Buy Local map brings customers to the farm

2nd edition map provides tips on buying local

By Andy Comber - May 11, 2011

There was local wine and food enjoyed at the launch of the second edition of the Buy Local map, by the Essex County Federation of Agriculture, May 4 at Erie Shores Vineyard.

“One of the mandates of this map is to educate people,” said Bernard Nelson, a Kingsville dairy farmer and past president of the ECFA. “This allows people to visit the places where our local food is actually produced.”

ECFA produced the second edition following the success of the first, which was launched in the spring of 2009. The 2011 map has a new design to make it more user-friendly and easier to navigate, Nelson said. There is also tips on buying local and why it is important to support local producers.

The Buy Local map includes producer locations and contact information and an availability guide. The guide identifies what time of the year certain produce is available in Essex County. For example, at the top of the list, local grown apples are available every month of the year, except July. Over 60 venues, are listed on the map by their municipality, with a small description of their local produced offerings. The venues include everything from roadside markets to wineries.

There will be 35,000 Buy Local  maps distributed to the public, and a printer-friendly version is available on the ECFA website at  www.ecfa.ca. A number of copies are at the Essex Free Press office.

ECFA President Larry Verbeke expressed thanks to all the people involved in the production of the maps.

“The ECFA would like to thank everyone involved in this project – the producers, the community sponsors, the design committee and consumers,” he said. “The desire to buy local, help the environment, have access to fresh, safe and healthy food and to support the area’s economy is our goal for Essex County shoppers.”