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April 2008
The Pure Catskills Buy Local campaign is looking for a few new members! The six-county branding program promotes farms and food-related businesses in the Catskills region. Pure Catskills members support regional agriculture in Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties. If you run a farm, farmer’s market, restaurant, retailer, farm stay or community organization that promotes local food, you should be a Pure Catskills member.
“Interest in local foods has soared in the past year,” notes Farm to Market Manager Challey Comer. “People are more educated as to the benefits of eating fresh, local food. The Pure Catskills campaign connects people to their food source. Through this program, we’re focused on supporting our regional farming communities. Our banner message – ‘Good Food. Clean Water.’ – supports our broader mission of identifying local food as part of the clean water solution.”
Membership in the Pure Catskills Buy Local campaign has its advantages. The $25 membership includes a printed listing in the Pure Catskills Guide to Farm Fresh Products, produced by the Catskill Mountain Foundation. Members are encouraged to purchase advertising as well within the printed guide. “The Guide to Farm Fresh Products lists member profiles within a signature resource used by locals and tourists,” says Comer. “The publication connects local farms and businesses to their consumers by putting everything would-be-buyers need to find in one place.” In June, 25,000 copies of this full-color, 50-page guide will be distributed throughout the six counties.
“The print listing is also housed on the Pure Catskills website,” adds Comer. “The website hosts a wholesale connection, calendar of local food events, blog and farm profiles. Throughout the year, members benefit from grants for agricultural promotional events, scholarships to regional conferences, discounts on educational seminars and access to Pure Catskills marketing materials and logo.” To be listed in the printed Guide to Farm Fresh Products, join by May 21st.
The campaign has a distinct logo developed from the 1940’s era label of the Walton-Hamden Cauliflower Grower’s Cooperative. “The Pure Catskills logo celebrates our regional heritage,” says Comer. “For decades, cauliflower was an important crop to many Catskills farmers. The logo highlights the importance of keeping the land in farming. Our members take pride in their land and their products. Under Pure Catskills, they can be unified under one logo and one Buy Local campaign, one that people will recognize and associate with fresh, nutritious local food.”
For more information or to become a member of the Pure Catskills buy local campaign, visit www.purecatskills.com. To request a paper copy of the member registration, call Leslie Deysenroth at (607) 865-7017. |
