It strikes a chord, particularly now as the sun begins to shine strong enough to melt snow, teasing us with glimpses of the earth, turning thoughts to gardens and growth.

The 2010 Nutrition Month challenges Canadians to celebrate food – from where it’s grown and harvested to the delicious and healthy meals that end up on our tables.

While it’s a little early in the growing season to go to the source (at least around here), why not make March the month to make a tardy new new year’s resolution.

When thinking seeds, plan(t) to try something new. Until fresh produce is available, look on the label for products that have been grown locally, or closer to home. And vow to shop a farmers market for your produce this year.

Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives publishes a fantastic listing of local producers and farmers’ markets. I’ve pulled out a few local favourites here:

St. Norbert Farmers’ Market (Le Marche)

3514 Pembina Highway
Winnipeg, MB R3V 1A1
(204) 275-8349
www.stnorbertfarmersmarket.ca
Get directions

FortWhyte Alive

1961 McCreary Road
Winnipeg, MB R3P 2K9
(204) 989-8364
www.fortwhyte.org
Get directions

Osborne Village Market

445 River Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3L 0C3
(204) 480-8358
Facebook page
Get directions

The Forks

201-1 Forks Market Road
Winnipeg, MB R3C 4L9
(204) 942-6302
www.forks.com
Get directions

Transcona BIZ Market Garden & Crafters/Flea Market

131 Victoria Avenue West
Winnipeg, MB R2C 1S6
(204) 222-8566
www.transconabiz.ca
Get directions

Red River Exhibition Park

3977 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3K 2E8
(204) 888-6990
www.redriverex.com
Get directions

School, sports team, church, community org? Keystone Processors has a new way to Beef Up Your Fundraising.

A farmer-owned company with a modern beef processing plant in Winnipeg, Keystone works with local producers to deliver Manitoba produced, high quality, hormone-free beef. The products are available at numerous outlets throughout Winnipeg, and also online.

Through their online store, they’ve created an easy-to-use automated system that earns your organization money every time you and your members buy beef. There’s no commitment whatsoever and set up is a breeze…simply send  an email to info@KeystoneProcessors.com to create your organization’s membership.

Then tell your friends, family, colleagues and volunteers to identify themselves as your members when they register at the KeystoneProcessors.com online store. Every time they shop, you’ll receive Beef Up Bucks equal to 15% of each purchase. Since Keystone only sells beef by the box, those purchases can add up quickly, especially if friends and family bundle orders.

Now that’s an easy way to moo some good for the community.

Click here for more information on Keystone Processors’ Beef Up Your Fundraising initiative.

For every dozen delicious, gourmet, mini cupcakes ordered by Tuesday, November 17, The Cupcake Corner will donate seven bucks to support United Way’s work in our community.

Cupcake Corner you ask? It’s that little place in Osborne Village, formerly the Cupcakery. Rumour has it some outfit in Toronto already had the name and didn’t think Canada was big enough for two of them to exist.

Dreams of going national with a chain of franchises, delusions of grandeur…whatever the case, Winnipeg’s cupcake place has been forced to re-brand and a Cupcake Day is just what the doctor ordered.  Not only is it great publicity, giving them a nice boost after being forced to change logo, website, business cards, packaging, but it does a heck of a lot of good for Winnipeg, benefiting an organization that supports fantastic work in every corner of our city.

You can check out United Way’s website for more details, but it looks like all you need to do is download the order form, get your co-workers, friends, clients to submit their orders, and send the form with payment over to United Way. They’ll do the rest.

And the icing on the proverbial cake…your entire order will be delivered right to the address you’ve specified on the order form on Cupcake Day, Thursday, November 19.

Apparently Curve 94.3 is promoting the event all week and will broadcast live from Confusion Corner (Burger King / Dollarama parking lot) on Cupcake Day where Sarah & Jay will have cupcakes along with free coffee and newspapers available for your $15.

Each dozen comes with 6 Vanilla and 6 Chocolate cupcakes with a mix of their all natural frosting flavours–chocolate, peppermint, mocha, lemon, strawberry, banana (the latter made with real fruit).

Do yourself a favour, and score a win in the ‘Peg. Get your mits on some of these sweet little treats and help the Cupcake Corner bake a difference in our community.

The St. Norbert Farmers’ Market officially opened on June 6.

I’d almost laugh if it wasn’t so worth it, but thousands of Winnipeggers eagerly await this moment and every weekend, pile into our vehicles, stomping out a massive carbon footprint as we flock to the southern-most tip of the city to scoop up pounds of fresh, organic produce (hey, guilty as charged).

And while there’s also the Osborne Village Farmers Market for the more urban inclined (opening July 2), St. Norbert’s scope and scale makes it one of the must-stop destinations in Winnipeg’s all too seasonal culinary calendar.

If you’re heading down there this weekend, you might be interested in bypassing the hot-dog carts and swinging round the corner to the St. Norbert Arts Centre for lunch.

Chef Jamie Koblanski and his wife Audrey have opened Ground Roots Cafe on the grounds of the old Trappist’s Monastery.

A graduate of Red River College’s culinary arts program, Chef Jamie comes to his first head chef position by way of his experience in some of Winnipeg’s best restaurants including Bellissimo and 529 Wellington.

Ground Roots will feature al fresco dining at its best. The picturesque patio couldn’t be a more suitable backdrop for plates inspired by produce grown miles from where you’re eating.

There’s no set menu, Chef Jamie told me, a decision that frees him to create from whatever he finds weekly at the Farmers’ Market. His emphasis, and guarantee, is that everything will be organic, and sourced locally whenever possible.

Although the restaurant was yet to debut when I visited, if the Lemon Thyme Sugar Cookies I had are any indication, Koblanski’s food will be smartly executed and scrumptious.

Ground Roots Cafe opens for lunch and dinner Wednesday through Friday (11:00am – 2:00pm & 4:30pm – dusk) and breakfast & lunch Saturday and Sunday (9:30am – 4:00pm).

Take a walkthrough of the patio by viewing the video I captured:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtabP7bRyCE]

Ground Roots Cafe
100 rue des Ruines du Monastère
St. Norbert, Manitoba
(204) 269-0564

For a couple of extra dollars over the regular menu price you can, in fact, tap into the kind of cravings that only a dine in experience can offer.

Enter Winnipeg’s Mobile Maitre’d.

Simply place your order at one of the participating restaurants, then call MM’s operator at 777-DINE (3463).  They’ll dispatch a driver to pick it up and deliver it right to your doorstep within the hour.

The service operates Monday through Sunday, 4:30-9:00pm, and even offers lunch delivery from a select few restaurants.

Choose from the following menus:

• 12 Restobar
• A Taste of India
• Asahi JapaneseRestaurant
• Bangkok Thai Restaurant
• Bimi Restaurant
• Brit Cafe
• Bombolini Restaurant
• Caribbean Spice Restaurant
• Cafe Carlo
• East India Company
• Oakwood Cafe
• Fude Inspired Cuisine
• Homer’s Restaurant
• Ivory Restaurant & Bar
• Kelsey’s Restaurant
• Kristina’s On Corydon
• Nikos Restaurant
• Lovey’s BBQ & Smokehouse
• One Night In Bangkok
• Pasquale’s Ristorante & Pizzeria
• Pony Corral
• Saffron’s
• Saucers Cafe
• Star Grill
• Sukhothai Restaurant
• Sushi Ya
• Tony Roma’s
• Vesuvio