Upcoming Events Recognize Local Agriculture

Secretary Joe Bartenfelder

Published in the July 22, 2017 issue of Lancaster Farming

Our summer celebration of local products continues next week with the Buy Local Challenge (July 22-30) and moves right into a watermelon promotion at the world’s largest crab feast August 4 and Maryland Farmers Market Week (August 6-12). We hope you will join in the fun!

Buy Local Challenge

Some of us take the Buy Local Pledge every chance we get, but not everyone does. Governor Larry Hogan has officially declared July 22-30 as Buy Local Challenge Week to raise awareness about the benefits of local farms and food so that Marylanders will become more familiar and more frequent consumers of fresh, local agricultural and seafood products. I join the Governor in encouraging all Marylanders to take the pledge and eat well the week of July 23.

Buying and eating local is more than just enjoying fresh, delicious, nutritious food that tastes better – although that’s good enough reason for me. Local food is better for the environment. It keeps land open, in production and requires less fuel for transportation and therefore less pollution. Local produce is also better for you since food that travels less time and distance holds more of its nutrients. Eating local food also supports local farm families, local economies and local communities. Buying local helps preserve open space, especially in rural areas where growing development pressures put both the environment and our quality of life at risk.

In its 2012 Policy Choices Survey, the University of Baltimore Schaefer Center for Public Policy found that more than 78 percent of Marylanders said they want to buy produce grown by a Maryland farmer.  The Buy Local Challenge gives them an opportunity to do just that.

The Buy Local Challenge was created by the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission and has since become a statewide program. The Buy Local Challenge Week is always the last full week of July. Take the Buy Local Pledge here: http://buylocalchallenge.com

To promote and kick off the Buy Local Challenge Week, Governor Larry Hogan and First Lady Yumi Hogan hosted the 10^th Annual Buy Local Cookout at Government House on July 20. Recipes for the event showcased the many ways local Maryland ingredients can be used in all kinds of ways. Recipes were submitted by teams of Maryland chefs and producers and selected based on their availability of ingredients, geographic representation, maximum use of local ingredients and creativity. The Buy Local Cookout also featured grocery store chains, distributors, restaurants and institutions that support farmers.

Each year, the department publishes a cookbook of all the recipes submitted for the cookout. They can all be downloaded for free from our website at: http://mda.maryland.gov

All recipes include wine, beer or spirits pairing recommendations from the Maryland Wineries Association, Brewers Association of Maryland and the Maryland Distillers Guild.

Ask for Maryland-grown products whenever possible – while shopping for weekly groceries, eating at a Maryland restaurant, visiting children’s schools and cafeterias, even while visiting someone in the hospital. Ask where the local products are and if there aren’t any, ask them to stock some.

And don’t forget, there are nine dairy farms on Maryland’s Best Ice Cream Trail. Enjoying a nice scoop of farm fresh ice cream counts as buying local as well!

The Buy Local Challenge and Buy Local Week helps residents – many of whom have had no connection or contact with a real, working farm – realize how delicious local products are. Once they do that, we are certain they will continue to seek out and demand more avenues for obtaining fresh, local food.

So take the pledge, take the challenge, eat well, preserve the environment, and support your local farmers – all at the same time!

Maryland Farmers Market Week

We hope that after purchasing at least one local product each day during Buy Local Challenge Week, Marylanders will continue the practice every day of the year. To encourage consumers to continue supporting Maryland agriculture, Governor Larry Hogan has designated August 6-12 as Maryland Farmers Market Week. During this week, many markets will offer food preparation demonstrations, music and children’s activities along with an assortment of fresh produce, meats, cheeses, wine tastings, and more.

Many fruits and vegetables are now in season, and Maryland farmers are offering their freshest products at more than 145 farmers’ markets across the state. Every county and Baltimore City has at least one market and the demand for local products continues to grow. We are working hard to connect local producers with local consumers, and we invite everyone to check our searchable database at www.marylandsbest.net to find local products and markets nearby.

Purchasing locally grown products strengthens our local economies, the health of our environment and our families, and also keeps land open and productive. Farmers markets also connect urban, suburban and rural communities. By talking with farmers, consumers can learn about fresh produce as well as how to prepare and store it, while developing a bond of trust in the integrity and accountability of our growers.

Mar-Delicious Watermelons at World’s Largest Crab Feast

The Maryland Department of Agriculture together with the Mar-Del Watermelon Association will participate in the world’s largest crab feast on August 4, at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis to highlight the economic and nutritional value of watermelon. Mar-Del watermelon farmers will be on hand along with National Watermelon Queen Madison Laney, Mar-Del Watermelon Queen Connor Vincent and other state queens to hand out fresh, cool watermelon slices and fun giveaways. Maryland and Delaware are significant growers and suppliers of watermelons, which are in their prime in August.

This special event, hosted by the Rotary Club of Annapolis, is not only the world’s largest crab feast but also a major fund-raiser that benefits local community and cultural organizations. Nearly 2,500 people are expected to attend and finish off 350 bushels of crabs, 3,400 ears of corn, 100 watermelons, 100 gallons of crab soup, 1,800 hot dogs, 150 pounds of beef barbeque, and hundreds of gallons of soft drinks and beer. If you are in the Annapolis area on Friday, August 4, join the fun at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Tickets are available online at:  www.annapolisrotary.org/crabfeast

Fair and Show Season

With fair and show season in full swing, we want to re-emphasize the importance of practicing strict biosecurity when handling show pigs. Follow the link below for more information.  In light of the devastating effects of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV), there is increased awareness about the need for strict biosecurity, especially when pigs come together at events such as shows and weigh-ins. With the animals being commingled at an exhibition, sale or during a weigh-in event, spreading disease is a known risk, but it can be minimized by following proper biosecurity procedures. Visit www.pork.org/show-pigs for more information on how to minimize the risk of contracting or spreading PEDV.

And for anyone who works with poultry, either in the commercial flocks or backyard flocks, I encourage you to keep taking extra biosecurity precautions so that those safety practices become habit when the risk for High Path Avian Influenza increases this fall. For more information about avian influenza and how to protect your flock, visit: www.mda.maryland.gov/Avianflu