The first-ever Taber's Table was held at Confederation Park in Taber on July 28, 2023. Peter Casurella of SouthGrow Regional Initiative served as the event's Master of Ceremonies. (Photo: LNN)

By Justin Goulet

Getting a taste of southern Alberta at inaugural Taber’s Table event

Jul 29, 2023 | 7:14 PM

TABER, AB – The first-ever Taber’s Table was held in the southern Alberta town on Friday, July 28, 2023. The long-table outdoor dinner was hosted at Confederation Park.

Attendees got a taste of local items from Taber and around southern Alberta. In total, over 25 different producers took part in the event, along with various sponsors.

Guests enjoyed items like sausage, potatoes, pork belly and vegetables, all produced in southern Alberta at Taber’s Table on July 28, 2023. (Photo: LNN)

John Turcato, a councillor with the MD of Taber and chair of the Joint Economic Development Committee, was one of the many in attendance Friday night. He explained that the committee is comprised of members representing the MD of Taber, Town of Taber, Town of Vauxhall, and the Village of Barnwell as well as the Taber & District Chamber of Commerce and various Town staff members.

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Turcato said discussions about an event like Taber’s Table have been ongoing for about five years.

“The idea of this originally, from myself, was to bring people into our area to understand what is grown here,” said Turcato.

“We have a very diverse agricultural community here that grows multiple crops, and there’s lots of people in the province that don’t realize that.”

Tables were lined up in Confederation Park in Taber for guests to enjoy a dinner highlighting area producers, July 28, 2023. (Photo: LNN)

One of the producers that provided food for the evening was Prairie Ostrich, located about 25 kilometres south of Bow Island.

Owners Troy Stebanuk and Eva Fehr said they are in their fourth year of operation. However, this year marks the first year of selling their products. Stebanuk explained, “The birds have to be three years to produce, so this is our first year of selling product.”

Both said it was “awesome” and “exciting” to see their product being enjoyed at Friday’s event.

“We’re in here [at Taber’s Table], we’re in Banff, the Grizzly House in Banff, Sierra’s in Jasper, we’re in Calgary, so it’s exciting to see our product out there and to get the response that we have, it feels good,” remarked Stebanuk.

He added, “It’s rewarding to know that you’re producing that product.”

Fehr explained that the Town of Taber contacted them to get involved in the event.

“It’s nice to see everyone come together for an event like this and then to have ostrich, it’s something new, so it’s perfect,” she said.

Fehr said with their farm, their goal was to take a ‘farm to table’ approach.

“That’s kind of a big thing with our farm, was we wanted to be more farm to table. We wanted to take the middleman out. That is our goal, is to go directly to the consumer. Right now, a lot of it is restaurants but we do offer it to just the everyday person and we do take the middleman out, you can come right to the farm for your products,” she stated.

The duo said the event was also a perfect way to have the community come together.

In addition to dinner at the Taber’s Table event, guests were treated to a performance and dance lessons from Swing Bridge Dance.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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