Metro Ontario hosts rooftop garden lunch featuring local ingredients

From welcome mocktails to the final, sweet course of the meal, local products and producers were on display

6/24/2025

metro local producers summer tasting event

Metro's summer tasting event was held at Toronto Metropolitan University's Urban Farm rooftop

On a sunny—and very hot—Tuesday afternoon in downtown Toronto, guests gathered on a rooftop urban farm overlooking the city skyline for a lunch curated by Metro Ontario featuring local producers and manufacturers.

Nestled among raised garden beds and a steel-frame greenhouse, part of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Urban Farm rooftop, a three-course meal featuring ingredients and accoutrements from local producers and manufacturers was served.

“This summer Metro is proud to highlight its commitment to supporting local by celebrating our MVPs, the true MVPs of the season,” said Michael Rose, vice-president, fresh merchandising, Metro Ontario. “These are the Ontario farmers and our producers who bring us the freshest summer items to our tables.”

“With recent economic and trade uncertainty, there’s never been a more pressing time, a more important time to support Canadian farmers and producers,” he added. “Ontarians can currently find over 1,400 local products across 250 local suppliers in our metro stores in Ontario.”

The even kicked off with a mango “margarita” mocktail made with Tonica Kombucha, followed by a tomato basil tart topped with roasted Mastronardi Flavour Bomb cherry tomatoes and GoodLeaf microgreens. Grilled summer skewers featuring Ontario chicken, Mastronardi peppers, zucchini and mushrooms, and a side salad of GoodLeaf microgreens rounded out the meal. And for dessert? A chocolate truffle cake served with a scoop of Shaw’s classic vanilla ice cream.