Pride of Chautauqua-- big thumbs up!

Thanks to a last minute reminder from Jessica at Roots & Wings Farm, our CSA, Tom and I visited the Farm Bureau's 4th annual "Pride of Chautauqua" event at Chautauqua Suites yesterday afternoon. The event showcases local farmers--very important to those of us looking for local food sources to help the health of the planet and of ourselves.

We were not disappointed--except that maybe there weren't MORE farmers representing at the event, to underscore the great wealth of resources we have in this huge agricultural county. Nevertheless, the participants did themselves proud with their displays, information, samples, and products for sale. We had a great time and came home with a boatload of information, contacts, and goodies.

I'll be  reworking my "Local Foods" page (which is down at the moment for renovation) in order to share all of this new information with you.  Though I give credit to Wegman's for the increasing number of organic products they have available, it's even more satisfying and reassuring to meet the people that actually grow your food and to be able to see for yourself how it is handled. Recent exposes like "Food Inc." can really kill an appetite.

We aren't vegetarians, so we're really happy to have found SEVERAL local sources of grass fed beef, pasture raised poultry, pork, and even goat! (Okay, maybe I'm not that happy about the goat. For some reason, I think of them as pets. But, they give milk!)  If Tom starts bringing home some of the fish he catches instead of just playing with them, we'll have an amazing variety of local goodness--along with our CSA share and all the local farmers markets. The Fredonia Farmers Market even operates during the winter months at Wishberry on Main Street, and yes, you can actually grow things here when it's cold outside if you have a greenhouse. WHY are we buying our food from South America and Asia? Do we love the oil companies that much?

We had pleasant conversations with Tim from Stand Fast Farm and Steve from Green Heron Growers and look forward to doing business with them. Had our first taste of grape pie--you probably don't believe that I've lived most of my life in this grape growing region and never had grape pie, but it's true. Tasted Concord grapeseed vinaigrette, too, from the Brick Village Gourmet , whose chefs entertained with live cooking demonstrations and free samples. Representatives from the dairy association were on hand with samples of their products, including my favorite, Chobani Greek yogurt (not exactly local, but nonetheless made in upstate NY). We bought maple syrup and goat milk soap.

What a great place this is!