News

Relevant stories about farms, farmers and consumers of local food in Virginia and beyond.

Want to Open a Slaughterhouse? Go to Meat School

(NPR, 8/3/10) SUNY's meat lab teaches students to kill, cut and grind up beef, pork and lamb.

At Monticello, Jefferson's Methods Endure

(New York Times, 7/1/10) NEW gardeners smitten with the experience of growing their own food…might be both inspired and comforted by the highs and lows recorded by Thomas Jefferson from the sun-baked terraces of his two-acre kitchen garden 200 years ago.

Ag Learning Plan Takes Root With School Board

(Clarke Daily News, 5/18/10) “Agriculture is Clarke County’s top economic sector,” Corey Childs told the Clarke County School Board last night. Childs and the Clarke County Farm Bureau hope to re-focus a portion of the school curriculum...

More Locally Grown Food Is Coming To Area Tables

(Winchester Star, 5/11/10) Echo Ridge Nursery has evolved over the years — from growing trees and shrubs for landscaping to offering seedlings to growing food for clients who collect boxes of fresh garden produce once a week...

Oak Hart Farm On The Forefront Of Sustainable Farming

(Clarke Daily News, 5/8/10) If you take a short trip down Shepherd’s Mill Road this summer you may wind up at Oak Hart Farm where Shawna Rinker Hartsook will be hard at work farming, teaching children about gardening, and preserving the family farm.

A Local Meal That Made Us Proud

(C-Ville Weekly, 5/5/10) Every year, when the asparagus comes in at our CSA, we mightily rejoice. It's too early for our weekly bags of produce to begin, but the asparagus is a spring treat that seems to create its own holiday. The folks at the farm...

Distributors Slow To Embrace Local Food Movement

(National Public Radio, 5/3/10) Local produce and meat are projected to be the two most popular items on restaurant menus this year, according to the National Restaurant Association. But as more institutions like schools and hospitals look to...

Grown With Conviction

(Rappahannock News, 4/29/10) Rappahannock County Sheriff Connie Smith decided a few weeks ago it was time to start a garden — two very large plots, in fact, on the Carrigan property behind the courthouse — to grow vegetables to be used to feed prisoners..

Farmer’s Market Opens Summer Season In May

(Clarke Daily News, 4/25/10) Clarke’s Farmer’s Market inaugurates a new summer season Saturday May 8th at the Town of Berryville municipal parking lot on Church Street. The market features locally grown produce, meats, fruits, honey, flowers...

Will work for food? Try Food Corps

(Washington Post, 4/19/10) The problems with school food are well-established. There’s not enough money, not enough manpower and often not enough know-how to produce fresher, more healthful food. Now, a group of good-food advocates has a plan...

Local Flavor’s Locals

(Rappahannock News, 4/16/10) At Local Flavor’s first-ever “Meet Your Farmer” open house Saturday at the farm buyer’s club’s Amissville storehouse, some 250 local farmers, customers and others showed up to meet, greet and otherwise connect.

County Panel OKs Update On Farm Sales

(Daily Progress, 4/8/10) A plan to give Albemarle County farmers more options to sell their goods was endorsed by the county Planning Commission at its meeting earlier this week. Last year, the Board of Supervisors directed county planners to study...

Green Gardens

(Culpeper Star-Exponent, 4/8/10) Holland native Jeroen Koeman is establishing his own kind of roots in Madison County. The 28-year-old “Tulip Man” started an organic farm, EcoTulip, with his wife, Keriann, in August. The couple import bulbs...

Spawning Something Good To Eat

(C-Ville Weekly, 4/7/10) I had a fun, local-food-y opportunity on April 3 when I showed up, along with about a dozen other people, for a mushroom-growing workshop at Mark Jones’ Sharondale Farm.

Heirloom Apple Crops Increase

(New York Times, 4/6/10) Spring does not bring to mind apples, but with the start of the growing season a nonprofit group called Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT), which works with Slow Food, has declared this the year of the heirloom apple.

Using School Lunches To Launch A “Revolution”

(Clarke Daily News, 4/5/10) It seems the school lunch program in Clarke County is not the only one that is under scrutiny these days. It may actually be part of a “Revolution.” On March 26, British chef Jamie Oliver premiered his reality TV show...

Eighth-graders Build Garden For Elementary Schoolers

(Loudoun Times Mirror, 3/30/10) The grassy courtyard at Frances Hazel Reid Elementary School in Leesburg has never been used much, and except for a couple picnic tables, the space has always been pretty bare. But that’s all changing thanks to...

Products Grown And Produced In Virginia Showcased At Virginia Food And Beverage Expo

(Clarke Daily News, 3/28/10) Tradition, elegance and ingenuity took high honors at the Virginia Food and Beverage Expo March 24 in Richmond. Cornmeal from a Native American corn variety, spice-infused hand-painted chocolates...

City Wants Local Goods At Market

(Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, 3/28/10) Fredericksburg's downtown farmers market will kick into high gear next month with a new set of rules aimed at keeping vendors honest about where their produce was grown. The city's market has always billed...

Local Produce Sees A Renaissance

(NBC 29, 3/27/10) There's a push in the Shenandoah Valley to grow the local food economy as we sprout into spring. The effort is bringing together everyone from bankers to farmers, restaurant chefs to elected leaders. After a tough winter...

Push to Eat Local Food Is Hampered by Shortage

(New York Times, 3/26/10) Erica Zimmerman and her husband spent months pasture-raising pigs on their farm here, but when the time came to take them to slaughter, an overbooked facility canceled their appointment.

Appalachia Star Farm Caters To Local Market

(Nelson County Times, 3/24/10) “The ‘buy local’ movement has grown tremendously and it’s really getting a lot of attention and I think that’s been good for us,” Bertoni said. “Even last year we worried about the economy and if the markets were going...

A New Generation Of Local Gardeners Help You Rediscover Your Roots

(C-Ville Weekly, 3/23/10) I’ve seen a lot of trends come and go in my life, but I can’t remember a time when gardening seemed the hip thing to do. Regardless of whether a fashion statement is being made here, more importantly, these folks are making...

Local slaughterhouses come back to life

(Washington Post, 3/17/10) Huddled in a small pen in the slaughterhouse, the four sheep and two goats were quiet and still. A few men nearby in thick rubber aprons cut away at still-warm carcasses hanging on hooks.

More Hobbies All The Time, i.e., Here Come The Fruit Trees

(C-Ville Weekly, 3/10/10) As if hens weren't enough, we are also adding a mini-orchard to our little homestead this year. No self-respecting locavore can be without a fig tree...

The Changing Face Of Agriculture

(Loudoun Times Mirror, 3/5/10) Twenty years ago, Holmes Welsh and his brother, Sam, could look out the windows of their neighboring farmhouses and see acres of green. Together, they made a living on the 270-acre dairy farm near Leesburg...

Local Firms Take Root, Aim To Assist People Raising Their Own Food

(Daily Progress, 3/5/10) When the world was at war, Americans went to their backyards, rooftops, porches and porticos to plant vegetables for family consumption in Victory Gardens. Two local companies are hoping the current economic malaise...

Mother Nature’s Wrath Costing Area Farmers Millions Of Dollars

(Winchester Star, 3/4/10) Area agricultural losses caused by the harsh winter may top $5 million, according to estimates by area extension agents. The toll in Frederick County exceeds $4 million, said Bobby Clark, agricultural extension agent...

Free “Fresh” Showing At MCHS

(Madison Eagle, 2/25/10) ...Area gardeners are already planning this year’s community garden and related projects. Farm to Table, whose members often act as advocates for a “buy local, eat fresh” mindset, are planning several new programs for the year...

Lavendar Ladies

(YouTube, 2/24/10) PBS story on Seven Oaks Lavendar Farm in Catlett.

Louisa Seed Company Sets Itself Apart

(Daily Progress, 2/21/10) ...Southern Exposure is a different sort of operation for a number of reasons, including that it specializes in open-pollinated and so-called heirloom seeds that have a history of being passed down through generations...

HJ 95: Designates Virginia Farm to School Week

(Passed the House) This resolution would designate the second full week of November 2010 as Virginia Farm to School Week. Status: This bill made it through the House and has been referred to the Senate Rules Committee.

HB 398: Procedures to Purchase Virginia-Grown Food Products by State Agencies

(Dead) This bill would establish procurement procedures to facilitate the purchase of Virginia-Grown food products for use in local public school divisions and state agencies. Status: HB 398 did not make it out of a Subcommittee due to concerns over...

Seminar Weds Farm Dreams, Tough Realities

(Fauquier Times Democrat, 2/10/10) What does the new year hold for you? Do you dream of changing careers and living off the land, where everything is pure, simple and honest? For 18 fledgling farmers, 2010 offers a chance to pursue the dream...

Scott Proposes Initiative To Help Farmers

(Culpeper Star-Exponent, 2/5/10) Virginia students could soon be eating more locally grown food, helping state farmers turn bigger profits. A House joint resolution proposed by Del. Ed Scott, R-Madison, would designate the second full week in November...

Madison Farm 2 Table Community Garden

Find out how you can get involved with the community garden planted in Madison County. All levels of gardeners are welcome, and plots should be available to plant crops by Mid-March, weather permitting.

City Program’s Gardening Doesn’t Stop For Winter

(Daily Progress, 2/1/10) Those who work for Charlottes-ville’s Quality Community Council will tell you that there is garlic growing on their farmland right now, despite the turbulent winter temperatures and recent spate of storms...

Buy Fresh, Buy Local

(Orange County Review, 1/29/10) Buying local is a growing trend, one that the state and many businesses within Orange County are welcoming with open arms. According to Orange Downtown Alliance Director Jeff Curtis, buying local is becoming increasingly...

Organizations Work To Update Food Guide

(Staunton News-Leader, 1/29/10) In an effort to educate consumers about local farming and locally grown food, Virginia Cooperative Extension, the Shenandoah Resource Conservation & Development Council, Valley Conservation Council...

Toscano Bill On Pickle Sales Sours

(Daily Progress, 1/27/10) A House of Delegates subcommittee may have scuttled a measure sponsored by Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, to allow the sale of pickles, relish and salsa prepared in private home kitchens...

Men’s Journal Says Charlottesville Among Healthiest Cities

(Daily Progress, 1/22/10) Men’s Journal magazine has named Charlottesville one of the healthiest cities in the country. The ranking was based on factors including availability of local produce, short commutes, walkable communities, low pollution levels...

Whole Foods May Join Greenhouse

(Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, 1/22/10) Whole Foods Market is considering an investment in a proposed greenhouse operation in King George County, and the grocer could end up buying many of the organic fruits and vegetables grown...

Pickle In The Middle: Food Safety Law Questioned

(Daily Progress, 1/19/10) Del. David J. Toscano is seeking to legitimize black-market pickles. Toscano’s measure, House Bill 60, would exempt from state food safety inspections private homes where the resident produces homemade pickles, relish or salsa...

Virginia's Leading Sparkling Winemaker Makes It Easier To Get The Bubbly

(C-Ville Weekly, 1/15/10) Virginia Fizz could be the name of a comic book superhero—a corkscrew-curled, bespectacled librarian by day and electrifying crime fighter by night. In fact, it’s the name of a new sparkling wine...

Frozen Out Of The Compost Pile

(C-Ville Weekly, 1/15/10) This is not exactly a complaint, just an observation. When there's a frozen snowpack all over your compost pile, it can be tough to empty the ol' bins. This is a situation we've faced at our house...

D.C. Residents Fight To Raise Poultry In The City

(Washington Post, 1/7/10) It sort of began as a kindergarten science project. Caryn Ernst got three dozen fertilized chicken eggs to incubate so she could show children the miracle of chicks chipping their way into the world.

Farm Markets Competition Escalates

(Leesburg Today, 1/5/10) When people think of farm markets, they maybe have a bucolic vision of healthful produce, dairy products, meats and natural items grown in the area that have come straight from the farm to the consumer...

Person Of The Year: Joel Salatin’s Salad Days

(The Hook, 12/17/09) It’s been quite a year for Joel Salatin. The Shenandoah Valley farmer starred as himself in two popular food documentary films, and he received a $100,000 award from the Heinz Family Foundation for his creative, eco-friendly practices

'Green' Cuisine Not Always As Ordered

(Washington Post, 12/7/09) At Founding Farmers restaurant, the cedar-smoked salmon is advertised as "sustainable." On its November menu, the green-certified restaurant boasted of partnerships with six small farms and dairies...

Author Says Large-scale Farms Killing Land As Well As Towns

(Daily Progress, 12/4/09) A passive populace obsessed with easy answers has led to an economy that is destroying America’s land, author Wendell Berry told a packed-in crowd at the University of Virginia on Thursday evening...

Clarke Advisory Panel Explores ‘Buy Local’ For School Food

(Winchester Star, 12/4/09) Now, it’s apples. Next spring, it could be a variety of local produce. The Clarke County Economic Development Advisory Board wanted to know if the county’s school system could purchase local food. At the board’s meeting...

Farmers Say New Bay Laws Too Costly

(Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, 12/3/09) Virginia farmers say stricter regulations contained in proposed federal rules to protect the Chesapeake Bay could run them out of business. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is pre-paring new bay cleanup...

Kitchen Has Every Modern Convenience

(Washington Post, 12/3/09) The staff of the Heritage Farm Museum in Sterling found plans for a 1908 Sears and Roebuck kit house on the Internet. For three years, curators have collected everything that someone visiting the kitchen of such a dwelling...

Cleaning Up Watersheds, One Farm at a Time

(Winchester Star, 11/29/09) The McCann farm may be a century old, but plenty of new ideas can be found on its 148 acres. Jed Rau, a technician with the Lord Fairfax Soil and Water Conservation District, can point with pride to this “Century Farm”...

Local Traveling Eatery May Be Nation’s Best Food Cart

(Winchester Star, 11/20/09) A food cart devoted to serving dishes created from regional farm products is one of four finalists in the “Good Morning America Weekend” competition to name the best The ABC-TV show asked customers to submit 300-word essays...

Local Sixfortyseven a Finalist in GMA’s Best Food Carts

(NorthernVirginia Magazine, 11/16/09) Locavorism evangelists Derek and Amanda Luhowiak have lured plenty of Northern Virginians over to the “eat-whats-around-you” camp from the comfort of their mobile kitchen, local sixfortyseven.

It’s Lunch Time, Celebrate Farm To School Week In Va

(Piedmont Virginian Blog, 11/12/09) It is an exciting week in the cafeterias in Virginia, Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have teamed up to promote the Virginia Farm-to-School program...

Spread Good Cheer this Holiday Season with Feast!

Give local this holiday season--with a Virginia Favorites gift box from Feast! of Charlottesville. 10% of the proceeds will help support Buy Fresh Buy Local. Read more and find out how to order this popular gift box.

Smaller Va. Apple Crop Predicted

(Richmond Times Dispatch, 11/2/09) Virginia's apple farmers are predicting a smaller crop than usual, and prices are staying low. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that Virginia growers will produce 30 million fewer pounds than last year.

Everybody Wins The Eat Local Challenge

(C-Ville Weekly, 10/29/09) Seriously, everyone wins. Almost a quarter of the people who participated in the PEC's Eat Local Challenge this fall actually got a prize—that's 27 lucky winners taking home Dr. Ho's gift certificates...

Microgreen Thumb

(C-Ville Weekly, 10/26/09) Planet Earth Diversified is a study in the new science of small farming. Arriving at the Stanardsville site, you’re struck by both the primitiveness and dirtiness with which small scale agricultural businesses must survive...

Charlottesville City Market Sets Sales Record

(C-ville News, 10/19/09) Charlottesville’s City Market is gearing up to a close on Nov. 7, yet it has set a new sales record, according to a city press release. According to market Manager Stephanie Anderegg-Maloy, this year’s sales rose to $1,085,646.

Down On The Farm

(Culpeper Star-Exponent, 10/2/09) About a dozen local farms and businesses will open their gates and doors this weekend to celebrate Culpeper’s agricultural roots. The Harvest Days Farm Tour returns for the 12th year...

Virginia Growers 'Committed To Stewardship'

(Southeast Farm Press, 10/2/09) Efforts to protect the environment of the Chesapeake Bay watershed should take into account the needs of the many diverse farmers in the area and the work they are now doing to reduce soil erosion and other impacts...

CBJ: Rains Yield Good Crop For Local Apple Orchards

(Daily Progress, 9/30/09) The leaves on the trees may not have started turning colors just yet, but the size and colors of the apples grown in Nelson County are an indication that summer has ended and fall is here.

Agriculture Can Still Be Big Business

(Culpeper Star-Exponent, 9/28/09) Agribusiness in Virginia is a $79 Billion Industry — this fact was given to a group of business and farm community leaders in a meeting last Thursday in Culpeper by the Secretary of Agriculture for the State of Virginia.

Amid Uncertainties, Some Tobacco Farms Grow

(Richmond Times Dispatch, 9/28/09) At age 20, the recent Virginia Tech grad sees a good future in farming, even for tobacco, a crop that has sustained his family's farm in Charlotte County for several generations.

Experts Discuss Ways To Boost Albemarle County Farming Enterprises

(Charlottesville Tomorrow, 9/25/09) One of the best ways to help improve the business of agriculture is to connect consumers with food producers. That was one of the main points raised during a panel discussion on the business of agriculture...

Farmers Market To Take Food Stamps

(Free Lance-Star, 9/18/09) Traditionally, farmers market shopping has been nearly impossible for two groups of people--those who don't carry cash and those who use food stamps to buy their food.

Instead Of Traffic, Fresh Tomatoes

(Washington Post, 9/18/09) Michelle Obama continued her crusade for fresh food and local farmers under drizzly skies Thursday when she spoke before a cheering crowd at the opening of the District's newest farmers market, just blocks from the White House.

Environmental Group Holds Local Eating Challenge

(Newsplex.com, 9/17/09) The Piedmont Environmental Council is challenging everyone in Charlottesville and Albemarle County to try 21 locally-grown foods in 21 days. People who complete the challenge will be entered to win prizes.

Fresh Local Food: Celebration Dinner To Support Area Farms, Kick Off Harvest

(Northern Virginia Daily, 9/16/09) Northern valley residents will soon have another way to appreciate local farmers and their products: The Preserve Frederick-Buy Fresh Buy Local Celebration Dinner at One Block West Restaurant in Winchester on Sept. 24...

I Challenge You To A Broccoli! And Other Local Foods.

(C-Ville Weekly, 9/15/09) Here's one to make your mouth happy. The PEC, your ever-reliable champions for local food and farmers, is running an Eat Local Challenge, which is really just a good excuse to spend three weeks eating better than you usually do.

Heritage Harvest Festival Has Fruits, And Wines, Of Labor

(Daily Progress, 9/14/09) Dozens of people at the third annual Heritage Harvest Festival sat on grass Saturday evening looking down on Albemarle County and a sea of mountains at Montalto, 400 feet above Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

Local Food Movement Still Gaining Momentum

(Roanoke Times, 9/13/09) On a sweltering summer Saturday at the Grandin Village Community Market in Roanoke, farmer Tenley Weaver weighed tomatoes and fingerling potatoes while her assistant misted water on a bouquet of fresh cilantro.

Farmers Market Near White House A Go

(Washington Post, 9/11/09) An open-air farmers market with as many as 20 vendors will operate just north of the White House on Thursday afternoons this fall, after organizers received city permission to close one block of Vermont Avenue for the event.

Who's Minding the Local Market?

(Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, 9/6/09) Tomatoes from Mexico and avocados from tropical climates are things you expect to find in grocery store produce sections, but all of those things have been for sale at Fredericksburg's Hurkamp Park farmers market..

Town of Madison’s Taste of the Mountains is Saturday

(Daily Progress, 9/4/09) Even those long familiar with September’s Taste of the Mountains can find new offerings in the 2009 edition of the annual downtown Madison street festival.

Farm to Hub to Table

(Washington Post, 8/26/09) CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Dick Proutt is a small farmer. A very small one. At Down Branch Farm, he raises chickens and quails and grows lettuce, squash, melons and tomatoes on about an acre.

Community Garden Part of the Sustainability Agenda

(C-Ville Weekly, 8/25/09) For quite some time now, Charlottesville has been the fulcrum of all things local: food, farms, local and sustainable businesses. Recently, the University of Virginia has taken up the local food discourse.

Might City Move Its Market?

(Daily Progress, 8/19/09) Area residents might be going to the City Market at a different spot in the future because of the growing popularity of Charlottesville’s Saturday event and a desire to make it more aesthetically appealing.

Eating More Naturally, Locally and Faithfully

(Fredericksburg Free, 8/17/09) Jesus was a locavore. And the Israelites were, too--save that 40-year experiment with manna. But as many consider the new movement to eat organic, local foods as a recent, elitist movement, theologians cite Scriptures...

Like You Picked It Yourself

(Fredericksburg Free, 8/17/09) ...Now, a small group of people brought together by that market wants to help farmers capitalize on this momentum and try to connect the region's local food resources with more consumers, restaurants...

Virtual Horse-Drawn Buggy Delivers Farm Fresh Food

(Crozet Gazette, 8/17/09) Are you ready to diversify your culinary portfolio? Want to try some new veggies, spruce up those old stand-by dishes, and ramp up the taste and nutritional value of your family’s meals?

Farmonomics: It’s All About the Land

(Center for American Progress, 8/11/2009) More and more, locally grown is becoming the new health food. Fruit and vegetable bins in mass market stores—not just at a Whole Foods—boast of supplying local produce.

Local Food Producers, Supporters Converge for Education, Tasting

(Daily Progress, 8/3/09) Gary Oliver knows his coleslaw. The Albemarle County resident has his own recipe that he uses to make it at home. So when he saw the large bowl of locally made coleslaw at the Double H Farm table, Oliver couldn’t resist.

Meet the Farmer TV: Forest Lakes Cooking Demo

Watch the Meet the Farmer TV episode featuring the Forest Lakes Farmers' Market in Charlottesville and a cooking demonstration by Chef Cindy Shepard.

Scottsville Unveils Farmers’ Market

(Daily Progress, 7/31/09) SCOTTSVILLE — Scottsville cut the ribbon on a new farmers’ market pavilion on a humid Thursday evening under threatening skies.

Is It The Last Stand For A Bethesda Farm Market?

(Washington Post, 7/29/09) They come for the giant purple heirloom tomatoes, for the homegrown Shiro plums, the peaches and the corn. Nestled in a shady patch on the side of River Road in Bethesda, the Country Thyme Farm Market has been a destination...

Learning And Growing: Garden As Laboratory At U.Va.

(UVA Today, 7/28/09) Two student gardening projects at the University of Virginia are natural education laboratories. At Hereford College, the residents' garden is in its third year, while a student-run community garden was built this spring...

Local Farms Break New Ground

(Washington Post, 7/26/09) In her black Land Rover, with AYRSHIR on the license plate, Sandy Lerner recently shuttled between her Home Farm Store in Middleburg and Hunter's Head Tavern in neighboring Upperville. Both are outlets for the fresh fruits...

Dinner to Feature Madison County Foods

(Madison Eagle, 7/24/09) A group of Madison County residents is organizing an event to celebrate “the delicious bounty of locally produced food.”

Taste Charlottesville's Growing Local-Food Movement

(Southern Living Magazine, 7/10/09) In Charlottesville, a new generation of farmers and market owners is committed to changing how we eat-and live. Come meet them and try our favorite local food.

Winery Wins Lawsuit

(Fauquier Times-Democrat, 7/8/09) The Bellevue Landowners Council acted unfairly when it tried to prevent Jerry and Kate Marterella from selling wine at the tasting room on their farm winery, a jury ruled July 1.

More Women Run Their Own Farms

(The Star Exponent, 7/6/09) SILVER SPRING, Md. — Julie Stinar once worked with some of the top names in fashion: Donna Karan, Giorgio Armani, Tracy Reese. Now she works with some completely different brand names: Cornish and Poulet Rouge chickens...

CiderWorks Aims to Introduce Area to a Whole New Flavor

(The Daily Progress, 7/5/09) Chuck and Charlotte Shelton have bottled 865 cases of arisanal hard apple cider to be sold at Vintage Virginia Apples’ new Albemarle CiderWorks. All 750 milliliter bottles sell for less than $20.

Making Connections, Building Community

(The Piedmont Virginian, 2009) Last year, Scott Elliff, a resident of Forest Lakes, and Dawn Story, of the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), followed in Cason’s footsteps as they launched a new farmers market in this residential development...

Piedmont Farm and Food Connection

PEC helps keep farming viable in our region by preserving farmland, educating and encouraging potential new farmers and food entrepreneurs, educating landowners about the potential of working with farmers on their land and growing the local food movement.

Farming Renaissance

The Piedmont Farm and Food Connection helps bring a new vitality to local agriculture. Read more about local food in this article from the Summer 2009 Piedmont View.

Palladio Chef Dazzles With Local Meal

(Cville Weekly, 6/16/09) Like many omnivores, Restaurantarama is a bit hypocritical about being a meat eater. We’ll consume beef, chicken and pork if they are locally and organically raised, but never veal or lamb, because babies are just too cute and...

Many Summer Internships Are Going Organic

(N.Y. Times, 5/23/09) These three are part of a new wave of liberal arts students who are heading to farms as interns this summer, in search of both work, even if it might pay next to nothing, and social change.

Morning News: Buy Fresh Buy Local

(WINA, 4/29/2009) Recently the Piedmont Environmental Council's Melissa Wiley and Rex Linville appeared on Charlottesville's WINA radio to discuss the new 2009 food guide, as well as land conservation efforts in Albemarle County.

'Farm Fresh' Movement a Growing Trend

(CNN, 4/20/2009) "Michelle Obama is not the only one looking to feed her family freshly picked produce. Just a few blocks away from Pennsylvania Avenue, nestled between the National Archives and the Portrait Gallery, a small farmers..."

The Locovore's Dilemma

(Slate, 3/25/2009) "It was what I did to the macaroni and cheese that made me seek professional help. My husband and I were looking for new ways to use the vegetables from our CSA—a program, short for "community supported agriculture..."

Local-Food Maven Alice Waters

(Time, 3/25/2009) "When Michelle Obama broke ground on the new White House vegetable garden, there was probably no one in America more elated than Alice Waters. For months, Waters had been engaged in a very public lobbying effort to get..."

Pollan Hopes for Star Farmers, More Local Food

(Scientific American, 3/24/2009) "Bestselling food author and backyard naturalist Michael Pollan says that for the first time in decades, farms in the U.S. are on the rise. Since the 1940s, the number of farms across the country has been..."

Hard Row to Hoe: Can Local Food Movement Save Farmers

(The Hook, 3/5/2009) "Forget Pop Tarts and Cocoa Krispies. These days, some children are more likely to beg for "Toaster Pastries" or "Koala Crisp," the organic versions of the popular Kellogg's treats. Locally grown..."

PEC Plans "Farm to Chef" Directory

(PEC Press Release, 1/26/2009) "Building on the success of its Buy Fresh Buy Local Summer and Holiday Guides, the Piedmont Environmental Council is inviting all interested farmers and restaurants to participate in the..."