Peter Murphy lives near one of the best kept tourist secrets in Alberta.
The deep red hoodoos and eroded rocks of Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park in central Alberta make it one of the most scenic spots in the province.
Murphy hopes a gourmet meal served at the top of the buffalo jump Aug. 5 will encourage more tourists to visit the location and surrounding towns.
“We need to raise the profile of the area,” said Murphy. “It’s a heck of a place.”
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Like other communities and organizations across the Prairies, Murphy is turning to food, the historic unifier, to attract visitors.
The Silver and Sage five-course dinner, made with locally produced food and prepared by two master chefs, is the first of Murphy’s many ideas that combine local food and tourism.
“I’ve got ideas running out of my arms,” Murphy said during a Local Food Events conference in Camrose.
Murphy has also helped organize the Fall Gather, a weekend of celebrations in Delburne, Alta.
This year’s celebration will include a chili cook off and other local food possibilities. He also hopes to organize a sunrise breakfast at the buffalo jump to attract photographers.
The idea of asking local Hutterite colonies to grow and supply corn on the cob for small town events has also been tossed around.
“We want to show people in the area what we can do.”
In northeastern Alberta, organizers have also seized upon the idea of showing off food and local attractions.
“We wanted to promote the abundance of local food in the region,” said Kevin Kisilevich.
The Dine Kalyna project piggybacks on the successful Kalyna Country tourism promotion of the region.
Using local food, chefs donate their time to create the one-day Dine Kalyna event held just before the fair in Vegreville, Alta.
“It’s a significant regional event.”
Key to the success of the Dine Kalyna project was the push from local producers, who wanted to show off their produce and attract visitors to their farms and communities.
The dining event has been so successful that most of the tickets have been pre-ordered months before the next event.
Bill Reynolds, with Alberta Agriculture’s Explore Local group, said the key to most successful events is one person.
“It always involves a champion,” Reynolds told the group.
Having that champion work with local counties, municipalities, towns or village office staff helps prevent volunteer burnout.
“You need to have partnerships.”
Kisilevich said since they’ve created the Dine Kalyna event, other communities have asked for help to co-ordinate similar local food festivals. Monica Knight and Christopher McLellan of the Canadian Badlands tourist partnership have helped organize Long Lunches in southern Alberta communities to promote local food, bring community members together and promote tourism in the eastern Alberta region.
Using tables set up down the middle of the main street, residents have a reason to get together, visit neigh-bours and celebrate the local food.
The Long Lunch at Rosemary, Alta., last Canada Day weekend was meant to mimic the 100-mile diet with all the food for the event coming from within 100 miles. It was all found within 10 kilometres of Rosemary.
A Long Lunch at Brooks, Alta., was moved inside because of the weather, but it was aimed at bringing the ethnic diversity of the southern Alberta community together.
