Put down your prepackaged and processed foods, start your “endives” and head out for some locally made foods as the 16th annual Buy Local Challenge gets underway.
The Southern Maryland Agricultural Commission, a division of the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland, invites Marylanders to support, celebrate and shop everything Maryland grown, harvested, produced, hand-crafted and homemade by area farms, producers, artisans and farm-hosted fun.
The St. Mary’s County commissioners presented a proclamation July 16 recognizing the event.
“Agriculture is our life and this time of year is really special to us as people and to the commissions we serve on because it gives us a really good opportunity to connect local producers to local consumers,” Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission Chairperson Mary Wood said, referring to herself and husband Joe, who serves on the Agriculture and Seafood Advisory Council.
St. Mary’s Economic Development Agriculture and Seafood Division Manager Priscilla Leitch added that the annual challenge offers “a lot of opportunities to buy local in St. Mary’s County,” and added that the county’s economic development department sponsors three farmers markets in the county — The Barns at Newmarket in Mechanicsville, The California Farmer’s Market in the BAE parking lot, and the Home Grown Farm Market in Lexington Park.
Leitch added there are also lots of farm stands as well as the Loveville produce auction, which are “great opportunities to buy local for Buy Local Challenge Week and throughout the year.”
The annual event, which is a state initiative where individuals are encouraged to eat at least one locally grown item every day of the week, runs July 19 to 28.
Southern Maryland Agriculture Development Commission Director Shelby Watson-Hampton said agriculture is still the state’s No. 1 industry, which she said “is very evident here in St. Mary’s County and across Southern Maryland.”
The challenge wraps up with a family-friendly Buy Local Challenge Celebration from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday, July 29, at Serenity Farms in Benedict.
The event will feature up to 50 vendors offering farm-raised meats and dairy products, fruits and veggies, flowers, local oysters, baked goods, jams and pickles, honey, farm made soaps and scents. Visitors can also discover creative local arts and crafts, and artisanal beverages from wineries, distilleries and breweries.
There will also be local food trucks, a hospitality tent, live entertainment by Chaptico Songworks, an oyster tasting experience, door prizes, carriage rides with the Suttler Post Farm Clydesdales, pony rides, a petting farm and face painting.
Admission is $5 for ages 7 and older and includes an ice-filled insulated tote bag.
“We have found over the years on our own farm that there is a growing interest in our community of local consumers to not only have locally produced agricultural food products,” Wood said, “but to get to know the farmers that grow them. The Buy Local week is a really good time to make that happen.”
For more information on the Buy Local Challenge or to purchase tickets for the celebration event, go to buylocalchallenge.com.
Twitter: @MichaelSoMdNews
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