08/23/2026
π¨π¦ 100 Days. 100 Stories. Our Amherstburg
Day 53: Pit's Fresh Veggies
Yesterday I finally made my way to Pitβs Fresh Veggies on County Road 20. A few people had told me I needed to visit, so I took my little guy with me and went to see what it was all about. I thought I was going there to learn about a local veggie stand. I ended up spending quite a bit of time talking with Chantale and learning about something much bigger.
Chantale comes from an industrial background working with CMMs and equipment, so we immediately had something to talk about. She is very handy with tools and showed me the kitchen and much of the setup she built herself. Being an engineer, I enjoyed that part of our conversation, but what really caught my attention was how the business itself works.
Chantale doesn't grow everything you see at Pitβs. She told me she works with around 15 farmers across Essex County, bringing their fruits and vegetables together in one place. She also works with other local businesses and has expanded into salads, chopped fruit and other prepared foods. Her idea is actually pretty simple: make fresh local food easier for people to get while giving local farmers another place to sell what they grow.
Then I walked into the kitchen and smelled the fresh baked loaves. I think she won me over right there. Pitβs also carries fresh baked breads and other local goods, and seeing everything being prepared made me appreciate how much more there is to this place than what you see driving by.
This part of the business even went before Amherstburg Council. In 2025, a zoning amendment was approved for the property allowing the roadside stand to sell products from other local farms and businesses. When Chantale explained everything to me yesterday, I could understand why that change mattered to what she was trying to build.
Our conversation then went into the future of farming in Essex County, and this is the part that stayed with me. Some of the farmers she works with are getting older, and she told me some don't have the next generation interested in taking over. She also explained that sometimes it is actually easier for farmers to ship their produce elsewhere through established channels than to find a convenient way to sell it right here locally.
That surprised me because we live surrounded by some of the best farmland in Canada. We see the fields every day, but I never really thought about what happens between something being grown in one of those fields and actually ending up on a local family's table. Pitβs is helping close a little bit of that gap by connecting farmers who have something to sell with people nearby who want to buy it.
I went there yesterday because people following these stories told me I should. I left with my little guy holding his strawberries and with a completely different appreciation for what Chantale has built. It isn't a huge corporation or some complicated idea. It is one hardworking person, working with local farmers and businesses, finding a way to make something work.
Places like Pitβs only work when we support them. When we buy local, we aren't just supporting one business. We are supporting the farmers, bakers and other small businesses behind it too. I am really glad I stopped yesterday, and if you haven't been to Pitβs yet, it is definitely worth a visit.
Dhaval PRAJAPATI
Amherstburg Resident, Candidate for Council
New Voice, Clear Choice
Email: [email protected]
