Purpose of the Project
The Town of Georgina hosted its first-ever Field to Table event in Aug. 2018. Farmers in the area opened their doors to the public; providing tours, samples and highlighting what they have to offer. The self-guided tour through Georgina’s landscape was a great success with approximately 1,200 visitors overall at seven locations. Due to the success of 2018, interest from the farm community grew, and in 2019 more farms joined the event and visitor numbers grew.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic made a significant impact on our tourism landscape with over 90% of the tourism events within Georgina cancelled. To preserve the Field to Table event and support our agri-tourism sector, the Economic Development and Tourism Division and our 9 agri-partners decided to try something new and pivot to a virtual agri-tourism experience with the following goals:
Effectiveness
Build the capacity of the existing farm gate sales operations and communicating value to potential customers.
Encourage current customers to increase their purchasing frequency
Challenges & Changes made
The most challenging aspect of the virtual Field to Table tour on July 25, was the internet connectivity in our rural areas. A large portion of our agri-partners faced connection issues during the live Facebook event and had to do multiple segments during their designated time slot.
We gathered this data and shared this with our Council and York Region. We are focused on improving our internet connectivity within the next few years.
Target Audience
Our target audience for the Field to Table pre-recorded segments and virtual tour were the following:
Female, 35 – 55 in Georgina and neighbouring communities within 50 km. Interests: Agri-business, Fresh Produce, Kids Activities
Sustainability Plans
The Economic Development and Tourism Division is planning to continue to grow this event next year with the potential to add culinary experiences that use products from our agri-partners. We strive to become an agri-tourism leader in York Region by investing in and supporting our agri-tourism sector.
Submissions
Georgina’s Field to Table Episodes | https://www.facebook.com/watch/2259817030761349/1436276293248878 |
2020 Field to Table Gift Basket Winner | https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1755782654585251 |
Example of a Facebook Live video from Jul 25, 2020 | https://www.facebook.com/786249468120071/videos/229211778138319 |
Facebook event | https://www.facebook.com/events/270301411081056 |