Follow just about any Dirt Path, and you’re bound to end up at food. Long ago, welcoming inns offering homemade, savory meals always awaited Foot-weary Traveler and his faithful companion, Ravenous Appetite. Nowadays—be it the fresh country air, a rigorous hike or the expansive view—a good honest walk gets the taste buds hankering for something juicy, tasty and satisfying.

As we travel the Dirt Path into Harvest Season, all the sensible, flavorsome reasons for buying farmstand fresh produce are vibrantly apparent. And hence it’s time to celebrate the bounty of the region, the abundance of good food and the growers who make it happen. Through a collaborative effort of Farm Catskills, Pure Catskills and the Watershed Agricultural Council, September is officially deemed Catskills Buy Local Month!

“We’re not only raising awareness to the benefits of buying local,” noted Amy Kenyon, president of Farm Catskills. “We’re asking people to ‘Get Fresh with their Local Farmer.’ By really getting to know who grows and raises our food, we’re more compelled to buy it from those people—our neighbors and friends. Through Catskills Buy Local Month, we can bump our collective purchasing power to the next level. People are already buying local foods; they’re truly making the effort. But now, with the Buy Local Challenge, we’re looking for a solid commitment from consumers to consciously purchase local foods, support family farms and boost our regional economies.” In the Buy Local Challenge, consumers pledge to purchase $10 a week for the month of September. Of course, that Buy Local Fling may turn into a more serious, long-term habit and a firm commitment to local food, choices and buying power.

No doubt—fresh is everywhere. Communities host town-based farmers markets. More events and restaurants incorporate local food in their offerings, with grass-fed beef, pastured poultry and heirloom tomatoes common menu items. “You’re also seeing more local products among the ranks of summer festival vendors,” added Challey Comer, Farm to Market Manager and Pure Catskills coordinator. “Farmers and producers are engaging the public by putting a face to their products. We’re promoting the Buy Local Challenge and Catskills Buy Local Month because it helps people make that conscious leap: ‘I can make a choice with my food dollars and I choose to support the farm down the road.’”

What’s REALLY Behind the Buy Local Movement
Aside from the obvious benefits of buying freshly picked, locally grown foods—taste, nutrition, food safety and food dollar value—why should we really be supporting the Buy Local Movement? Is there more to this thinking than a simple need to purchase direct? What should be inspiring us to bound wholeheartedly down the Dirt Path to Fresh Farm, instead of trudging the Grocery Aisle to Weeks-old Imports and Processed Foods?

The key impact of buying local products lies in its direct effect on our local economy. “We’re getting the word out about how accessible and available local food is this time of year,” continues Kenyon. “We want people to understand how much of an impact each person can have. Collectively, when we choose to spend our food dollars with local farmers, we are choosing to invest in our local economy as well as help a farm family. When a large number of us commit to buying local food, those dollars add up. Interesting data shows that money spent on local foods purchased from a local farmer stays local and continues to circulate.” Known as the Multiplier Effect, this phenomenon tracks a food dollar as it trickles down into the community. For every dollar spent on local food, that dollar continues to circulate over and over. “The best thing people can do to support their friends and neighbors is make those local purchases,” continued Kenyon. “That’s the purpose of the pledge—to amass a financial force here in the Catskills. We want to sign up hundreds of people in September, pledging to spend $10 a week or more on local food. If 500 people began spending $10 a week, we’d infuse $20,000 a month into the local economy just by purchasing food, something we do anyway.”

Getting Fresh with Your Local Farmer
If you haven’t already gotten to know the person behind the farmstand, Catskills Buy Local Month gives you the excuse to “Get Fresh with Your Local Farmer.” By asking questions about a farm’s food production, be it organic vegetable soil amendments or grass-fed rotational grazing schedules, you’ll get to know more about what it takes to “make” great tasty, nutritious food … and the person responsible. Don’t be bashful, it’s ok to ask. A farmer’s answers will give you a better perspective on what goes into a day of farming and why paying a little more for locally grown is a justified expense. “We’re used to a cheap food system,” noted Comer. “What we’re not paying for up front, we wind up paying for down the road, through a polluted environment, poor soils and undrinkable water. Sustainable agriculture looks to the holistic approach to a farm ecosystem dependent on clean water, rich soils and interdependent organisms. Many consumers perceive that local foods cost more, when in actuality they may cost the same—or less! Factor in the costs of corporate foods: transportation, pesticides and fertilizers, environmental impacts, lifestyle onset diseases, food recalls, exploitation of water and other resources. Buying from your local farmer is definitely the better choice over products trucked in from 1,500 miles away. Purchasing at the mainstream supermarket doesn’t offer the same credibility and connection that you get face-to-face with your farmer.”

Catskills Buy Local Month is collaboration between Farm Catskills and Pure Catskills, a buy local initiative of the Watershed Agricultural Council with funding from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. The two joined to create a chapter of Food Routes, the national brand which coined the “Buy Fresh, Buy Local” slogan so prevalent today. “We chose to become a chapter of Food Routes, because of their national reputation as a Local Food organization with chapters across the country,” said Comer. “They work with different groups to hold Buy Local challenges. Some communities hold a campaign all year; others do it for a week. We’re doing it for the month because there is so much in season.

“As the Food Routes Catskills chapter, we’ll be able to leverage our efforts by collaborating with Farm Catskills on the educational aspects of Buy Local Month. We can achieve so much more together,” Comer continued. “Pure Catskills is the regional branding campaign promoting Catskill farmers and producers. This national affiliation with Food Routes gives us additional guidance to move the Buy Local Movement to the next level.”

The two groups are hosting pledge opportunities at a dozen area events, where people can take the Challenge in person. People can also pledge online at www.buypurecatskills.com. ““Buy Local Month is a celebration of everything edible. With both organizations out there encouraging people to pledge, I think we’ll realize our goal of 500 signatures by September 30,” added Comer. “As an added incentive, when someone signs the pledge, they are automatically entered into a raffle for a $100 gift certificate to a local food retailer.”

Educated Consumer=Loyal Buy Local Advocate
Slowly, consumers are embracing the Buy Local Movement, a movement whose success was built upon years-long efforts by countless advocates through word-of-mouth, or taste-of-mouth, education. “People are finally connecting the dots between fresh, nutritious food, their local farmer and the impact it has on the community,” said Kenyon. “To help people see the bigger picture, we’re screening the film, Food Inc., at two locations: the Walton Theater on Sunday, September 20 and Oneonta’s Southside Mall Cinema on Thursday, September 17. Both shows will run at 7 pm and tickets are $8. The film shows what can happen when there is a corporate takeover of food sources. Americans take food for granted: its accessibility, abundance and affordability. This film outlines what happens when we lose our local food systems. With the film and the Challenge, we’re demonstrating that this area still has lots of local foods available. People can take steps to strengthen our local food system. We don’t have to go down that route of corporate food provisions. I like to think of this Challenge as an upbeat approach to food safety. There’s lots of doom-and-gloom media hype about food, imports and safety. But we can choose to do great things with our food dollars just by making the fantastic choice of buying food from people we know … we should celebrate that.”

Depending on the study, the pass-along value of the farm dollar is cited at 3-7 times its original value. So $10 spent on local food continues to give back to the local economy by $30 to $70. “We’re not asking people to spend more money,” says Kenyon. “we’re asking them to choose to switch, to switch their spending to local foods.” During the harvest season, local foods are competitively priced with the big box supermarket, sometimes even cheaper. Hundreds of businesses—farmers, retailers, restaurants—sell local produce, meats and cheeses. Dozens of farmer’s markets—roughly 10 in each county throughout the watershed region—hold Fresh Food Court every day of the week. Farmstands speckle roadsides, allowing you to drop your coins in honor-system coffee cans.

Some will say buying local at harvest time is easy. But for those looking to uphold their commitment through winter months, creativity sets in. “Baked, goods, maple syrup and honey all store well and can be purchased year-round,” says Comer. “Buy storage crops, like squash or potatoes, now in quantity and store them through March. Meats, poultry, eggs and cheese are great any-time choices. And raspberries, blueberries and most veggies can be canned, frozen, dehydrated and kept over winter. There are also several winter CSAs around to accommodate the Buy Local die-hard and for consumers who must shop, the Saugerties and Callicoon farmers’ markets are open year-round. And, if you’re really ready to make a commitment, go in on a cow or pig half with a friend and keep that pledge alive.”

With hundreds of opportunities to buy local in the Catskill Region, farmers and products can be found easily at www.buypurecatskills.com or in the printed Pure Catskills Guide to Farm Fresh Products. “Our region boasts a diverse mix of farms, farmers markets, restaurants and retailers,” says Comer. “This month of promotions and education related to local foods will help fortify the connection between the public and these businesses.”

Get to know your local farmer and producer during Catskills Buy Local Month. Get up close, get personal and … Get Fresh with Your Local Farmer!