La f erme Quinn - Quinn Farm: Putting a face on the food consumers eat

摘要

Over the past year, there's been a surge in the number of visitors to Quinn Farm (la ferme Quinn), Montrealers' treasured rural oasis established in 1982 on nearby He Perrot, Que. Quinn Farm has long served as a retreat for city dwellers who want to escape the daily grind and express their inner farmer, while scrunching hay underfoot and inhaling the scent of ripening fruit. Family members young and old can pick their own apples, pumpkins and strawberries. But a more primal impulse drawing people tothe farm is the Eat Local movement, according to owner Phil Quinn, and its offshoots have led to a boon in business for the family. The farm broke records on Thanksgiving weekend in 2011 when it received an unprecedented 10,026 visitors, and the unusualwave of premature spring weather in mid-March this year resulted in more than 200 people coming out to just wander around the grounds. Quinn says there's no clear explanation to account for the large crowd in March. His farm is known for its you-pick business, and there was obviously no fruit to be picked in early spring.