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CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Maritimers look to farmers markets for groceries amid trade war, high prices
Between the U.S. trade war and high prices on the shelves at grocery stores, Maritimers are doing whatever then can to save money on food and support local. One way they are doing so is by shopping at local farmers the weather hasn't been picture perfect so far this spring, the Sussex Farmers Market in Sussex, N.B., is noticing an uptick in its first couple of weeks. 'People like homemade, they like organic, and we have that here,' says Sussex Market manager Patty Manning. 'For the most part people will buy here before they'll go elsewhere, and then when tourist season comes, we get the tourists from all over and they seem to like the market.' An overwhelming majority of communities around the Maritimes offer weekly farmers markets to allow local farmers and producers to sell product directly to customers. 'It's good food, it's all naturally fed, and it's just the best food you can get,' says market goer Brian Derrah. 'The people are awesome, the farmers are awesome, it's just a good place to go.' Between looking to support local products as a trade war persists with the U.S. due to tariffs and grocery prices seeming higher then ever, it's not always easy to know where to shop. Sylvia Melvin with Sylvia's Country Kitchen had a wide assortment of fresh baked breads and bagels on sale Friday. She said customers tell her that her prices are much better than what you see at the store. 'If a customer can get a better price and a better-quality product, the bread you get in the store lasts almost two weeks,' Melvin says. 'They're putting a lot of preservatives in their bread, mine doesn't have that.' While the prices normally tend to be cheaper at these types of markets, both vendors and shoppers admit it may cost an extra dollar or two for a fresh baked loaf of bread. But in this instance, no one is complaining about paying a little extra. 'Honestly, I think the value is in the quality of it,' says Johanna Buck. 'You know it's homemade and you're supporting someone directly.' It's Jennifer Plante's first year at the Sussex market as a vendor with Plante Farm. She believes it is important for residents to have access to locally grown foods produced by local farms and small businesses. 'Especially in a small town, you know that your neighbor is making it, and it's produced locally with local ingredients,' says Plante. 'A lot of effort and work goes into it, and I think people appreciate that.' Once fresh produce becomes available later this summer, officials expect even more residents to make the market the first stop on their weekly grocery run. The Sussex Farmers Market is open every Friday along Main Street from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
Times
23-05-2025
- Times
Provence's cool new hiking retreat (with wine at its heart)
'I never thought I liked rosé,' says nice Ian from North Yorkshire. 'I never thought I liked hiking,' adds Louise, who lives in the Cotswolds. 'And I never knew I was so unfit,' I puff, coming up behind them, desperately trying to get my breath back. If some form of transformation is what sets a retreat apart from a holiday, this break in a little-visited corner of southeast France is doing the trick for us all. Provençal Adventures is a new operator set up by the thirtysomething Londoner Rémi Dubois to showcase the mountainous area he grew to love when visiting grandparents here as a child. His converted farmhouse is near the hill village of Seillans, in a rural part of eastern Provence that feels a million miles (though it's barely 50km) from the glitz of St Tropez and the red carpets of Cannes. The self-improvement element of his retreat comes in the form of gnarly hikes in the mountains to challenge desk-bound bodies, with generous amounts of organic local food and wine as fuel for these exertions. Oh yes, there is wine. This is not one of those retreats that makes a virtue of excluding caffeine, sugar, alcohol and animal products. There's good strong coffee in the mornings, and proper French desserts made with sugar, chocolate, eggs and cream by our in-house chef, Aidan. The farmhouse is 600m above sea level, with glorious views down to the coast, and while spring evenings are chilly, I can see that later in the season the sunny south-facing terrace — with swimming pool — will be a gorgeous place to return to each day. The altitude means nights are cool enough to sleep without air con, windows open onto the deep silence of rural France and mornings are filled with loud birdsong. There are six of us on this inaugural retreat, all reasonably active if not in the first flush of youth. Dubois sets the bar high with the first hike, a six-hour round trip up 1,715m Lachens mountain, with almost a kilometre of altitude gain over the walk. I have a bit of a shock initially because although I've done lots of long-distance trekking in the past, my cardio fitness is not what it was after a miserable asthmatic winter. I find the three-and-a-half-hour slog to the summit a struggle. But if this is all about improvement, who stands to benefit most from a strenuous workout in this gloriously clean air? Me or those in the group who skip unconcerned up the slopes? With Dubois' patient encouragement and distracting chat I make the summit and collapse on a rock to eat my packed lunch and gaze at a panorama that stretches to the Mercantour massif, 100km away in the northeast. Several vultures are circling but they won't have me. Not this time. On the way down I find my inner mountain goat and redeem myself by being reasonably confident on steep paths and stretches of loose stones. The next, very different, hike takes us south to the Gorges du Blavet, a series of canyons carved in the iron-rich volcanic rock by the Blavet river. Different terrain, different challenges: tricky rocks and stream crossings require nerves and balance rather than lung power, and I am relieved not to disgrace myself. Years of Pilates are paying off, though walking poles and good boots also make a difference. On the last hike I am still slow but not as pitiable as on the first day. And the route is the most spectacular, up the south face of Bauroux mountain to the ruins of Vieux-Séranon village. Until the 14th century, life at lower levels was too precarious, as waves of invaders marched up from the coast, so people lived here at 1,200m above sea level. Crumbling walls, a castle and other buildings tell of harsh medieval lives. 'Retreat!' would have been a very different proposition back then. Over the Bauroux ridge the views open up magnificently — Lachens, the mountain I'd slogged up three days ago, to my left, then the Préalpes d'Azur and, away to the east, the still snowcapped high Alps. On March 2, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte also came this way: after escaping from Elba and landing near Antibes, he spent a night in Séranon, though accounts say he didn't get much sleep. In between hikes we explore the hill villages. We hit the largest, Fayence, on market day and I'm impressed to see old men sitting with glasses of rosé at 9.30am at the café in Place St Jean Baptiste. A marché des producteurs (farmers' market) in the old town hall is even more impressive, with greens of all kinds, bunches of turnips, onions, herbs and young broad beans displayed like exotic blooms and smelling as if they've been picked that morning. The restaurant Le France, where we have dinner one night, uses the best of that produce in inventive dishes such as a risotto with peas and those tiny beans (mains from £23; • I've been going on walking holidays for 20 years. These are Europe's best The highest village, at 814m, is Mons, which has fewer than 900 inhabitants, mountain views from Place St Sébastien and wrought-iron signs on ancient houses depicting the trade of former inhabitants — blacksmith, tailor, barber. Here the old Provençal dialect is heard in the shops and visible on street signs, the Provençal name — carrièro rather than rue, plaça rather than place — coming first, with the French version below. Mons's unpretentious Auberge Provençale doesn't make innovative dishes from local produce; it just does what it has always done, brilliantly. Perfect iterations of the best traditional recipes — goat's cheese salad, confit rabbit, braised pork, crème caramel — are served on a spectacular wraparound balcony, with views stretching 50km to the coast (two-course set lunch £14). The best meals, however, are those cooked at the villa by Aidan. After homemade nibbles on the terrace — different each day — we tuck into dishes from a super-tasty blanquette de veau via melting slow-cooked lamb to my favourite, a spicy tagine of chicken with merguez sausages. The wines with dinner come mostly from Val d'Iris, an organic vineyard a few miles down the valley, and it's on a tour with the charismatic owner, Anne Silberzahn, that Ian, a confirmed red wine and beef man, has his rosé epiphany and buys several bottles to take home. A lot of wine country is a monument to monoculture, straight rows of vines covering hillsides like so much green corduroy, but Val d'Iris is a more harmonious mix, fields of vines punctuated by rows of trees, orchards and banks of wildflowers. As well as looking pretty, Silberzahn says this helps with biodiversity, a balance of insects and plants removing the need for any pesticides. They also keep a flock of sheep to fertilise the vineyards, choosing a small breed that can squeeze under the vine branches as they graze. Watching the cute days-old spring lambs is a bonus for us. • 21 best walking holidays in Europe We taste six wines, all top-notch. One standout is the Parcelle K merlot, which would be a brilliant partner for roast meats. But, like Ian, I am in love with the rosé. Perfect for holiday drinking — with, say, tomatoes, olives, a bit of charcuterie and perhaps an orange-fleshed melon — it's fresh, lively and vibrant. And after five days of healthy exercise and top-quality nosh, that's pretty much how I Boulter was a guest of Provençal Adventures ( which has five nights' full board from £1,250pp, including transfers and activities. Fly to Nice
Associated Press
19-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Investing in the Earth: Natural, Organic and Regenerative Food and Ag Surges in Popularity
by Steve Hoffman of Compass Natural Marketing The market for organic food and agriculture has grown significantly since the National Organic Program was first established in 2001, placing the USDA Certified Organic seal on products that qualify for this distinction. Today, it's a $70-billion market that's been growing an average of 8% per year. And while it may be maturing, younger consumers, including new parents and their babies, are eating it up. And now, in the post-pandemic era, investors are once again paying attention to the potential of organic and regenerative products and brands that take into account health and the environment, and how the way we produce our food and consumer products affects climate change. A survey released recently by the Organic Trade Association (OTA), the industry's leading trade group, found that organic's benefits to personal health and nutrition are resonating deeply with Millennials and Gen Zer's, making them the most committed organic consumers of any generation. Also, a February 2025 study by the Acosta Group, one of the nation's top natural and organic products sales firms, reflected that 75% of all shoppers purchased at least one natural or organic product in the six months prior to the survey, with 59% responding that they think it's important that their groceries and/or household products are natural and organic because they 'are better for them' and 'they tend to have fewer synthetic chemicals and additives.' Natural and Organic Industry is a Force. Overall, the natural and organic products industry combined has more than tripled in size since 2007, growing from $97 billion in sales in 2007 to over $325 billion in 2024, according to data compiled by New Hope Network, SPINS (a division of Nielsen), Whipstitch Capital and others. Read more investment insights in Steve's article and watch a Video from the 2025 Expo West here- ====== Visit 3BL Media to see more multimedia and stories from GreenMoney Journal
Washington Post
08-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Natural Grocers: Fiscal Q2 Earnings Snapshot
LAKEWOOD, Colo. — LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc. (NGVC) on Thursday reported net income of $13.1 million in its fiscal second quarter. The Lakewood, Colorado-based company said it had profit of 56 cents per share. The retailer of natural and organic groceries and dietary supplements posted revenue of $335.8 million in the period.
