NORWICH – There was a time when local food was the only kind people ate – the product of fields, barns and backyards just a few miles or a hundred few feet away from their homes.
Today, the staples in most American diets are shipped in bulk over-the-road to supermarkets from hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles away.
There are, however, scores of quality and affordable products also being grown, raised and manufactured in Chenango County, members of the Chenango Agriculture Development Council say.
In an effort to re-introduce local food to local people, the council is ramping up its “Chenango Bounty: Farmers Market at Your Door” program, a home-delivery service that brings meats, produce, baked goods and other items from the county and region to consumer’s front doors.
“We don’t want or expect to be people’s only source of food,” said Phil Metzger, a Resource Conservation and Development Coordinator with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and one of the program’s organizers. “Our real focus is to introduce local food to people in Chenango County; to show them what is out there.”
The program just completed its four-week pilot period, delivering to between 16 and 22 customers per week. Items for sale included dairy products from Evans Farmhouse, baked goods from La Maison Blanche, and produce from the Norwich Meadows and Lamb Quarters Farm.
The program, with enough funding to run for two years, will begin taking its next round of orders Jan. 7, with a delivery date of Jan. 9. The goals this time around: Streamline the ordering system and delivery routes, as well as offer a wider variety products from a larger pool of producers, Ag Council members say.
“We’re growing and trying to improve all those aspects,” said Metzger. “We’re also trying to pick up more producers.”
Aside from selling more products, Metzger said area businesses can use the program as a marketing tool that can actually attract more business to their store locations. For example, La Maison Blanche bakery in Norwich attaches business cards and labels to all the items its supplies for Chenango Bounty, letting consumers know – if they like what they buy from the bounty – that there is another way to get their products.
“I’m really excited about it,” Metzger said, adding that the customer and supplier base grew during the four-week trial period. “The word is starting to get out.”
The bounty also delivers regional products, such as beef from Maple Avenue Farm in Madison County and specialty soups made in Ithaca.
“I was impressed with the quality and variety of what I received,” said Ag council member Ken Ryan, an Oxford resident and bounty customer. “And I didn’t think it was expensive.”
On average customers spent between $60 and $90 per order.
In the coming weeks, co-organizer Rebecca Hargrave said Chenango Bounty will be updating its systems with new software that will allow customers to place and pay for orders on-line.
The development council says the program also promotes environmentally sound practices by reducing transportation costs and emissions and conserving resources through small farm production.
“Chenango Bounty” is being coordinated by the Chenango Agricultural Development Council, which is partnering with Central New York Resource Conservation and Development, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Chenango Cooperative Extension, Center for Agricultural Development & Entrepreneurship, Huot Hills Farm, Norwich Meadows Farm and ID Marketing.
The Chenango County Board of Supervisors’ Economic Development Committee and the New York Farm Viability Institute have provided funding that will help sustain the effort for a minimum of two years.
For more information or to place an order, call 334-3231, Ext. 4.