Fruit and vegetable auction promotes local food

Holyrood, 25 kilometres southwest of Walkerton, Ont., will be the centre of a local produce auction that will take in any farmer within a 75-kilometre radius.

Growers from Hanover, Durham and Chesley and as far as Owen Sound will be included in the auction, which is being modelled after the Elmira Produce Auction, a successful co-operative near Kitchener, Ont.

The Mennonites in the area thought this would be one way for local farmers to be more viable and a way to get a good share of the market without having to travel long distances to sell their produce. A new building with natural light and good ventilation was built for the auction.

The non-profit auction will charge a 10 per cent fee to pay the professional auctioneer, building maintenance and other costs. The first auction took place May 20; by June it will be expanded to three days per week.

The first wholesale produce auction began in 2004 in Canada while there are some 50 in the U.S.