August is Pennsylvania Produce Month

From the inbox:

On July 1st the PA House of Representatives passed H.R. 836, designating August as Pennsylvania Produce Month. Many of the 1,000 farm markets and community farmers’ markets across the commonwealth are participating in the month-long promotion with special events or offers to their customers that help advocate buying local vegetables to reduce the carbon footprint, save consumers money, and support the local economy.

“Pennsylvania vegetables are not transported thousands of miles across the country in refrigerated trucks, which use a tremendous amount of high-priced fossil fuels,” said Representative Bryan R. Lentz (D-161st District, Delaware). “They’re grown by nearby family farmers who may be just down the road. Buying local food keeps your dollars circulating in your community.”

Pennsylvania’s 3,500 vegetable growers plant nearly 48,000 acres of vegetables that produce more than 200,000 tons of vegetables for fresh and processing use that are worth over $141 million. Chris Powell who is the owner of Good Harvest Farms, located in the Lancaster County Farmer’s Market in Wayne, explains that consumers can often find bargains on local produce in August when the season is at its peak.

“If you’re worried about high food costs for this winter,” said Powell, “you might even consider freezing or canning some Pennsylvania sweet corn, snap beans, tomatoes, peppers, or beets.”

Powell also explains the many health benefits of buying local produce and vegetables. By knowing where your food comes from and how it is grown enables the consumer to choose safe food from farmers who avoid or reduce their use of chemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, or genetically modified seed in their operation.

“There’s never been a more critical time to support our farming neighbors,” said Representative Lentz. “With each local food purchase, you ensure that more of your money spent on food goes to local, family farms.”

For a list of participating markets, go to www.paveggies.org. But all the farm markets and farmers’ markets in the state will be offering an abundance of “Simply Delicious, Simply Nutritious” Pennsylvania vegetables during August. To find one near you, call the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture at 717-783-9948 to request a copy of “A Consumer’s Guide to Pennsylvania Farm Markets 2007”. The Guide is also available online at www.agriculture.state.pa.us. Two other valuable resources are Penn State University’s AgMap at http://agmap.psu.edu and Rodale Institute’s New Farm Farm Locator http://www.newfarm.org/farmlocator/index.php.