Buy Local. Buy Onondaga Grown campaign is now in its 11th year

Harvey Skeele ON Farm Fest set for Sept. 20                    

SYRACUSE — It’s a campaign that seeks to encourage the public to choose food and products grown in Onondaga County by more than 570 farm families. The 11th year of the “Buy Local. Buy Onondaga Grown.” campaign is now underway. The Onondaga County Agriculture Council launched the campaign at the June 26 farmers market at the CNY Regional Market at 2000 Park St. in Syracuse. The council also used the event to announce 10 host farms for the 9th annual Harvey Skeele ON Farm Fest, which will take place on Sept. 20. This year’s host farms include Anyela’s Vineyards, Tre-G Farms, Albanese Longhorns, Emmi Farms, Brady Farm, Sunshine Horses, Tim’s Pumpkin Patch, Palladino Farms Heritage Hill Brewhouse & Kitchen, Dutch Hill Maple, Navarino Orchard, Rocking Horse Farm, according to the ON Farm Fest page of the Onondaga Grown website. The county’s Agriculture Council chose to launch the Onondaga Grown campaign at the CNY Regional Market to highlight the fact that shoppers can access freshly harvested food from dozens of local farms — “all in one convenient location,” per an announcement from Onondaga County. “This year’s been a challenging year for farms already with the very cool and wet spring we had. It creates a whole … list of challenges,” Onondaga County Legislator David Knapp, who also chairs the Onondaga County Agricultural Council, said in his remarks at the June 26 event. “Our farms persevere and get it done, even when the weather turns [hotter] and we’re in over a hundred degrees feel-like temperature … We were bailing hay on Tuesday.” The “Buy Local. Buy Onondaga Grown.” campaign educates the community on the health and economic benefits of purchasing in-season produce and other local products. Through radio and TV commercials, social-media posts, and signage, the campaign also highlights specific producers from within Onondaga County. All local retailers — from restaurants to grocers, farm stores to markets — who offer agricultural products grown in Onondaga County are invited to participate in the Onondaga Grown campaign by requesting a free media kit containing posters, window clings for entryways, and sheets of stickers for Onondaga Grown products, giving consumers an “easy way to identify and purchase” those products. “Buying local not only means fresher, tastier, more nutritious food for our families, but it also helps build stronger connections with our local family farms,” Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said in the county’s announcement on the topic. “Those relationships between farmer and consumer are further strengthened thanks to our popular ON Farm Fest event! This fun and informative day of agritourism is completely free and we are incredibly proud to offer this unique experience each year … I want to thank everyone who helps make this campaign and ON Farm fest possible.”