The Delaware Highlands Conservancy announced the publication of Shop Local, Save Land, a guide to local farms and farmers’ markets in Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties.

The guide is an excellent resource for residents and visitors who desire fresh and healthy foods and enjoy visiting the beautiful and abundant agricultural resources of the three-county area. The attractive, easy-to-use brochure lists farms, farmers’ markets and farm stands that produce and sell local agricultural products. It includes a keyed map for easy navigation.

“Farming families have passed their way of life on through generations that have worked their land and sustained our community by providing fresh and healthy produce, meats and dairy products,” says Delaware Highlands Conservancy Executive Director Sue Currier. “But that way of life—and the land that makes it possible—has become threatened. When working the land is no longer a viable economic choice, local farmers are often forced to make land use decisions that will ultimately change the area’s rural character.

“We saw a need for a complete list of producers and growers of local produce, and we are delighted by the publication of the 2008 Shop Local, Save Land guide,” says Currier. “Next year’s book will grow to include local artisans, nurseries, garden shops, small businesses, and restaurants that offer locally grown and produced products to the public.”

The Delaware Highlands Conservancy—a local land trust working with willing landowners to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the Upper Delaware River watershed—is pleased to support our local farms and farmlands, so that farming remains a vibrant and vital part of our local economy.

Since 1994, the Conservancy has made tremendous progress in conserving the forests, farms and waters of Pike and Wayne counties, in PA, and Sullivan and Delaware counties in NY. At the core of the Conservancy’s important work are individual landowners seeking to protect the land they own and love.

The Conservancy’s primary land protection tool is a conservation easement, a voluntary but legally binding agreement between a landowner and a land trust to protect all, or some, of their property’s natural—or conservation—value.

Shop Local, Save Land was produced in association with the Wayne County Library, W Design and Heron’s Eye Communications, with generous support from the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau, the John and Helen Villaume Foundation, the Wayne County Community Foundation and an anonymous donor. The guide is printed on recycled fiber manufactured using biogas energy.

Production of Shop Local, Save Land is a two-phase project. Next year, the Conservancy and Wayne County Library plan to build on the success of the current publication by producing a more comprehensive book that includes listings and advertisements for local business, activities and events related to local agriculture, in addition to even more listings of farms and markets.

Complimentary copies of Shop Local, Save Land are being distributed at many fine shops, restaurants and lodging facilities within the three-county area that the guide services, or may be found at the Delaware Highlands Conservancy office at 508 River Street, in Hawley.

To get your copy of the 2008 Shop Local, Save Land guide or to be included in next year’s more comprehensive book, visit the Delaware Highlands Conservancy website or by sending email to: info@delawarehighlands.org or calling 570-226-3164.

7/18/2008