More than 200 chefs cooked up 12,000 pounds of local produce for Sunday’s event. Last year more than 28,000 made their way to a field 100 km north of Toronto for Foodstock.

This year organizers decided to host it closer to downtown.

“We need to connect people that live in the city with the food that feeds them,” said Jode Roberts, spokesperson for the David Suzuki Foundation, a co-host of the event along with chef Michael Stadtlander and the Canadian Chefs’ Congress.

“I’ve been advocating to everyone I know. We need to make people aware,” said Diana Mikas who just finished a bowl of chocolate soup. “It affects everybody, not just farmers. It’s integral to our survival.”

The quarry project first started raising eyebrows in 2006, when several farmers were approached with offers to buy their land north of Orangeville. In 2011, Highland Companies submitted a proposal for a quarry licence to the Ministry of Natural Resources and public opposition coalesced.

Opponents have been protesting ever since, expressing concern over the loss of farmland and potential damage to the water supply. The quarry is slated to be about 2,300 acres (930 hectares) — roughly a third of the size of downtown Toronto.

“We should all be concerned about our food sources and drinking water,” said Michael Lewis, a Parkdale resident enjoying some minestrone at Soupstock. “It seems like we have water everywhere — but we don’t.”

Chefs came from all across Canada and the U.S., with one coming from Boston, where the hedge fund financing the quarry project originates.

The movement against the quarry has spread through the city, with red-and-white signs protesting the development popping up in Toronto neighbourhoods. It’s attracted star power also — George Stroumboulopoulos and Our Lady Peace drummer Jeremy Taggart served as emcees for Soupstock.

In 2011, the government of Ontario launched an environmental assessment into the project — a first for an Ontario quarry. The assessment is expected to take several years.