A natural array of garlands, grape leaves and sunflowers graced the trees of Central Park at the first Annual SimplyRaw Pie Contest on Saturday Sept 9. The contest featured 20 pie entries, each very distinct in appearance & taste. SimplyRaw organized the contest to help promote healthy lifestyles in Ottawa. Because judging the pies was no small task, they elicited the help of some local celebrities, including Jim Watson (Minister of Health Promotion for Ontario), Leanne Cusack & Robert Fife from CTV News, Louise Crosby (food columnist for the Ottawa Citizen), and Pam Collacott from the Trillium Cooking School.

The winning pie, "Ed Norton" was the culinary creation of Danielle Powell. The pie featured an almond cacao crust, chocolate coconut creme and vanilla coconut creme layers, drizzled with raw chocolate, fresh raspberries and dried coconut. Danielle received a gift basket including a $500 detox package from The Prana Group, and the praise of the raw community!

While the contest was what brought this event together, visitors also enjoyed raw food samples, products and other activities from The Table Vegetarian Restaurant & The Natural Food Pantry (the event sponsors), The Wild Oat Bakery, The Pantry Vegetarian Tea Room, New Life Retreat, Biosphere raw foods, Planet Botanix, Terra Tree & Rainbow Foods & Core-Elation Yoga Studio among others. The atmosphere was created by Doris Jotoff in her professional design of park decorations, gift bags, & prize bags.

We estimate that between 400-500 people attended the event. Thanks to everyone who helped us to make this a success - the entries, judges, vendors, volunteers, and everyone who came out to check it out!

View a short video clip from the pie contest