Buy Local for the Holidays

ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 13, 2011) – This holiday season, consider your Maryland agriculture options when purchasing gifts.  Maryland farmers and specialty food and beverage producers offer a wide range of items to enjoy.  Depending on individual tastes, options include a bottle of wine, local artisan cheese, fresh meats, plants, and much more.  For a gift that keeps on giving, why not give a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) membership.  A year’s share offers months of weekly produce from a Maryland farm. Other local gift ideas involve putting together a gift basket of fresh produce from farmer’s markets or purchasing a gift certificate to a farm bed and breakfast.

“Maryland farmers offer a full range of delicious products that will brighten anyone’s holiday,” said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance. “Buying locally grown and produced food is not only a unique gift idea, but also helps to support our family farmers and local economy.”

According to the most recent agricultural census completed in 2007 by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, there were 12,549 farms marketing products through CSA programs in the United States and 161 in Maryland.  In addition, in the United States there were 78,418 farms producing and selling value-added products, with 683 in Maryland.

To find Maryland agriculture products to give as gifts, visit the “Find Me Local” section of www.marylandsbest.net.  The web site, which is serviced by the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Office of Marketing, lists numerous Maryland farmers and specialty food and beverage producers.  Also check out the video profile of Talbot County’s Chapel Creamery, one of the state’s best producers of artisanal cheeses.

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