This Is AMA: Melissa and Matt Schur

By AMA Staff

She’s a fourth-generation farmer. He’s a city slicker with a passion for food. Together, they’re educating people about Alberta growers and producers, one long-table dinner at a time.

As owners of the Old Red Barn, a farm-to-fork experience just outside Leduc, Melissa and Matt Schur use gourmet food to bring Alberta farming to life. Every dinner they host is cooked by a local chef using local ingredients, and every meal is accompanied by an educational component that helps connect people to what they’re eating. You might think of it as agricultural storytelling: the Schurs are the authors, and the dishes are the characters.

“There’s a big disconnect between farmers and consumers today,” says Melissa, an AMA member since 2007. “We wanted to advocate for Alberta’s ag industry and debunk some of the myths around it, with information straight from the farmer’s mouth.”