Thanks to your partnership, healthy food production in the Bucks County region is thriving. Our farmers’ markets are growing and the number of young family farmers producing food for our local community is increasing – defying a national trend of loss of farmers!
The Bucks County Foodshed Alliance (BCFA) has been, and continues to be, proud to be part of this agricultural rebirth and renaissance. We’ve had a busy and productive year!
Hosted Farmers’ Forum in April
We hosted a farmer forum attended by more than 40 organic and conventional farmers. The forum featured presenters from the Rodale Institute who shared regenerative agriculture practices and techniques. Lively discussions, experiences and tips were shared.
Awarded Small Farm Grants
We awarded more of our Small Farm Grants, enabling local farmers to extend winter vegetable production and to create a pasture-raised poultry operation.
Hosted Three Summer Farm Tours
We hosted three local summer farm tours, returning to our popular pre-pandemic model of gathering for a potluck and conviviality before stepping out to tour a fascinating local farm – enabling us to get to know our farmers better and understand their joys and challenges. More than 100 community members joined one or more of the tours. The tours featured Rolling Harvest at Gravity Hill Farm, Myerov Family Farm, and Bluestem Botanicals.
Supported our Farmers Markets
We supported our fun, happening farmers’ markets. They now host more than 70 farms and local food-producing businesses and are attended by more than 60,000 community shoppers who value locally grown food. The winter Doylestown Farmers Market will continue in January at The Mercantile and in February at Superior Woodworks. The Wrightstown Farmers Market is excited to have moved to Chandler Hall’s Wright Meeting Room in Newtown for its winter market this year—finally a warm, dry location that can accommodate its 40 vendors, with ample aisles and parking!
Expanded Local, Fresh Food Access
We multiplied our work for food-insecure neighbors in Bucks, initiating a “Feed a Family, Support a Family Farm” program which purchased surplus vegetables from our farmers and delivered it by volunteers to local food pantries and low-income seniors. Thousands of pounds of freshly harvested produce, along with recipes and nutritional information, made it to people who can rarely afford fresh produce.
Additionally, we matched $2 for every $5 spent through SNAP at our farmers markets.
Hosted Foodshed Farmer Fest
To thank and support our hard working farmers, through the generosity of Durham Hill Farm, we hosted a wonderful evening for our local farmers to connect and relax over food and drinks at Durham Hill’s beautiful venue. Dozens of farmers and their families came out to enjoy fellowship at Farmer Fest.
Even more!
- We developed and expanded our website’s Local Food Guide, a font of information about where to find locally grown food.
- We revamped and updated our website.
- Created Advocacy Page to share action items you can do to support farmers and our environment.
- We worked with students from the Middle Bucks Institute of Technology to interview farmers and create local farm videos – soon to be found on our website.
- We facilitated interviews with three of our Bucks farmers, which we were proud to have featured in Edible Philly magazine.
- Hired a new administrator, Jade Greene.
It has been a busy and successful year! We look to 2023 to expand our programs and community outreach to inspire more home food gardening, healthy soils and native plantings. We’ll do more interviews with our farmers to connect our community to local farms. We’ll keep you informed with our newsletters and social media, invite you to more local farm tours, aid our hungry neighbors and provide more small farm grants to grow our local food supply and keep our farmers’ markets bountiful.
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