By Kim Cooper
Special to The Voice
We are in the midst of our annual harvest season in Southwestern Ontario, which means one thing for consumers. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables! Everywhere you look, there are stores and roadside stands offering local food products.
There is also an option for you to perhaps shop for local food products at some places you have never visited. The Buy Local! Buy Fresh! map is available and includes 45 producers and agri-businesses located throughout Chatham-Kent. Essex County also has their own edition of the Buy Local! Buy Fresh! Map.
This map lists the various food producers, what they have to offer, where they are located, when they are open, as well as contact information.
We continue to see an upward growth of the production of local foods and, more importantly, an increased demand from consumers for fresh and locally grown food products.
If you have never seen this map, I would encourage you to pick one up and be amazed at what our agriculture producers have here in Chatham-Kent.
This map of Chatham-Kent (the same applies for the Essex map) features dozens of various fruits and vegetables; many varieties of plants, flowers, and trees; all kinds of meat and fish; agri-tourism; eggs; maple syrup; honey; jams, jellies, sauces, wine, beer and much more.
These maps are free, and you can pick one up at municipal service centres, local libraries, tourism outlets, local agricultural businesses, and at the vendor locations listed on the map, which also shows you when the various food products are harvested.
You can download the map from this website: www.buylocalbuyfreshchathamkent.com. If you live in the Windsor-Essex region, you can download the map from this website: www.weheartlocal.ca
Various local foods are available during their harvest time, but there are always local food products on the market all year round, such as meat and fish, eggs, various fruits and vegetables, maple syrup, honey, home baked goods, wine, beer, and so much more.
As consumers, we all need to be aware of where our food comes from. Providing safe and healthy food for yourself and your family is important. That is why you need to always read the food labels and know where your food comes from.
Make sure you pick up the Buy Local! Buy Fresh! Map. We should show our support to our own producers and businesses all year round wherever possible. After all, this is their livelihood.
When we support them, we are supporting much more, including the workers, the drivers who deliver the produce, the companies who supply these farmers with their crop inputs, as well as helping to preserve crop diversity and building our local economy.
Agriculture in Chatham-Kent is over a $5-billion sector. Let’s keep this growing and growing. We all can be a part of this amazing sector, so let’s continue to show our support to our local farmers.
Just some food for thought.
- Kim Cooper was involved in the agribusiness sector for more than 45 years. He can be reached at: [email protected]
