It’s a sunny morning and Jennay Oliver, a fourth-generation farmer and owner of Paynter’s Fruit Market , is leading me and a small group of visitors through her family’s 15-acre orchard. She tells us about the latest farm innovations, stops to pick a fresh pear from one of the trees and allows each of us to do the same. To be honest, I’m not sure I like pears, but one tentative bite changes my mind. It is the best pear I have ever had.

That experience is surely just a taste of sweeter things to come now that Kelowna has been named Canada’s first UNESCO City of Gastronomy.

In February, the City of Kelowna in partnership with Tourism Kelowna and Okanagan College, accepted an invitation to apply. Launched in 2004, the UNESCO designation recognizes cities around the world for their uni

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