Burgers anyone? NovemBurger event to support United Way

A bit of beef has been created among local restaurants. But this beef is a fun one, and aimed at helping local food security programs.

The first-ever local NovemBurger event has begun across the region.

Fourteen restaurants across the region are taking part, each who have created a burger to sell throughout the month of November. Two dollars from every sale will go to United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin to help fund local food security programming.

“There’s joy and fun with burgers, and I think also in our community, we do have a strong passion for our local restaurants,” said Glenna Banda, the local United Way’s executive director.

“I think that people are just really excited to get out into the community and enjoy some food together, but definitely there seems to be a unique joy behind burgers.”

From brisket, to mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwich buns, fried eggs and more, the selection runs the gamut for burger enthusiasts to hit the burger trail.

“We’ve got a couple of unique burgers that feature wild boar, there’s one that’s water buffalo,” Banda said.

“There’s several restaurants that offer a vegetarian option, so just want to make sure that everyone knows that there’s a lot of different options available. They’re not all necessarily beef burgers, so if you don’t eat beef, there’s other burgers that you can enjoy.”

The chefs at each restaurant were in charge of putting a burger together for the competition.

While it is a first for the region, the idea isn’t entirely new.

The United Way in Thunder Bay got the ball rolling before the pandemic, and its success spurred the idea of other United Ways in the country to do the same. Nine United Ways in Canada are participating.

Between the restaurants, there is already a friendly competition.

But there is something on the line for each restaurant. Three awards will be given out at the end of the month. The NovemBurger of the Year (as voted on by the event ambassadors) the People’s Choice NovemBurger (voted on by the people) and the most NovemBurgers sold.

A pair of participating restaurants in Orangeville already traded a couple jabs online.

In Guelph, at least one owner is expecting the trash talk to pick up as the competition progresses.

“We always have internal competitions between the restaurants, and so that’s a big thing,” said Court Desautels, the president and CEO of the Neighbourhood Group, who run four participating restaurants (Borealis, Miijidaa Cafe + Bistro, The Wooly Pub and Park Eatery).

“We’ll have weekly updates going out to the teams on where we sit. Trash talking really starts near the end when the results are in. That’s always fun for us, we do that with all of our fundraising.”

But the big winners at the end of it all will be the community in the form of donations.

“It’s just a great way to spread the word, to put others needs first,” Desautels said.

“It’s a win-win because we’re working with local restaurants that are supporting local, bringing together people, that sense of community, all of the things that are really important in our community,” Banda added. “And at the same time, are raising funds to support food security work across our community.”

Residents are encouraged to print out the special NovemBurger passport, and get it signed at each participating location.