Nov 30, 2018
If you live, work or play in the Hudson Valley, chances are that you are going to want to learn more about its bounty in order to take advantage of all the region has to offer.
If you live, work or play in the Hudson Valley, chances are that you are going to want to learn more about its bounty in order to take advantage of all the region has to offer. Since 2010, HVADC’s Hudson Valley Bounty has been providing consumers and buyers of farm and food products information about local sources.
With a refreshed website launched in the summer of 2016, Hudson Valley Bounty is the region’s most comprehensive local farm and food portal. The website showcases a vast array of food enterprises, refined search capabilities, food categories, and in-depth details of its participants. Over 500 farms and food enterprises throughout the Hudson Valley are featured, with descriptions, product lists, photos, maps and wholesale and contact information included for each. Hudson Valley Bounty was designed to promote and support networking and connections between local agricultural producers and culinary businesses, while educating the community about the preservation of local farms and the use of local and regional sustainable food products.
The initiative began one morning in 2009 as a conversation between a farmer and a restaurant owner. According to Todd Erling, Executive Director of HVADC, a Columbia County restaurant owner who was regularly buying ingredients at a New York City green market met the very farmer from whom he had been buying food at a Columbia County Chamber of Commerce ag-breakfast. In efforts to create direct connections between area consumers, purveyors and producers, Erling, HVADC staff and some Columbia County Chamber of Commerce board members compiled and developed an agri-related business directory.
Soon, Dutchess, Ulster and Orange counties were looking to have their own directories, and each county had a respective “Bounty” page. By 2010, it was decided to regionalize the growing body of directories into one site, and so Hudson Valley Bounty was born.
Hudson Valley Bounty is a thorough resource searchable by county, with interactive maps pin-pointing each farm or food business included throughout Orange, Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess, Columbia, Rensselaer and Washington counties. Searches may also be conducted by business categories, with participants grouped according to products such as farms, wineries/vineyards, distilleries, breweries, cideries, specialty producers, farmers markets, food and beverage trails, restaurants, caterers, retail and grocery stores, or distributors/wholesalers. Additional filters may be applied to each category to further refine a search. For instance, the hundreds of farms included may be sorted by county, product type (i.e. dairy, flowers, meat, vegetables, etc.), then by production method (i.e. certified organic, grass-fed, biodynamic, etc.) and by their distribution markets as well. Hudson Valley Bounty also features tips about what food products are in season throughout the region, news of and for Hudson Valley Bounty food producers, a local food glossary, tourism resources, and guides to farm and food certification programs.
Hudson Valley Bounty’s mission is to strengthen the viability of agriculture in the region by connecting farms and food producers to consumers, wholesalers, and other buyers; educating communities about local agricultural issues and facilitating access to local food and farm information; promoting regional food offerings and opportunities to residents and visitors of the Hudson Valley.
Participation in Hudson Valley Bounty is free, and farms and food businesses may submit their information at hudsonvalleybounty.com. Each listing may contain an overview description, contact information, a backlink to the farm or enterprise’s website, and depending upon products produced, product descriptions, production methods, wholesale information, and distribution points. As the region’s go-to-resource for local food and farm offerings, Hudson Valley Bounty provides participants with exposure on its high-traffic website used by local consumers, tourists, chefs, farmers, wholesalers, and institutional buyers; the opportunity to be featured on Hudson Valley Bounty social media, email newsletters; as well as access to Hudson Valley Bounty ’s curated newsletters containing information on grant and financing opportunities, training workshops, events, and opportunities to promote their business or sell their product.
“The Hudson Valley Bounty portal allows local consumers, purveyors and producers to obtain purchasing information about the crops and products they desire or require easily within their regional footprint,” said HVADC Program Associate, Jennifer Bock. “This benefits not only the producer generate income from their crops or products, but allows purchasers to both assist in helping grow the local economy while obtaining fresh, in-season crops and regional products.”
The Hudson Valley Bounty website also features tips about what food products are in season throughout the region, news of and for Hudson Valley Bounty food producers, a local food glossary, tourism resources, and guides to farm and food certification programs.
For further information, visit hudsonvalleybounty.com or join by visiting www.hudsonvalleybounty.com/join
Logo source: HVADC