Stephanie Foster

Stephanie is a busy person. On top of her career in Ontario’s ag industry, she is also a married mother of two “young ladies” with a serious passion for cooking. While many of us may share a similar love of local food, few of us can match Stephanie’s grill collection.

“Cooking really is my hobby outside of work and family,” explains Stephanie. “I have always been a cook. My first job was at a hotel in Stratford, Ontario. Over the years my skills have evolved and, in 2016, we bought our first smoker. It became an obsession and today I currently own seven grills.”

Most home grillers will tell you that they love the escape of heading to the backyard and stepping away from their preoccupations for a little while, and Stephanie is no exception. “I love that I get to spend time outside, away from my day-to-day work. The pandemic definitely changed what we were able to do, so it became a quest to serve my family fun and creative meals at home.”

Working in the local agricultural sector has heightened Stephanie’s awareness of the origin of the food she prepares for her family. “I work directly in the industry,” she points out. “I live in the community surrounded by farmers. It is imperative to support our communities where we live, work and play. I believe education and advocacy counts for a lot and it is our duty to advocate for our community. The more we share how and why eating local matters, the more it will catch on. Also, I want to thank all those reading this and the farmers who raise the quality Ontario Pork I serve my family. Thank you for all you do every single day.”

“We eat a lot of pork,” Stephanie admits. “If it is not a protein staple on a Sunday Brunch spread, it is easily one of the primary weeknight meal proteins. And, if I had to pick just one, my favourite way enjoy local pork is smoking whole peameal roasts. “The abundant, smoke-infused flavour in that cured pork loin roast sliced and stacked on a bun…oh it just makes you hungry thinking about it…”

Stephanie loves making healthy, yet budget friendly meals for her family. “We love meatballs, so it seemed like the perfect pun for an easy meal using only ground pork. Ground pork is such an available, versatile protein and can be used in so many ways.”