✨🏡 🍽️ happy local food week, Ontario!
From June 1st to June 5th, we’re highlighting where local love shows up on our menu every day.
monday
We already have THREE exceptional partners to celebrate.
Crisp & juicy apples from Vineland Growers are showing up throughout the week. Grown by Canadian farmers since 1913, this Niagara based co-op was founded by four fruit growers on the Niagara Peninsula and holds the distinction of being the longest continually run co-operative in Ontario. That’s over a century of delicious produce! 🍎
This morning’s snack features organic raspberry fruit spread from Crofter’s Organic, who also makes our NEW organic apricot fruit spread (coming soon for Snack Club kids). Crafted in Parry Sound, this family run favourite is known for its fruit-forward goodness, along with non-GMO and gluten-free recipes and planet friendly practices. Truly jam-packed (we had to!) with care. 😉
Today’s afternoon snack includes roasted red pepper loaf from Manoucher Bakery. This Toronto-based, family run bakery has been perfecting preservative-free breads since 1983 and is now proudly led by the founder’s daughter. They also make more delicious menu items for us, like our savoury onion bread, folded basil loaf and whole wheat rolls.
tuesday
Custom-made yogurt, just for us! 😍 Tuesday we’re shining a spotlight on Etobicoke’s Elite Dairy, inspired by this morning’s smooth & creamy start with our Vanilla Maple Yogurt (and plain yogurt for infants). Together with Elite, we dreamed up this delicious snack, which stands out by being naturally sweetened with a hint of maple syrup.
Elite Dairy also makes our Honey Yogurt (you guessed it, naturally sweetened with honey!), Maple Soft Cheese & Dill Soft Cheese. Some snack staples never go out of style and these definitely make the list, so we’re extra happy we can source these kid-approved favourites locally.
wednesday
Wednesday’s Filipino Beef Giniling features ground beef from Penokean Hills in Algoma, Ontario. Their beef is raised without added hormones or routine antibiotics, fully traceable from farm to fork, and their calves are fed locally-grown field peas. 🌱 These farming practices help us make menu choices families can feel good about.
Wednesday’s snack time features some of the most carefully-crafted cookies. 😍 Our NEW Coconut & Chia Cookies (landing for the first time at child care centres and Snack Clubs this afternoon!) from Etobicoke’s Shasha Co. are vegan-friendly and made with their own in-house sprouted grain flour. Proof that local businesses often have some pretty cool practices happening behind-the-scenes. We also serve other mini snap cookies from Shasha, like our Mini Organic Lemon Cookies and seasonal Cocoa Sweetheart Cookies for Valentine’s Day. 🩷
We’re also sharing some lunar love with littlest eaters thanks to New Moon Kitchen and their vegan-friendly Mini Moon Biscuits. 🌙 Made SUPER close to home in a downtown Toronto bakery that’s free of common allergens like peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, eggs & sesame.
thursday
Thursday morning’s snack features a vegan-friendly whole wheat blueberry scone from North York’s Sweets from the Earth. We’ve been working with them for years, and love their focus on plant-based baking and creating treats that are inclusive of different dietary needs. They also make our apple-beet loaf and cocoa-zucchini loaf (we love how they let veggies proudly shine in their baking!), and they’re the partners behind our cake ordering program, helping everyone celebrate your little one’s milestones. 🎉
Psst: Snag 15% off when you shop the Sweets from the Earth website with code LOCAL15! (Valid until June 30th.)
More local goodness comes from Vaughan’s Ozery Bakery, whose multigrain pocket buns are on the lunch menu for infants. Founded by the Ozery family, they’re known for wholesome, seed-packed breads made with simple ingredients and whole grains. They also bake some other RFRK favourites, including our multigrain pita buns for Beef Burger lunches and our apple-cinnamon morning rounds.
friday
🍌Our gluten-free, low sugar Go Bananas Cereal kicks off the morning in the most a-peel-ing way: crafted exclusively for RFRK by GTA based Stephano’s. Family-owned & operating since 1960, they worked closely with our team to create a cereal made with simple ingredients like puffed rice, quinoa and freeze dried bananas that’s suitable for even the littlest eaters.
🌱Snack time will include cracked wheat crackers from Cambridge’s Barrie’s Asparagus Farm. And yes, we’re still not over the fact that an asparagus farm makes such great crackers. 😍 Growing asparagus for generations, Barrie’s has turned their passion for farming into a variety of artisan products made with quality ingredients grown close to home. It’s exactly the kind of creativity we love to support.
If you’re looking for a destination for your next family day trip, their farm is well worth a visit!
💚 We want to know: how did you and your family celebrate Local Food Week?