Farm and city meet in urban rodeo to raise funds for healthy, greener cities

TORONTO—Forty of Canada’s top chefs are joining forces for the Evergreen Urban Rodeo & BBQ fundraiser, designed to bring the city and countryside together with local, sustainable food and drink.

The bounty of the local terroir will be highlighted at food stations featuring country classics made with farm-fresh ingredients. Each dish will be paired with craft beer and spirits.

The rodeo is slated for Saturday, Sept. 27 at Evergreen Brick Works, an environmental community centre in the heart of Toronto’s ravine system.

The Toronto chefs on hand will be Brad Long, Jamie Kennedy and Charlotte Langley. Out-of-town chefs include Dale MacKay of Ayden Kitchen and Bar in Saskatoon; Todd Perrin of Mallard Cottage, St. John’s, N.L., Danny Smiles of Crown Salts in Montreal; Steve Mitton of Murray Street in Ottawa and John Baltazar of Homage Restaurant in Cambridge, Ont. Several chefs from Stratford, Ont., will be represented, including Jordan Lassaline of the Local Community Food Centre, Rob Rose of Canadian Grub to Go, Sean Collins and Tim Larsen of Mercer Hall Inn and Yva Santini of Pazzo Taverna.

Local bands CATL, Dani Nash, Beams and Zakary Miller will provide entertainment and visitors will be able to take a ride on a mechanical bull, get lasso lessons and try their luck at classic carnival games provided by Evergreen partner, the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Silent and live auctions are also planned.

“Toronto is not as city slicker as you might think it is,” Arlene Stein, event producer at Evergreen, said in a statement. “We are surrounded by some of the best farmland in the world, so we thought it would be fun to bring a bit of rodeo swagger to our city. This Rodeo BBQ is a chance to truly celebrate the harvest, hand crafted into delicious meals by some of the country’s greatest chefs.”

Evergreen is a national not-for-profit organization that inspires action to green cities. For more information visit www.evergreen.ca. For information on the urban rodeo fundraiser and tickets, visit http://www.evergreen.ca/rodeobbq.