John Bekings sells around 100,000 eggs every week.
Every single one of those eggs stays within 100 kilometres of Bekings Poultry Farm in nearby Oxford Station.
“I’m about as local as you can get when it comes to chicken farming,” Bekings said yesterday at Savour Ottawa’s fourth annual meet and greet for farmers and chefs at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier yesterday.
The event is intended to help local farmers meet up with local chefs with the aim of having more locally produced food available in restaurants in Ottawa.
“In the beginning, we called it speed dating for farmers,” said Savour Ottawa co-ordinator Heather Hossie. “They meet a lot of people in a condensed period of time.”
Despite a solid network of around 90 restaurants and markets in the region buying his eggs, Bekings set up a booth at the event as an opportunity to connect with his customers.
Acorn Creek Garden Farms owner Andy Terauds said the speed dating comparison was spot-on.
The meet and greet is held this time of year, said Terauds, so farmers have time to adjust what crops they plan to grow with whatever deals were made yesterday.
