Businesses in Medicine Hat and sur- rounding area play a big part in sat- isfying the global demand for high- quality food products but they also satisfy the local appetite for the best in homegrown recipe ingredients when spring turns to summer.


The weekly Farmers’ Market at the Cypress Centre, hosted by the Medi- cine Hat Exhibition and Stampede, hosts a wide variety of local pro- ducers. From makers of homemade perogies and preserves and fresh- baked breads to growers of sun- kissed herbs, fruits and vegetables, the Farmers’ Market has them all. The fresh offerings change from week to week as the growing season stretch- es out and the crops mature, making the outing a discovery of new good- ies each time. Every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the 2011 Farmers’ Market season runs from May 21 to October 1.


Larger food producers in the region also demonstrate variety and diver- sity, both in their products and their markets. While some local produc- ers focus attention on specialty mar- kets overseas, others are players in the distribution system that supplies North America’s demand for staples.


Located just outside Medicine Hat, for instance, Sundance Buffalo Ranch in Irvine, Alberta, is one of Europe’s ma- jor suppliers of high-end meat prod- ucts. In Redcliff, just west of the city, Red Hat Cooperative greenhouses cultivate vast amounts of fresh pro- duce to feed families from Yellowknife to Yellowstone.


Closer to home, some owners of small businesses offer services on a reduced scale to local customers and while they are at it, capitalize on satis- fying the appetites of the tourist traffic as well.


Perry Deering is just such a one. At Deerview Meats, a retail shop and certified plant all in one, Deering pro- cesses meat for local ranchers and farmers at a rate of 3,000 pounds of sausage per day but he also feeds hungry travellers from far and wide with his homemade sausage and jerky and specialty cuts. Among his clients for meat-processing services, Deering counts several 4-H clubs, a testament to the level of trust he has established with his clientele.


“Word has gotten out as to the status of our facility and the quality of our meat,” said Deering. “We do work for 4-H clubs all the way from over the Saskatchewan border to Bassano.”


Deering has also tailored his business to be accessible to tourists travel- ling the Trans-Canada Highway and Alberta’s rolling roads as well as to locals who may be heading out to


VOICE / JUNE 2011 ∙ P13


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