Plant a Bean in the Agri-food Tent at Markham Fair

Get your hands dirty planting your own bean seed; keep them clean cooking a recipe; use them to milk a cow, spin a wheel, grind some wheat into flour or make some Canola Oil! You can do it all in the Agri- Food Tent at the Markham Fair. The tent is focusing on hands on and interactive displays to explore the close relationship between agriculture, food and the environment.

Local Food Area:

Each morning children and their families can participate in the Hands On Real Food station where they can learn about fresh local food and then get busy preparing a recipe and eating it. The Local Food Stage will feature local food cooking demonstrations throughout the four days of the Fair to help you learn how to cook with local food and where to buy it locally.

Try out some of the jobs farmers and food processors do to prepare our food for us. You can milk a cow, grind wheat into flour or crush canola seeds into oil. Talk to the local farmers about the food they produce. Meet the York Cattleman’s Association, York Dairy Producer’s, York Pork Producer’s, York Grain Farmer’s, Honey Producer’s, Markham’s Sustainability Office and the York Region Food Charter.

Enter the So You Think You Can Cook At The Fair competition! Create an original local food recipe for the competition and submit it on the Markham Fair website. From the submitted recipes finalists will be chosen to cook their recipe on the Local Food Stage either September 28th or 29th. Check out

Eco-Farm Display Miniature Model:

Spin the wheel and learn about the mini-modern farm showing measures taken around the farm to care for the land and protect the environment. Markham Fair’s Eco-Farm is a depiction of a farming operation using best environmental management practices but in miniature scale.

Come to the Agri-Food Tent Friday afternoon at 3:00 pm to hear Mark Cullen, spokesperson for Home Hardware Lawn and Garden make the link between what farmers do for a better environment and what you can do in your backyard.

Grow A Bean Display:

The Crop Life Canada display will let kids get their hands dirty. Kids will be given some soil, biodegradable cups and lids made from corn and the seeds to be able to plant their bean and then take it home and watch it grow! Kids will understand how food is grown and that farmers take care of and grow seeds just like theirs.

So be sure to join us at one of the hands on and interactive displays that will be in the Agri-Food Tent at the Fair.