“Kidding Around” in Verona

Mar 16, 2016

What kid - and for that matter, what adult - doesn't love a kid goat?

That was the motivation for a “Kidding Around” event on March 12 at Food Less Travelled in Verona, when the Perry children of Perry Farm in Harrowsmith, brought the latest four-legged members of their family farm to the grocery store, which is operated by their parents, Kim and Dave Perry.

Grant, Mason and Kaitlyn Perry hosted the event, which attracted kid goat lovers of all ages from near and far. Many who enjoyed meeting the goat and human kids were already doing their regular Saturday shopping at the store, while others were just passing by and noticed the lively commotion.

The four Nubian goats are cared for by the Perry children and the two oldest, Kaitlyn and Grant, are experienced at the task, having both worked at a goat farm in Harrowsmith. The goats, the youngest of which was just four days old, are still being milk fed and are mostly pets for the Perry kids, but requests have recently come in at the store for goat meat, which has the Perry parents wondering if expanding their operation to raising meat goats is an option for their farm.

“The thing with goats and other smaller animals like sheep is that it is hard to get meat on the bone and you really have to work at it to be proficient,” Kim Perry said. “Farmers who specialize in raising goats and sheep know how to do it and while we know how to do it with our beef, pork, turkeys and now chickens, we will likely just wait and see what happens with the goats, which right now are pets.”

Perry also updated me on the many recent changes at the Verona store, which will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary this June. The store has recently expanded and added chicken to its regular inventory of beef, pork and turkeys, which is something new. “This year is the first in the history of Ontario that we are now allowed to sell our own free-range chickens at the store instead of just at the farm gate,” she said.

The kitchen area has also been expanded and Perry has added a number of new pies to their inventory, such as bumbleberry/rhubarb. She and her staff will continue making last year’s popular grape pie. She also makes a wide variety of quiches, all with Perry Farm meats, local cheeses and vegetables.

The indoor dining area, now open all year round, has also been expanded with a new kitchen access, where Perry offers up weekly specials of hot and cold lunches that include entrees like shepherd’s pie, Irish stew, quiches, a wide variety of home-made meat and vegetable soups and salads. Her home- made pies are served with Kawartha Dairy ice cream.

On the store’s shelves is an eclectic selection of fresh and frozen meats, cheeses, veggies and a wide assortment of other Canadian food and cooking products all of which are either grown and/ or locally processed. They include snack foods, dressings, sauces, condiments, sweet treats, grains and flours and much more, with an emphasis on products and groceries that are organic, gluten-free and non-GMO.

“I choose suppliers who either grow locally or process locally, which means they are small manufacturers for the most part that are using as many local ingredients as they can. My aim in doing so is to help ensure diversity in our food supply,” Perry said.

For more information visit foodlesstravelled.ca or local family farms/foodlesstravelled on facebook.