Are you ready to go on the hunt for the best of local food in Camrose? The Food Artisans of Camrose County (FACC) are calling on you to go on the hunt and explore local food through restaurants, farmers’ markets, and the several farm stores around Camrose through their Scavenger Hunt and contest. You will want to spend some time exploring restaurants as the contest checklist includes these visits.
But another fun and often educational way to get the best of local food and farm-to-table options in Camrose is to shop the local farms. Together, these local producers and farm stores can offer everything you need for a great meal at home, right down to dessert, spreads, appetizers, and cocktails. Many Camrose area meat farms also collaborate with one another to ensure everyone is always fully stocked.
And when you consider what these farms might sell, think of a lot more than just meat or vegetables. Those with farm shops also sell a variety of local handmade goodies like desserts, jam, honey, dips and spreads, artisanal cheeses, or pastries, on top of naturally raised and fed meats, fresh produce, and eggs.
The FACC Local Food Scavenger Hunt runs until the end of August, but you can enter weekly.
Happy hunting!
Grey Arrow Farm
As a smaller and younger family farm Grey Arrow can provide a farm to table experience that is always in season. Their focus is on producing high quality fruits and vegetables, to be picked the moment they are ready. Order from the online store for delivery or pickup.
A must-try from Grey Arrow Farm: Green and Gold Zucchini
Maybe you’re an Elks fan and these are your colours! Football fan or not, Grey Arrow’s green and gold zucchini are rich in colour, mild in taste, and can be fried, baked, steamed, or grilled.
Herbert Family Farm
Planning a summer barbecue? The Herbert Family Farm & Store can help you serve up naturally fed and raised beef, chicken, or turkey- they ask that you call ahead first to inquire about prices and availability.
A must-try from Herbert Family Farm: Eggs
Even if you aren’t planning a barbecue anytime soon, you will want to keep Herbert FF in mind for their farm-fresh eggs. The Herbert flock of chickens are a free-range bunch who get natural nutrition and plenty of exercise, resulting in tastier eggs for us!
Irving’s Farm Fresh Ltd
Free-range meat hits differently. It tastes better, is packed with more nutrition for you, and is an overall more humane approach to farming. Irving’s Farm Fresh pork is no exception, as it is produced from their steady herd of free-range Berkshire pigs and is free of fillers of any kind. You can order their meat and artisanal foods online and in-person from their farm store.
A must-try from Irving Farm Fresh: All the bacon
Don’t expect one single and simple package of bacon from Irving’s; you can order it as dry cured bacon chops, as jalapeno back bacon, as dry cured and smoked back bacon, or even as a rack of bacon ribs.
Lazuli Farms
You shop a big selection of fresh meats online or visit them at Lazuli’s farm store to shop in-person. An in-person visit is encouraged so you can take their farm tour! Their naturally raised meats are stocked alongside local artisanal preserves, dips, sides, and more.
A must-try from Lazuli Farms: The quarterly culinary box
The Lazuli Farm Subscription boxes provide the food and the inspiration for what to do with your farm-fresh meats by including a hard cover cookbook. The boxes include a selection of their pork and beef.
Lil Ryley Farms
Lil Ryley is a lot more than a farm: stop by to check out their event space, farm store and market, animal feedings, and u-pick gardens.
A must-try from Lil Ryley Farms: Pepperoni sticks
For something so simple, quality can make a huge difference in a good pepperoni stick. Why is this important? Road trip snacks! Hiking snacks! All the summer snacks depend on a good pepperoni stick, and Lil Ryley’s filler-free sticks are a nutritious option.
Maplewood Acres Market Garden and Greenhouse
Prepare for fall stews, soups, and the cold weather with the expansive selection of herbs and produce from Maplewood Acres. You can even buy vegetable transplants to take home and finish growing yourself. And for the herbs, you can usually find a wide variety of each herb available in their online store, or at the Strathcona Farmers’ Market in Edmonton (where you’ll find them all year).
A must-try from Maplewood Acres Market Garden & Greenhouse: Fresh herbs, like mint or basil
Maplewood grow not one, not two, but fourteen different types of mint leaves that can be used for teas, cooking, and which could make a unique but tasty mojito. Maplewood also grow eight different types of basil leaves.
TME Farms
TME have high quality standards and nutrition standards for the meats they produce. Their fresh varieties of chicken, pork, beef, and eggs can be ordered online or from various markets like the Camrose County Market.
A must-try from TME Farms: Beef steak
If you are an Alberta beef lover, as many are inside and outside the province, then a farm-fresh steak is in order before the summer is over. TME cut up a few different styles for your grilling needs like striploin, tenderloin, T-bone, and ribeye steaks.
Wildflower Bride
Close to Edmonton you can visit an incredibly scenic little farm who focus on Alberta honey and seasonal lamb. It is a sweet place to visit in fall as well with a pumpkin patch photo backdrop, and the chance to take home a free pumpkin. But we know you’re hungry, so we recommend ordering their honey, by the bucketful, online, until you can visit for their Bucket Days.
A must-try from Wildflower Bride: Honey
While the lamb is also a must from Wildflower, you will want to taste their honey first to be able to make checks off your Scavenger Hunt. The lamb is available each fall.
NRG Coffee Co.
Ok so coffee can’t really be local, but you can trust local experts like the family team at NRG to source and blend the best beans for you. You can shop NRG Coffee from a wide list of Camrose stores and farms, or try their brews made fresh at their market food truck.
A must-try from NRG Coffee Co.: Alberta Summer – #coldbrew
Hot coffee isn’t on everyone’s mind during heat waves and the summer months, so NRG recommends their Alberta Summer beans (sourced from Latin America) specifically for iced coffee due to its citrus, vanilla, and caramel notes.
Pierogi Girl
Pierogies are an Alberta favourite with cultural roots dating back to our early Ukrainian and German pioneers. However, this girl isn’t just serving your grandparent’s potato and cheese dumplings. Pierogi Girl can whip up this side dish in a variety of flavours, and sell a variety of deep-dish pies, and premade Ukrainian lunches and dinners.
A must-try from Pierogi Girl: Dessert pierogis
This is the sweet take on the normally savoury favourite you didn’t know you needed. These pierogies come stuffed with fruits and other fillings or sprinkled with more sweetness. Enjoy them fried or baked.
For more Information on Camrose, visit our profile on the City of Camrose.