef, artisanal cheeses, wild foods, venison, heritage seeds
Quotes from market customers:
From a letter by market customer Erella Ganon :
"One of the best things about this city is the Dufferin Grove Farmers' Market.
It is astonishing how often I say “ I saw him at the market” as a part of regular conversation.
The reason for this is the amazing community it fosters. We see people every week and forge new connections with people that come by, making the city feel more intimate. It changes the scale of the city into something more manageable, giving a small town feel to the park."
