One thousand Grade 5 students and teachers from various public, catholic and private schools across the City of Brantford and the County of Brant will head to the Burford Fairgrounds for the 30th annual Bite of Brant program, which will be held on Tuesday, April 8, and Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
The program, which won an Excellence in Agriculture Award just this past November, is designed to give students an opportunity to learn about the local agriculture industry, and instill them with an appreciation for high-quality Ontario grown food.
“Bite of Brant is really an agricultural awareness program where the students get to learn all about locally produced food straight from the source,” said Jean Emmott, one of the program’s long-time committee members. “Why is it important to learn about that? Well because agriculture is the number one industry in Brant County and actually, food from all food groups are produced and processed right here within our boundaries. By learning about why it’s important to support locally produced food, they also get an understanding of how the agri-food industry supports Brantford and Brant County both socially and economically.”
The format features examples of local food products, with an overall pizza theme. Students will receive a slice of pizza, an Ontario apple and a carton of milk at the conclusion of their visit. Schools also benefit from a bus subsidy with the help of the City of Brantford Council, the County of Brant Council and local Optimist and Lions’ Service Clubs.
With 20 different stations set up around the fairgrounds, each of which represent the various commodities from the agri-food industry, students will have the chance to partake in a host of different activities while getting to ask questions and connect what they’re learning right back to their curriculum.
From studying plants needs to observing live farm animals, grinding wheat into flour, pressing apples into cider, comparing food input costs and learning about environmental stewardship, exploring farm equipment and much more, there will be plenty of opportunities to gain some in-depth knowledge about local agriculture.
“It’s an important opportunity for them because we all eat, right? and eating locally produced foods helps our economy because it keeps the money in our region and helps provide a large amount of jobs as well. And at ten-years-old, they’re really starting to learn a lot about careers in school and so we also always have a career station to show that there are endless opportunities in the agri-food industry down the road,” said Emmott. “At a Grade 5 level, those kids are also starting to prepare some of their own food and maybe starting to look after their younger siblings, so they can really start to be quite the influence especially when they’re at the grocery store with their parents. Ultimately, they are our future decision makers so hopefully they can take what they learn at Bite of Brant, and take that with them into adulthood.”
Given that the program is celebrating its 30 year anniversary this year, Emmott said that the general public will also get the chance to learn more about the program at an open house event on Tuesday, April 8, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
While the open house will be free to attend, core committee members Jayne Miller, Dorothy Donkers, Tammy Allardyce, Barbara Sheardown, Lauren Miller, Peggy Young and Emmott, are asking that visitors bring donations for the local Food Bank in lieu of admission.
“We used to actually do an evening open house every year back in the day, but then we changed it to every five years,” said Emmott. “We were supposed to do one in 2020, but of course with the pandemic, we weren’t able to, so this will actually be the first open house we’ve had in ten years, so we’re looking forward to it.”
While open house visitors won’t get the full Bite of Brant experience like the school children do during the day, they will have the chance to get an up close look at the various stations and interact with the volunteers overseeing them.
“The plan is that there will be someone at each of the stations, and while they won’t go through the 12 minute presentations that kids get, they will show you what they’re doing and what the kids are learning,” said Emmott. “For example, at the tractor station, we hope that kids, and even the adults, will have an opportunity to climb up and sit in the tractor.”
Overall, Emmott said it was hard to believe that the program has been running for 30 years, but that herself and the core committee are looking forward to celebrating all the volunteers who make Bite of Brant possible year after year.
“The success of this program lies with the support of the approximately 125 volunteers and the dedicated planning committee, who plan, organize and present this popular program,” she said. “Without their commitment, Bite of Brant would not be possible.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
