By Patricia Breakey
Delhi News Bureau
A colorful book celebrating the abundant fresh food produced by area farmers will guide readers on a farmland tour through the Catskill region.
Allison Bennett, Watershed Agricultural Council Farm to Market manager, said the release of the "Pure Catskills Guide to Farm Fresh Products" marks the launch of the "Pure Catskills Buy Local" branding campaign.
The free guide to the offerings of area farms covers Otsego, Delaware, Schoharie, Ulster, Greene, and Sullivan counties.
More than 100 farms, farm markets, stores, and restaurants are listed in the book.
The guide also includes farm activities for children and a calendar of events taking place throughout the season.
"I love the way the farmers are represented in the guide," Bennett said. "When you pick it up you feel comfortable. It kind of invites you into the area. So often farm guides are dry and boring. This guide gets your creative juices flowing."
"Farmers have told us they want to focus on selling locally," Bennett added. "Our goal with the Pure Catskills Guide is to help people know where to find the agricultural bounty throughout the region. The Catskills are home to world-class products from trout and artisanal cheese to organic mesclun and salad mix, and we want to make sure they’re not a well-kept secret."
Bennett said everyone should have a copy of the guide in the car.
"In the Catskills we don’t know what’s over the next hill," Bennett said. "We wanted to bring the area together so that people in from one area will discover what’s in neighboring towns and then can begin building the economy."
Karen Rauter, Watershed Agricultural Council communications director, said the purpose of the guide is to connect farmers and consumers and to promote an understanding of the working landscape.
"We think it’s a good time to introduce the new landowners and tourists to the farmers by using the food system," Rauter said. "The Countryside Exchange program focused on promoting agri-tourism, so we wanted to get something into the hands of the people to guide them to area farms and farm markets."
Rauter said different farms use different strategies to get their products to the consumers, but many of them believe that the best bet is to have the people come to the farm.
The logo and the name "Pure Catskills" were developed last year by the Watershed Agricultural Council and the grassroots community group called Farm Catskills.
Farm Catskills members are concerned with protecting agriculture and farmland in the region, and believe that an important way to protect productive farms and forestland is to promote their value within the community.
"Active farms not only provide us with the freshest nutritious food, they protect clean water and are a major reason our rural area is such a special place to live," said Amy Kenyon, Farm Catskills member and Delaware County farmer, "If people purchased even just $10 worth of food from a local farmer each week, that would make a real and lasting impact on the viability of our farms."
Bennett said 25,000 Pure Catskills guides have been printed and are being distributed throughout the region to Chambers of Commerce, stores, restaurants, and offices of Cornell Cooperative Extension.
The guide can also be found online at www.BuyPureCatskills.com.
Bennett said a new edition of the guide will be published annually.
"We hope that every year it will get bigger and better," Bennett said. "We need more farmers to list their products. We have the demand from the consumers but we don’t have the supply."
The Catskill Mountain Region Foundation sponsored the printing of the Pure Catskills Guide and local farmer and graphic designer Aissa O’Neill of Betty Acres Farm created the cover design.
