The lure of free potatoes drew thousands of city slickers to a farm north-east of Edmonton this Saturday, causing a major gridlock and raising awareness about a new campaign in the process.
The owner of Norbest Farms gave away 45,000 kilograms of the starchy vegetable - valued at about $20,000 - during the Great Potato Giveaway, and at one point the lineup of drivers waiting for their turn to dig stretched eight kilometres in length.
"We put enough potatoes aside for 2,000 people [and] word is there is 7,000 people on the road. It's got a life of its own - it's breathing, it's unbelievable," said farm owner Gordon Visser on Saturday afternoon.
The event, put on by the Edmonton Potato Growers in partnership with the Greater Edmonton Alliance, worked to showcase farmland in the Capital Region that the organizations believe is threatened by urban development.
During the harvest, members of the Greater Edmonton Alliance talked about their campaign, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of including local food networks in the Municipal Development plan.
One man who spent an hour and 20 minutes waiting for his chance to harvest 50 lbs. of free potatoes supports the initative.
"It's nice we can get [food] locally," said Gorden Barrett.
"We need to protect local farmland from development so this doesn't become all houses."
-With Files from Kevin Armstrong
